My steering feels loose. help pls

[doidera00]

hi, i have a 1999 integra gsr. my steering wheel feels really lose. there is no play on the steering itself. there wheels feels tight when i jacket the car up. they were not moving side to side. anyways when i'm driving the wheels want to fallow the groves on the pavement and the steering feels loser the faster i go. when i downshift hard the steering wants to go side to side. its getting really dangerous and uncomfortable for me. any suggestions.

 

[carfreak09]

I'm having similar problems with my 95 GSR sedan. The steering feels fine at city speeds but once you get to about 75 mph, there is suddenly a lot of slop on center and the steering feels unnaturally light. It's got me concerned. Power steering fluid level is fine and the car still handles great. I'm sure the shocks are worn out but they don't bob and still provide decent ride control. Everything is stock on my car and it has 145,500 miles. Any thoughts on what causes this ultra light steering feel and on center play at high speeds?

 

[jdmjim]

check your tires and alignment

 

[carfreak09]

In my case, the tires are at 35/33 psi front/rear. The alignment is slightly off, but only by just a little. It steers straight. The light steering recently showed up.

 

[Airbus]

same problem, the steering feels loose at high speed(over 120kph)
My car is all stock, 2000 Integra SE 3Drs(Canadian version)
bushing replaced, control arm, tie rod are fine
Thanks

 

[rockadilla]

Could be the steering rack and pinon need to be replaced?

 

[Cman46290]

I had a similar complaint with my 1997 GSR...177k miles....

When i would come to a hard stop... my wheel would want to jerk to one side... or as you said follow the road.... just very sloppy steering in general and wanted to dart side to side constantly.

I ended up replacing my lower control arm bushings... i replaced the outer tie rods, and both front tires... and got an alignment. It feels like im driving a completely different car now... its actually enjoyable to drive.... and safe feeling.... I can actually let go of the steering wheel while driving on the highway... and my car doesnt try to dart one way or another.

Im sure some if not all of your front bushings are shot if havent been replaced... tie rods.... ball joints.... tires maybe... and alignment.

 

[Airbus]

Just looked up the service manual, will try to adjust the rack guide tmr

 

[mdan9193]

hi, i have a 1999 integra gsr. my steering wheel feels really lose. there is no play on the steering itself. there wheels feels tight when i jacket the car up. they were not moving side to side. anyways when i'm driving the wheels want to fallow the groves on the pavement and the steering feels loser the faster i go. when i downshift hard the steering wants to go side to side. its getting really dangerous and uncomfortable for me. any suggestions.

That's funny I was about to post a thread today about this because I've been having the same problems! Steering wheel is lose at high speeds, seems like I have minimal control of the car as it darts left or right especially on bad paved roads, to a point where it feels unsafe. When I brake hard the steering wheel goes to the left. I need to do an aligment as the car steers left hard. Does anyone know what the exact problem is? My car is lowered and understand I gave up ride quality but this shit is scary lol. Didn't mean to thread jack but u hit the nail on the head with this post.

 

[rockadilla]

get an alignment, especially if u know ur car needs one (it should be done every year). And especially if ur car has aftermarket suspension because there tends to be more stress on all the parts involved when the car is lowered.

 

[mdan9193]

get an alignment, especially if u know ur car needs one (it should be done every year). And especially if ur car has aftermarket suspension because there tends to be more stress on all the parts involved when the car is lowered.

Yes I am definitely going to get an alignment done soon, but am thinking to take it to a shop to see if my lower control arm bushings and tie rods need replacing, that way I don't have to do an alignment then do one again after those parts are replaced. Where can I find the replacement parts such as the bushings or tie rods or any other suspension components? Are they cheaper online or autozone or kragen? Thanks.

PS. If my tires have good tread and no bald spots or any signs of wear on them can I just rule that the tires aren't the problem?

 

[Airbus]

Yes I am definitely going to get an alignment done soon, but am thinking to take it to a shop to see if my lower control arm bushings and tie rods need replacing, that way I don't have to do an alignment then do one again after those parts are replaced. Where can I find the replacement parts such as the bushings or tie rods or any other suspension components? Are they cheaper online or autozone or kragen? Thanks.

PS. If my tires have good tread and no bald spots or any signs of wear on them can I just rule that the tires aren't the problem?

I always buy parts from them
http://www.acuraoemparts.com/

 

[Cman46290]

Yes I am definitely going to get an alignment done soon, but am thinking to take it to a shop to see if my lower control arm bushings and tie rods need replacing, that way I don't have to do an alignment then do one again after those parts are replaced. Where can I find the replacement parts such as the bushings or tie rods or any other suspension components? Are they cheaper online or autozone or kragen? Thanks.

PS. If my tires have good tread and no bald spots or any signs of wear on them can I just rule that the tires aren't the problem?

Energy Polyurethane bushings are good... they sell a MASTER bushing kit on this site for like $140... which is a great deal.... tie rods just get at autozone or similar

If the front tires dont look unevenly worn then its probably not them... though i could tell mine were somewhat unevelly worn... but after replacing the tires alone... after doing the fron lower control arm bushings.... i could tell a big difference already.... then the tie rods and alignment sealed the deal... the car feels great now... i couldnt expect it to be much tighter steering than it is now for a car with 180k on it.

 

[mdan9193]

Thanks bro, ill start by replacing the bushings first. Did you just replace the front two or the rear ones as well? Are bushings easy to replace yourself or would a shop be the best bet?

 

[Jak tegra]

Thanks bro, ill start by replacing the bushings first. Did you just replace the front two or the rear ones as well? Are bushings easy to replace yourself or would a shop be the best bet?

ez enough if you have worked on suspension before, even if you havent its will just take some more time. do front first, youll notice that right away, then move to back. get that master bushing kit like a nice fellow suggested, youll never look back. iv gutted a few cars and did my bushing kit in 4 hours front and back. if you dont feel comfortable doing it, take it in.