More lately I've been noticing that when moving slowly, if going over a bump in the road of any sort, the steering wheel seems loose and the car wants to jump to one side or another slightly.

Picture moving straight ahead, and hit a rough section of or a small pot hole, and the steering wheel will move by itself to the left or the right quite a bit. I haven't noticed anything on the highway.

What can cause that? How should I go about describing to the service advisor so that it doesn't seem trivial? Last thing I want is a steering rack or major front suspension component slowly dying right after my warranty runs out. All I know is that it has struck me as "hey this doesn't feel normal".

Am I just being overly sensitive now that my powertrain warranty has months left on the clock, or does this sound like a legitimate concern? The last few things I've had them look into at the dealership during other service visits have been returned to me as "no problem founds" and I'm starting to feel like I'm just going crazy.

After some additional googling, it seems like I'm describing something commonly called "bump steer"... how much bump steer is normal for this car with stock suspension, I don't know... all I know is that I seem to have become acutely attuned to it whereas I never noticed it before. Hopefully I don't get the "we didn't notice anything wrong" again if I mention it, and whatever it is, is covered.

 

That sounds like the tie rod when there is play when steering, but correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I wouldn't really describe it as play when steering... during parking, highway driving, it feels fine to me... there isn't really any dead area in the steering wheel, if anything - it feels a little stiff.

It's just when going over a rough patch of road and hit a bump, it seems to get a mind of it's own and move ... if my memory serves, most commonly to the left, and I need to correct it. Perhaps describing it as loose is not entirely accurate of me.

It has always wanted to veer to the left slightly even after the dealership I bought it from claimed to do an alignment when I first complained but I wouldn't really describe it as a bad alignment as the pull isn't bad and can probably be explained away by the crown of the road in most cases.

Wheels are Lexus 18x9's with 245/40/18s on, so nothing remotely abnormal and the suspension are all stock AWD high riders. I had the same wheels and tires (tires are brand new) last summer for a few months and never noticed this. I don't mind paying for an alignment, even though it has only been something like 7000 km since the last one that was supposedly done if that's what it is but it just doesn't seem like an alignment kind of thing to me.

It appears whatever it is, it's not covered under power train warranty. I looked up the list of inclusions and nothing steering related is on there at all so there is pretty much no point in even bringing it up to the dealership as I don't want to pay Lexus prices for whatever may need to be done and it would be unfair to use them to diagnose something that I likely have no intention of paying them to fix. It's a bit odd, "U-Joint" is on the list of "rear drive drain" components covered though. It's probably going to just go on the backburner as a wait and see what happens thing.

I'll probably get an alignment anyway, it has been nearly two years even though I have put very little mileage on in that time. Actually the previous dealership I used did curb my front passenger side wheel, and may have put it a bit out of alignment. I may bring it up and ask if they think an alignment will help, if their price isn't too unreasonable I'll let them do that. Does anybody know if the u-joints on these cars requires any external lubrication? I'm guessing no.

 

Hi, Did you finally get to know what is causing the bumpy steering? I have a 2007 RX with same issue, steering veers a bit right at low speed.
High speed feels fine though. Any ideas?

 

I think it was just me freaking out and going over particularly crappy (work in progress) roads at the time. Ever since, it has seemed just fine to me. I even took it in for a high end 3D alignment at an alignment shop and they told me that everything was perfect even after 2 years without an alignment.

It was probably a combination of me being paranoid, going over crappy roads, and having just switched over to low profile summer tires from my really fat and skinny winter tires making things act weird in my eyes. I think the wide tires on my summer wheels follow road imperfections a lot more.

 

Hi, thanks for the update.

I guess I will drive a few more month to see if the issue gets worse.
If worse, I will bring it to shop for tune up. If not, everything should be okay.

My friend said it might be difference in tire pressure L/R. But I've check it doesn't seem to be the problem. Anyways, will drive more and see.

Thanks.

 

You need coil overs! LOL

 

my car is the same - i thought it was normal

when i hit a bump the steering wheel pulls to the left or right pretty sharply
i dont mind - makes it more fun to drive haha

 

it's normal.

over speed bumps, I have to hold the wheel, or else it will turn by itself.

not sure if bmw or benz do this.

 

I have tried Benz E-Class, it doesn't do anything like this at all.
The wheel goes over the bump and is still straight.
Don't know if it is caused by larger wheel? or ride height?

 

My GS 350 2010 started doing that at less than 30k miles. that and a half dozen problems made me very disappointed in this "most reliable" car. I can say with confidence than none of the other cars I've owned (VW, Nissan (3x), MB, Infiniti) ever done anything like this.

From what I've read online, it seems to be a case of Bump Steer problem. On uneven roads, I have to fight with my steering wheel to keep it straight; very unsafe.

My first and last Lexus ...

 

First thing I would check for is to make sure air tire pressure is set cold.

If the problem is still there, then you can take it to an alignment shop to have them check for any loose joints in the suspension.

Another thing to consider if you have aftermarket wheels is the wider you go the more bump steer feedback you will get.

If everything checks out ok, then it must be the uneven road you drove on. I wouldn't write off a vehicle as being unreliable due to its suspension geometry.

 

Writing off Lexus vehicles is a bit much if you ask me. Our GS's have electronic steering rack, expect this.... It's a sporty style vehicle...... Now when you move onto the LS, ES, IS, etc. they're all power steering so it's a different story.

Hope the GS in general doesn't steer you away from future models.... The rest are just as dope IMO... and I've come to love my electronic steering. I don't know why all the hate on it

 

Mine does something similar but only does it when i have the wheel turned hard over in either direction at parking lot speed. Almost feels like the ride jumps up for a split second and then goes on about normal business. not sure if that is normal operation or not. Anyone else have a similar situation?

 

I get this too, when the wheel is at hard lock in either direction, the car thumps and bumps about until I straighten out. I don't think much about it, but it's not very refined. Most especially noticeable in reverse.