Loose steering - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

tacofarmer · 07-14-2014, 05:21 PM

Not sure how to describe what I'm experiencing, but I'll give it a shot: going 70 or 80 mph and barely move the steering wheel to the left & right and the response of the car is almost a feeling of loosing control. No noises or vibration/shimming, just a feeling of the car is about to go sideways and roll?? 86k miles w original suspension. Could it be as simple as needing front struts? Thx in advance for your feedback.
RD

Tucker2 · 07-14-2014, 06:00 PM

If it were my car I would take it in for a 4 wheel alignment. They should be able to tell you if there are any loose parts that need to be looked at.

BIGJake111 · 07-14-2014, 07:23 PM

Maybe your spoiler motor is broken. I remember he manual saying that the car is particularly dangerous if its broken at speed, maybe it helps more than we think.

The Radium King · 07-14-2014, 07:26 PM

bump steer - worn tie-rod bushings.

tacofarmer · 07-14-2014, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tucker2

If it were my car I would take it in for a 4 wheel alignment. They should be able to tell you if there are any loose parts that need to be looked at.

Thanks, I will consider.

tacofarmer · 07-14-2014, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Radium King

bump steer - worn tie-rod bushings.

Thanks for the feedback, sort of what I was thinking, too.

tacofarmer · 07-14-2014, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BIGJake111

Maybe your spoiler motor is broken. I remember he manual saying that the car is particularly dangerous if its broken at speed, maybe it helps more than we think.

Interesting .... I hadn't thought of that, but will look into. Thanks!

Ebell914 · 07-15-2014, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Radium King

bump steer - worn tie-rod bushings.

I would think if it were the tie rod bushings, he would need to constantly move the steering wheel to be stable, not the other way around like he describes.

It seems like an alignment could be an issue. But, have you replaced your rear tires recently? If you have and they have crappy, low speed rating, this could happen. It happened to me on my Miata...I was trying to be cheap and used S rated tires...it was swimming all over the place. At highway speeds, it was dangerous. I am not sure if they even make tires this size in crappy speed ratings, but just food for thought....

tacofarmer · 07-15-2014, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tucker2

If it were my car I would take it in for a 4 wheel alignment. They should be able to tell you if there are any loose parts that need to be looked at.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ebell914

I would think if it were the tie rod bushings, he would need to constantly move the steering wheel to be stable, not the other way around like he describes.

It seems like an alignment could be an issue. But, have you replaced your rear tires recently? If you have and they have crappy, low speed rating, this could happen. It happened to me on my Miata...I was trying to be cheap and used S rated tires...it was swimming all over the place. At highway speeds, it was dangerous. I am not sure if they even make tires this size in crappy speed ratings, but just food for thought....

Yes, I just replaced my rear tires with contitrac's. Not sure about the speed rating, but the specs are porsche rated or at least that's what my Shop told me. I will check into the rating of the tires. Thanks for the good information!

san rensho · 07-16-2014, 12:48 PM

New tires tend to be really squirmy until they stiffen up after a few heat cycles. This could be what you are experiencing.

tacofarmer · 07-16-2014, 08:04 PM

Thank you sir!

Tucker2 · 07-17-2014, 06:16 PM

Can you let us know how this turns out? This is one of those threads I'd like to bookmark long term.

CoBeerToad · 07-18-2014, 06:14 AM

I've been having some suspension issues lately. Had the shakes at 70-100 mph so I replaced my tie rods and got an alignment done. Car still just feels weird to me. It feels like it is twisting when I hit bumps in the road. I'm trying to figure out if it was always that way or if I just got used to my Chrysler 300 after driving nothing but for 6 months.

The other day I took it out in the rain and the car was extremely squirrelly. More than usual. Enough for me to pull over twice and look underneath for a random suspension piece falling off. Decided to park it the next day. Looked at the car the day after that and actually opened my eyes. I have little to no tread on my rear tires. I don't know if that will fix the twisting I feel, but it was definitely the cause of being squirrelly in the rain.