manalive20

After reading my situation please give me one good reason not to suspect my STEERING RACK. Any tests to diagnose would be appreciated as well.

I have a similar situation to dlomonosov:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=260994

While in park or driving the steering wheel has a loose 1/2 inch play left to right. I've checked all the bolts and universal joints from the steering wheel to the steering rack (tight). (A visual) As someone turns the wheel slightly left to right I am looking at the steering rod connected to the rack under the hood. The rod is moving slightly left to right as it should but the wheels don't. This situation changes every so often while driving the car the slight play will go away and the steering wheel feels tight again for a little while, but then will revert to the loose disconnected feel for the majority of my driving. If it were worn steering rack gears wouldn't it always have the same loose symptoms no matter what?

Also a slight clunking noise from the front area as I go off a sloped drive way on angle to get on the main road, it clunks as the car balances itself over the slopped drive way. The steering feels loose and feels like it disconnects from the wheels and the rack as I go over rough pavement or a brick driveway, it feels like steering is not planted to the wheels, but has play. Same thing happens on highway when I hit a bump it feels like it disconnect a bit.

Vehicle:
2001 GS430
83k miles

Work performed:
Tein CS v2 coilover suspension with slight drop, new ball joints l/r, Daizen steering rack bushings, upper/lower control arm bushings, sway bar bushings front and rear. Running 06 GS430 5-star wheels w/ Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 245/40/18 30to34psi. Pre-tentioner tightened also.

Everything in the suspension and wheels has been balanced, bolts tightened and aligned multiple times by the Lexus dealer and multiple performance shops.

Adam2562

iTrader: (2)

i have the same thing.. the only thing that has hiddensome of it was tightemned the pre tensioner.. but i feel like it has come ack some.. or maybe cuz i over tightened it at first then loosened it up a lil so maybe it gave more feedback back again.. but ihavethis too.. n would love to cure it... i was juts thinking maybe i'd replace the oem sway bar bushings.. hmm i might go order those right now

manalive20

The pretensioner did mask it temporarily but it is definitely still loose steering.

My car would be very nice with this out of the way.

corkycal

iTrader: (8)

are you hearing noise from the steering column over dips? i wonder if there are bushings on the steering column that has worn down?

Adam2562

iTrader: (2)

thats wut im thinking but i think labor is a lot to replace those

manalive20

The steering column doesn't produce any noise when hitting undulating or brick roads.

When there are sounds they eminate from the front lower part of the car (i.e. steering rack area). And not necessarily when the car is moving. Just turning the steering wheel left to right creates a 'pop/knock' sound towards my foot well.

When driving undulating or brick roads I feel a loose disconnected loose fluttery left to right knock feeling/noise.

That's the best I can describe it.

GSV8

I posted a similar thread a few weeks ago. I have basicly the same thing as you. I also have done similar work to mine- LC arm bushes, ties, b/joints, Tein CS V2, Daizen rack bushes, new tires, 2 alignments, Daizen OEM sway bar bsuhes, TRD STB. My car is a 98 with 142K. If I could cure this disconnected/sometimes-loose/unsecure feeling my car would also be very enjoyable! There are a bunch of companies on-line that sell remanufactured racks. The one I found to be the most appealing is...

http://www.steeringrack.com/product_...oducts_id/4190

It has a lifetime warranty oddly enough. My father in law would help me install it so I could keep the cost down.
These are such great cars but man you have to be a damned engineer to figure out how to settle the suspension and steering.

manalive20

Thanks!

I'll check it out.

pavster

Guys, I will chime in since I've owned the car for over two years and 40k miles now (currently 62k miles). The steering in this car has been a disappointment from day 1. I've tried everything I could think of, short of replacing the actual rack. I believe my rack is ok though.

Here are the things I've tried in the order I tried them and their effects:

1. tighten the pretentioner: puts more "drag" on the steering wheel, so it's not moved as much by ruts in the road. feels more stable but really isn't -- there is slop elsewhere in the system.

2. daizen castor arm bushings. This was actually nice in improving the road feel through the steering -- feels more like a BMW, but still loose steering.

3. Strut tower brace (TRD). a noticeable improvement in tightening up the front end.

4. Disconnect the speed sensitive steering pump pressure adjustment wire, later placed a resistor in it to make steering more normal -- huge difference in increasing feel of the steering by effectively reducing steering boost. (see a link my signature for a full description).

5. Solid steering rack mount to the chassis subframe (Daizen rack mounts are a half-way-there solution). Did this using a bunch of washers around the rack bushings. Huge difference. See my sig for link to description.

However, the steering was still somewhat loose -- more so than other cars I've driven. Soo...

6. Tom's lower front chassis brace. Another wow. Huge difference.

7. Tom's rear brace links -- only installed one -- the one that bypasses the soft subframe mount. A nice improvement in the feedback from the back-end but no change in steering.

8. Bought a Mini Cooper S. Ha; I got sick of trying to make the lex into a sports car and bought a real sports car instead. Now the lex runs on 16 inch winter tires, which complement the rest of the suspension mods beatifully. When I switch to summer tires (17" Michelin Pilot Sport 2), the loose steering becomes annoying again (although not nearly as annoying as it was before I did all this stuff).

So what can I say from this experience. Every time I'd make one of the mods, especially the ones that made a big difference, I'd think, wow, I've fixed it. But then I'd get used to the new feeling and realize that it's still loose, just not as much as before. Which brings me to the conclusion that Toyota is not a BMW (!); they make comfortable cars; they make reliable cars, but they do not make sports cars. Go read the supra forums, and you'll find that plenty of people complain about the same issues with Supra steering. I've driven MR2 Spyders (with low miles on them) and guess what. Same thing -- loose and no steering feel. In fact, the cheapest VW or Mazda has a much more precise and communicative steering than any Toyota/Lexus. Sad but true.

Scott1258

pavster,

You wrote in your description:

"The issue stems from soft rubber bushings at the steering rack mount. The rack is mounted using two bolts -- you can see the top one out on the left photo. Inside the bushing, there is a metal sleeve. The trick is to get a few washers whose hole is larger than that rod. Place the washers on both sides of the rack and tighten until the rubber is squeezed to the point where the rack can no longer move."

When you say to place the washers on both sides of the rack do you mean to put washers on both bolts but just in the front of the bolt near the head(the upper and lower one) or do you mean to put washers on the front and back of each bolt (I'm not even sure if you can do this)?

And how tight did you tighten the bolt to get it to the point where the rack no longer moves -- ie.. on your torque wrench what settng did you use? Or was it just tighten that sucker down till it's deader'n hell?

I've done the Daizen steering rack bushings and noticed a difference in the steering feel - however, the car still tramlines. Did this mod correct the tamlining for you? If it did/does I'm all over it as this really bothers me. I'm running 18's and I really hate the tramlining part.

Thanks for clearing up the issues above. I'm sure this info will help a lot of us here on CL.

Scott

pavster

Scott,

your understanding is correct -- I took out both rack mounting bolts and put washers on both sides and then tightened them pretty well, without breaking them. You probably want to check the spec and not go to far; I did use a torque wrench but don't remember where I had it set. I don't know if this trick will work with Daizen rack bushings -- depends on how much of them sticks out.

It didn't totally solve the tramlining, but made a huge difference.

-pavel.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

The daizen rack bushing shouldn't need anything else. They're just damn stiffer than the OEM rubberbands If anything, they'll last longer than a Lexus engine, and we all know how long that is!