I'm curious, since I bought the car I'm wondering if my steering rack needs to be replaced, or if just some bushings do? After any left turn, once im out of the turn and goin straight, the steering wheel is vertical instead of horizontal like its supposed to be. I even had an alignment done and it didn't help any, so any idea what could be up? Oh, and this car was hit in the passenger side rear panel/fender in 2000.

 

Just get the entire rack replaced. Go to www.steeringrack.com. They have a core refund... worth the fix.

 

Anything else that I should replace while that's being done?

 

Are there any other symptoms other than the angle of the steering wheel? Do you mean it's 90 degrees off?

How does the car handle a quick zig zag, left/right turn? If its sloppy then it sounds like the rack might just need new mounts if it is more than just the position of the steering wheel.

Have a good mechanic go for a ride with you and show them what you explained, then have them put it on the lift and they should be able to tell you whats what.

Check the little grommet mounts on the drivers side of the rack. Those are the ones that always go first and you can get replacements from vftbushes. Aka Andrew Vlamos. Lexus does not sell them.

 

Alright cool thanks, I'll have it looked at soon.

 

i have a simmilar problem don't no if its related it might not be, but a coulple days ago i hit a curb becuase it was really wet out and i had some understeer, anyway i had the same problem steering wheel was vertical to go strait. I thought i just mest up the alignment of the wheel, actually i bent a part of my suspension called the nuckle don't no if this helps any, but i would recomend getting your car looked at before u go pay for something u might not need.