Wandering Steering

[cts1986]

hi all

i own a 2002 corolla t sport, alls fine except that once i pass 160kph the steering begins to feel as if it steers it self, if that makes sense, no vibrating, just twitching from side to side. under 160kph dnt feel a thing. anyone have any ideas? i dnt want to go waste money tracking it if thats not the problem which i dont think it is, but i could be well wrong... thanks in advance for any ideas or help

[Ajwhite7]

Hi there, im pretty new to toyota,

but it sounds to me like a wheel balancing issue and or warped discs, is there any shaking or wandering under braking? and are your alloys in good nick? no large gouges is there?

Regards

[cts1986]

hey thanks for the response any opinion welcome, alloys new and balanced, theres no vibrationat all at any speed, its just as u pas 140kph it tugs side to side as if it wants to steer itself, nothing under braking either, its a strange one....

[Ajwhite7]

is it only on certain road types? eg like a motorway, all im thinking is it might just be a well worn road with slight grooves in it from years of use, and not relating to your car in the slightest and you may only notice the swaying past those speeds?

[Ajwhite7]

and your not running stretched tyres are you? or got different tread patterns fitted?

[cts1986]

all tyres exact same none worn or stretched, i also thought about road type i notice it on the motorway i use every wknd, never realy do that speed anywhere else i should try just to c if it does it again... thats exactly the type of feeling it is its as if one wheel grips then the other and vice versa causing that tugging feeling if that makes sense. i asked at a tyre place guy there suggested bushings btu im not entirely sure what bushings do tbh.. i dont do taht speed all the time but its nice to feel safe when the urge arises lol

[Ajwhite7]

You will probably find its ruts in the road especially if you use the left hand lane or centre lane as these tend to be the ones most in use by HGVs as long as you feel safe and the steering is accurate around town I'd put it down to the ruts if you think it's a more serious issue then book it in for a once over and see what results come back

[cts1986]

around town anywhere realy no bother at all seems to be perfect just that but yeah maybe sometime next service or something have them look under car see whats happening.. anyways thats for the input, makes me think road surface theory could be possible as well..

[kas31]

Have you had a look to see, if you got any play in the tie rods or joints under neath? My levin use to do that, doing around 70-100mph

would pull right or left and wanting to switch lanes :S . As there was play in the steering rack.

Best thing to do is get it on a ramp. And have a go at pulling each rod.

[cts1986]

no i havnt yet, but good tip, was it an expensive fix? without a ramp would it be a complicated fix at home?

thanks for reply.

[kas31]

Where my levin is fairly rare, and being an import. Toyota were coming up with crazy figures. Like £320 offside front and near side £360. As they say they have to get parts imported. Which was Rubbish!!! So took them off, Went to à company called mill autos. To see if they could get the same tie rods Or similar, left them with them for 2 days. Cost me £42 Inc vat bargain.

best thing to do if you havent got a ramp at home. Is to run it into kwick fit, say just been driving my car and its pulling funny. could it be tracking/tie tods/ Ball joints????? As they have got à ramp and will tell you. And its free! If they say its fine ask them what could it be????

if it is Any of the above, jack the car. Stick it on axle stands. Remove wheel, loosen the nuts before jacking. Remove caliper easy, few bolts on the back, i do this as easy to work around, undo bolts from suspension to lower arm. You will have to undo track rod arm nuts, 1 Either side. knock the track rod up with à track rod/ Ball joint remover. What ever you do, dont hit with a Hammer. As will damage the thread!!!! Made that mistake before lol and then unbolt the ball joint underneath the disk, thats only if ball joint needs doing. once off its all easy stuff :)

sounds long but only takes 10minutes. If you do replace Any of the joints/rods. I recommend getting tracking looked at. As 9/10 will be out.

And price varies depending on what you need. Tie rods around £35 -40 à pair. Good thing about the t sport is, steering parts are fairly cheap. :) hope this helps

anything else just ask

regards kay

[oldcodger]

Hi,

Is the car due for its mot, they should spot any wear in the suspension and steering, or you could ask a garage for a proper suspension check, only a 30 min job - its not always easy to spot wear if you have no experience of testing those parts.

Think for an 11 year old car is likely to have some wear.

When you fitted new alloys, expect you went up in diameter and width so that will put more stress on any weak point.

Any chance you can put your old rims back on the prove the point ?

[kas31]

I Dont know how good your mechanical knowledge is.

To be honest if your Abit worried about doing it, take it to your local garage. £35 per hour most garages charge.

But if you want to learn how to do it, its a good learning curve. That way you can do it your self, and gives you a good insight for future work that needs to be done. Hope this helps

[cts1986]

Well, im no mechanic but usualy if i take a gud look and try figure out what everything is and does before trying anything i cn usualky get something done, and with a wright up like urs makes it a bit easier aswell, if it does seem like something to much for me il take it to a garage and have it sorted.. I live in ireland and the weather doesnt allow for much outside work and with no garage im a bit stuck so we see in the summer. in response to oldcodger, car just passed NCT/MOT no problems unless the wear is not very bad yet, dont know, the prob started with original alloys, when i swapped the back to the front as front were getting worn, it was almost as if with grippier tyres it twitched more very strange but true... but il give that kwik fit idea a try in the meanwhile see what comes of it. thanks for all the tips ideas and advice il defo try kwik fit lol

do you have t sports yourselves??

[kas31]

Yeah... I bought one last week :) Corolla t sport. Need to refurb the alloys this weekend. If it dont rain lol soon as i do i will upload some pics.

Another thing what Size alloys you got? Mine isnt the best drive as wheels are to big lol anyway, if any problems give us a shout.

[cts1986]

they a good car im enjoying mine so far and no problems yet lol, i must upload some pics never remember though my alloys are 17" 205/45 its also lowered on Eibach springs my ride is a bit stiffer but not back breaking hard. im thinking of getting a apexi induction kit next. but building up a budget still. yeah same with you any probs give a shout.

[kas31]

kool, ive got 18" Masitaly alloys on mine.There coming straight off lol

They look ok, but not the look i am after, And previous owner has curbed the life out of them lol

Maybe a set of these with a red strip on outer rim?????

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Buddyclub-SF-Challenge-Black-Yellow-16-x-7-4-x-100-BC-SF1670-1BY-/251007577312?pt=UK_CarParts_Acc_Wheels_tyres_Trims_Car_Rims_ET&hash=item3a7137ace0

Any recommendations????

Not rota's, they look nice but worst alloys ever made in my opinion... Over priced and love to buckle or crack.

cheers

[kas31]

the induction your talking about are good, i have a k&n typhoon on mine. And to be totally honest with you, my t sport drinks more then my old 350z. Reading 17-21mpg lol i have done £120 in the week i have had it. Baring in mind i had to do 120 miles journey to pick up the car. And another 100 miles around town/carriage way. car has now got just below 1/4 of a tank of fuel. Not cheap to run for sure.

I am thinking about getting a panel filter, as the readings are to low. And it don't help having bonnet spacers. more cold air more fuel.

[cts1986]

18s are huge lol 16" or 17" are a good size in my opinion. those buddy clubs look good. the RAYS engineering im running are a good alloy havnt had any prbs, i hav seen some nice Lenso alloys but i cudnt say what quality is like, till now i thought rota wasnt bad but uv obviously had a diff experience with them . So you going back to standard airbox then? when you say readings to low, do u mean mpg is to low with that induction kit? does that kn hav a nice sound off it? i c you have a facelift model does that come with strut brace standard? im looking for one for mine but struggling to find one. why you change from 350z to corolla?

[kas31]

Hi mate, yes 18" is way to big. Debating between a set of them buddy's or some rays. Yes I have had 3 sets of Rotas, on different jap cars. Always getting punctures due alloys splitting / cracking etc. so never again! I am going to do a custom air box, meaning increase the dimensions of the hole in the air box. I have seen people gain more bhp and engine still sounds grunty. Only a few bhp gain. Looks standard, and maf flow reads better mpg. And yes that's what I mean by low mpg on a reading doing 60mph in 5-6th reading 26mpg lol

So with the typhoon k&n it's making my maf flow read really low mpg. And yes the k&n sounds immense :) tbh it sounds really similar to my levin black top.

Yeah the front strut came on the car. Don't know if it came standard from the factory. Where you located? As I can ask if anyone has got one going cheap.

350 to the corolla, well since sept , px my colt czt which was a run around to work. For a evo 6 In nov ,then px for a merc evo sport coupe dec, then px 350z 09 plate, sold that 2 weeks ago which only owed me 6k, sold for 11,800. so got a good profit. And bought the

t sport. For a little £3k always been a Toyota fan, that's why I still got my levin :) but like to change vehicle every so often. Sorry about the long message

[cts1986]

well thats no good, n they not cheap, ud expect quality from that kinda price, but lesson learnt i suppose. where did u see that mod? before i buy that apexi kit i might see what that mod is like, are you only doing that because of fuel consumtion? or are there other benefits? if it wasnt for fuel would you keep kn typhoon on. you see i only use car for wknds as i have van for work so if it is only fuel consumtion i mght still go with apexi or what u think? yes i think strut comes standard on facelift, i live over in ireland making a bit difficult but not impossible i suppose lol and at the right price might be able to factor in postage parts for these cars seem to be more abundant there in the uk. uv had a nice line up of cars, but not one honda. any reason? lol

[kas31]

Well at the moment it is my daily driver & 100 miles a day, yes is the fuel. My 350 was cheaper to run! Engine is twice the size. My pal done the mod, will ask what he done exactly, think its increasing size of hole in the air box, think he then fibreglassed it. And the draw up is online I will find it and post it up on here. I think the apexi Will be fine, jut take a look on the forum before purchase or google. Saying that, I am going to replace k&n filter off of my typhoon, and stick my green stuff filter on tomorrow and see if there is a difference.

Maybe just a filter issue!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-Corolla-T-Sport-Strut-Brace-/130875642453?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&fits=Model%3ACorolla&hash=item1e78cbd255

Not cheap :0 To be totally honest with you, Ireland has better breakers then anywhere for jap parts. Especially imports :)

I reckon you could pick up a strut brace in Ireland for pennies....

Go on google, and type in Ireland jap part breakers.. Your be surprised

There is a lot of rare and imported cars in Ireland

Had an old ep3 in 2011. There to common now, so always go for rare or different cars.