is350smoke

I recently feel a "loose/sloppy steering feel while driving.

The handling does not feel right. It does as tight/able when cornering

My damn steering in my 4runner seems tighter.

The only suspension mods that I have are Hotchkis sway bars since I ave a lit of speed bumps where I live

Any recommendations of a shop in the SF Bay area?

Should I start with a tire alignment first?

Or is this a possible steering issue?

Loose bushing?

Alignment is probably out of place since it pulls toward the left and right when driving at low speeds.

NCLexi250

iTrader: (1)

While I don't know a shop in SF, I can safely say the steering damper mod is a good affordable one for tightening up the steering wheel feel.. at least it did for me.

Hope this helps ya.

AgBlue

My steerin wheel has a bit of play in it too. I can move it about an inch left or right from before I feel the resistance of the wheel. I have the steering damper as well and it did nothing for this issue.

I think this issue became more prominent a few months after the steering column recall.

NCLexi250

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to hear it, dude.

willfxp

It was my understanding that alignment issues will pull to one side. If it went both ways, it probably is something else.

Are there any issues when driving at higher speeds?

is350smoke

Thanks for all the advice

The car seems to tighten up at hi speeds but the handling does not feel tight.

There is a significant amount of play

It s weird because it started all of a sudden

There was a mentioned of a steering wheel recall?

Wonder if I should bring it to the dealer since it is still under warranty

Who sells those steering dampers?

Anymore advice would be helpful.

funglenn

iTrader: (10)

The damper will not help, and if you are under warranty do the damper, then take it to them, they may give you problems because the car is not stock. Take it to the dealer--anything "all of a sudden" is usually a sign of something going wrong.

The damper, sold by sewel lexus for example, will make it feel diffferent, but again, it will not fix an all of sudden feel. I had a 4runner and the IS is much tighter--something is wrong, and my adding the Fsport swaybars did nothing to hurt my suspension, the Hotchkis should also not make it worse, but better!

is350smoke

Will do
Thanks for the advice
I am going to life up my car and take a look to make sure there is nothing loose

I have had the sway bars on for 2 1/2 years and it has felt great

The only other mods is a mid pipe with exhaust and stainless steel lines

The dealer should honor any steering issues and not say I voided the warranty due to these aftermarket parts, right?

LALexusOwn

Hi IS350 Smoke. I'm wondering if you got your problem solved.
The same thing happened to me. Just all of a sudden the steering got loose.
I was told it needed an alignment so I took it in for an alignment and it didn't help. I complained and they sia deverything is "In Specification".
I took it into a different Lexus dealer and they told me I needed to replace the tires and that didn't help. When I complained that they didn't help, they recommened to start replacing bushings, but couldn't gaurentee it would help. I asked them which bushings and they said all of them. I don't even think the service manager knew what bushings are.

Now I'm set back 6 bills and my problem is still there. Did you get it fixed?
I don't want to keep throwing away good money after bad.

smokyis350

iTrader: (21)

I have dampers, coilovers, and sway bars and my car is still loose.

I've driven bone stock BMW and Audi and it was way stiffer than my modified IS350..

mrmcd982

Bump to this years old thread but did. Anyone ever figure this out?