Vague steering - anyone else had this?

StephenBennett · October 12, 2004, 10:16

Hi all

Suddenly, my 9 month old 2 is behaving strangely. Steering feels vague and light and the car is tending to tramline down white lines. When braking, you have to really concentrate to keep a straight line.

Car is at Mr Ts friday, but I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem?

Regards

Stephen

Tem · October 12, 2004, 10:49

Have you checked your tyre pressures lately? I'd do that before taking the car in...

darrenjuggins · October 12, 2004, 11:09

What tyres you running ?

the RE040's tend to tramline when they have worn down.

There is significant toe in on the fronts which causes the inner edges to wear, try turning your wheel left or right full lock and check the inner edges.

don't know how many miles you have covered, but anything over 15 could possibly produce this effect, or if you are extremely enthusiatic like some on here 8-12 !!! tee, hee !!!

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Darren J

StephenBennett · October 12, 2004, 12:03

Type pressure all OK. Stock Yokos. 5K mileage.

Regards

Stephen

darrenjuggins · October 12, 2004, 12:17

you checked for wear yet ? inner edge ?

StephenBennett · October 12, 2004, 14:05

Will do ASAP - can this hapen at such low mileage? Surely if so it's a fundemental problem?

Regards

darrenjuggins · October 12, 2004, 14:25

It's possible (then again anything is!)

but seriously, check this first.

It will wear, but 5k does sound a little premature for wear!

The ailment is pretty important to the car and if they have warn that quickly, it could point to a poor alignment of the wheels causing excessive wear.

It's about a £40 - £50 job to have them aligned.

Q. Do you regularly drive up pavements, kerbs, etc ? or caught a larger than "Normal" pot hole ?

9 months does sound a little early for poor ailment, but if you have some how knocked them, it's a possiblilty.

Let us know how you get on.

Cheers

Darren

StephenBennett · October 12, 2004, 14:29

Car hasn't been up anything. s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

I will check when it's light!

Stephen

darrenjuggins · October 12, 2004, 15:02

Why you not in UK ?

It seems light to me outside ?

s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

StephenBennett · October 12, 2004, 15:21

Yes, but the car isn't outside - I'm at work, it's at home.

Ok I wasn't clear in my post!

I assume you sleep with yours...

s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Stephen

darrenjuggins · October 12, 2004, 15:39

Errr.... No not quite.

It's outside in the carpark....

just goona blast it to Hull from Lincoln

Your post of darkness makes more sense now s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

I have covered over 60,000 miles, so yeah nearly sleep in her !

See my other post - new engine (or most of engine) being replaced on Thursdsay due to engine faliure and cat distinigration !!!

At present - 300 miles to 36 litres of Petrol + 1/2 Litre of Oil ! Nice !

anyway, hope you get your tramlining sorted.

I'm off to brave this rather dull weather

Cheers

Darren

StephenBennett · October 13, 2004, 09:27

I checked my tyres - all look OK.

Someone stole my dust caps again!

I'll check tyre pressures again before Mt T sees the car.

Regards

Stephen

darrenjuggins · October 13, 2004, 10:35

Hmmm...

Little stumped now...

Maybe a test drive with a Mechanic is now called for.

hope you get it sorted out mate.

Cheers

Darren

StephenBennett · October 13, 2004, 11:34

Thanks

I'm sure I will.

Regards

Stephen

Anonymous · October 13, 2004, 13:40

Do you ever drive on really bumpy roads, go over lots of speed bumps, fall down potholes etc?

darrenjuggins · October 13, 2004, 13:48

Err thats every uk road isn't !!!!

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Anonymous · October 19, 2004, 18:44

I had the same sort of problem you describe with my car. On fast roads it would suddenly veer off in another direction, even when travelling straight down the motorway. And when I braked the car would go which way it wanted, apart from straight on. It felt very unsteady and unsafe.
I took it back to Mr T and they almost laughed at me, saying that it was nothing they had heard of before.
Upon inspection, they found that both front tyre walls were mis-shaped, and I had to spend £200 on new tyres as obviously the warranty doesn't cover tyres, even though Id had the car 6 months. They were Yoko's and were replaced with the same, and since the replacement its been like a different car.

Hope you get your problem sorted.

StephenBennett · October 20, 2004, 09:20

I just got the car back from Mr T. They've sorted my other minor problems (rusty brakes, hood poppers), but couldn't find anything wrong. The mechanic said my tyre pressures were wrong - but I checked with my digital meter the night before and it feels exactly the same as before anyhow.

I'm taking it out to them again. I'll go out with the mechanic and try an express my concerns a bit better.

Regards

Stephen

ninjinski · October 20, 2004, 21:48

You need an alignment on your wheels mate s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

StephenBennett · October 21, 2004, 09:15

..Which Toyota checked, allegedly......

s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

Regards

Stephen

Anonymous · October 21, 2004, 19:14

My Toyota dealer advised me once to go to a specialist for the wheel alignment. They also told me that it's not uncommon to have a brand new car with "far from perfect" wheel alignment...

The symptoms you describe are typical of incorrect wheel alignment & geometry.

However, even with perfectly aligned wheels, any light weight, mid-engined car fitted with relatively wide tyres will tend to wander / "tram line". A front engined car has a natural tendency to "stabilise" (a bit like an arrow fired in the air). Mid-engined cars have a slight tendency to wander off track. My old 911 was absolutely terrible for tram-lining, eventhough I had the alignment checked...

StephenBennett · October 25, 2004, 14:30

Quote from: "phat"Mid-engined cars have a slight tendency to wander off track. My old 911 was absolutely terrible for tram-lining, eventhough I had the alignment checked...

I appreciate all that; however, it's only just started behaving like this - it's definitly worse than before.

Regards

Stephen

Anonymous · October 25, 2004, 14:58

Have you had the wheel alignment/geometry checked? [Edit: Has your garage actually set the car up on the wheel alignment equipment? You can check by asking them for the results printout -- if there's no printout, it's likely they never did check the wheel alignment!]

For the symptoms you described, I think there's an 80% chance that the cause is an incorrect wheel geometry. (A slight change in wheel alignment can have a markable impact on the car's stability.)

It could also be due to worn out shock absorbers.

These should be easily and quickly checked. But make sure you go to mechanics that are experienced. (Most Toyota garages are capable of doing it or at least recommending a specialist.)