Guys, wanted too see if anyone has done anything to cutt dwn on the loose steering on our cars. I have the ecu, STB and coilovers, but still want tighter steering too enhance my mods. Anyone have any ideas or tricks up their sleeve?

 

some have asked the dealer to tighten up the steering pretensioner and it helps. cost about $70 to $100

 

free under warrantee

 

Did you guys see a big difference? And how tight can you adjust it?

 

Haven't done it but from recent posts here, it said no more than 1/8 of a turn.

 

Couple of things
1. Dealer will only do it for certain cars that are affected by the TSB - Those were 98 and 99 only I think. They won't even touch my 03 and man is the steering terrible on this car..
2. I have heard that adjusting the pretensioner can affect other things - like making the car more susceptible to road crown and the wheel not centering after a turn. The most important thing I have heard is that you need to mark exactly where the bolt is before you give it a turn and even then, you may never get it back to what it was.
3. My power steering fluid was actually over filled and now that I have drained it slightly, I swear I notice a difference in steering feel.

Now that said, does anyone know where the pretensioner adjustment is?

Doug

 

-Just had my GS at the dealer yesterday for loose steering feel at low speeds. Mechanic said he compared it with 6 other GS and mine was right in the middle....so I guess it's normal. Didn't really notice it until I got new tires. The GS sure does have a sensitive front end!

 

0-How can you say all of this if you don't know the pretensioner adjustment is?

1. Dealer will only do it for certain cars that are affected by the TSB - Those were 98 and 99 only I think. They won't even touch my 03 and man is the steering terrible on this car..
=> they do it for any car, if not for you, then go to another dealer

2. I have heard that adjusting the pretensioner can affect other things - like making the car more susceptible to road crown and the wheel not centering after a turn. The most important thing I have heard is that you need to mark exactly where the bolt is before you give it a turn and even then, you may never get it back to what it was.

NO, it reduced vibration because the steering wheel is tighter.
>the wheel not centering after a turn
NO

3. My power steering fluid was actually over filled and now that I have drained it slightly, I swear I notice a difference in steering feel.
your imagination, unless you over fill all the way to the top, even so, it should not make any different since it is in the reserved tank, it's not where the actual mechanical of the steering wheel/pump, there is no change in line pressure

 

Um, maybe you misread my post - let's try again
Does anyone know WHERE the steering pretensioner adjustment is.

You are also wrong about the dealers doing the adjustment. At least not on a car under warranty. Many people (myself included) have tried - trust me. Most techs don't even know about it.

My other comments, about wheel not centering itself after a turn and the car being more suscepible to road crown are from a senior toyota drivetrain engineer in LA. His actual email is below.

Also, if you are up to it, overfill your steering fuild resevoir and see if your steering feel decreases (i.e. the steering boost seems to go up). Swear this is the case. Either way, it seems better - so if it is only in my mind it still works for me.

Now can you tell me where that pretensioner adjustment is or not?

email re: steering pretensioner........................
The rack preload can be adjusted but if you touch it, you can potentially create another problem such as poor return at speed (centering), sensitivity to drift & road crown, etc. You will almost certainly be unable to put it back to exactly where it was if you do change it. If he does feel the urge that he can't contain, small adjustments marking the starting point, then drive at various speeds and road surfaces. I personally wouldn't play with it and I love to doodle with these type of things. I did it on my 76 Nova 15yrs ago and it made a small difference but never got the thing the same as it was before I touched it. Made one thing better, other thing worse.