Strange steering feel

[speedyspaghetti]

Hey guys,

About two weeks ago the steering on my 2016 FR-S started to feel really loose and sloppy. It feels like I have to turn the wheel a lot more than before to make turns and there seems to be noticeably more body roll in corners. The car doesn't pull to any side.

The car has 27k miles, I bought it at 25.5k CPO and it felt tight as a drum until recently. Car is bone stock. I brought it to Toyota yesterday but they said "the tech drove it at it felt normal to him," but it definitely feels bad to me. It also feels like the ride is mushier/softer than before. I used to feel every little thing on the road (which I liked) and now it feels like a Lexus floating over everything. Tires are Nokian entyre 225s with plenty of tread left - they came with the car.

I'm bringing the car back next week when their more experience tech is in, but in the meantime I'm looking for possible answers. Does anyone have any ideas for what might be the problem here? Thanks everyone.

[cjd]

What are the tire pressures?

My experience with those tires is they go particularly mushy as pressure goes low. I hate the way they drive - actually feel worse to me than the Nokian WRG3 on the same car.

[bcj]

Go out and bounce each corner a few times.
Will it teeter totter around one axis more than another?
Just to see if one of the shock absorbers isn't anymore.
That corner will just have the spring holding it up and going "Boing!"

Simple check to see if you're sane.

Also: High pressure now in mid-to-so cal.
That can significantly change the relative pressure in the tires.

[speedyspaghetti]

Originally Posted by bcj

Go out and bounce each corner a few times.
Will it teeter totter around one axis more than another?
Just to see if one of the shock absorbers isn't anymore.
That corner will just have the spring holding it up and going "Boing!"

Simple check to see if you're sane.

Also: High pressure now in mid-to-so cal.
That can significantly change the relative pressure in the tires.

I'll check the shocks tomorrow, but Toyota said the did a visual inspection of the suspension and everything seemed fine. Tire pressure is at 38 psi front and 39 psi rear currently.

[speedyspaghetti]

Originally Posted by cjd

What are the tire pressures?

My experience with those tires is they go particularly mushy as pressure goes low. I hate the way they drive - actually feel worse to me than the Nokian WRG3 on the same car.

38 psi front, 39 psi rear.

Yeah, I wasn't totally sold on the tires even before this issue. They came with the car, but I'll definitely be looking for something else when they wear out. Lemme know if you have any suggestion for tires for when that time comes.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by speedyspaghetti

38 psi front, 39 psi rear.

Yeah, I wasn't totally sold on the tires even before this issue. They came with the car, but I'll definitely be looking for something else when they wear out. Lemme know if you have any suggestion for tires for when that time comes.

Your car may be due for an alignment ......


humfrz

[cjd]

Originally Posted by speedyspaghetti

38 psi front, 39 psi rear.

Just to confirm, that's where they are now? If you haven't checked them after the steering feel went away, do so.

As for tire suggestions... forget all season tires unless there's a particular reason (though some may be 3.5 season and good enough for a daily). And check the wheel/tire section for far more information and lots of 'best thing ever' opinions on tires all over the map.

[speedyspaghetti]

Originally Posted by cjd

Just to confirm, that's where they are now? If you haven't checked them after the steering feel went away, do so.

As for tire suggestions... forget all season tires unless there's a particular reason (though some may be 3.5 season and good enough for a daily). And check the wheel/tire section for far more information and lots of 'best thing ever' opinions on tires all over the map.

Yeah, I just checked this morning 38.5 all around. Yeah, I live in California where we have 1.5 seasons pretty much, so as soon as these are done I'll go to summer tires. I have Conti ExtremeContacts on my Boxster and those things feel amazing.

[speedyspaghetti]

Originally Posted by humfrz

Your car may be due for an alignment ......


humfrz

Hopefully Toyota will at least check the alignment specs for free under warranty.. if not then I might look into some good alignment shops. I might swap the front and rear tires today too - see if that does anything.

[cjd]

I suppose there's a chance you had an endlink or swaybar break or something break, though I can't imagine that requiring you turn the wheel more. Either way, I'd say getting it somewhere they can put it up on a lift and inspect is the best way forward. If you take it to the dealer and it has some warranty coverage, specify the problem; let them explore solutions.

[speedyspaghetti]

Originally Posted by cjd

I suppose there's a chance you had an endlink or swaybar break or something break, though I can't imagine that requiring you turn the wheel more. Either way, I'd say getting it somewhere they can put it up on a lift and inspect is the best way forward. If you take it to the dealer and it has some warranty coverage, specify the problem; let them explore solutions.

Hey so I put the car up on jack stands today to see if I could see anything.

I noticed that my front sway bar seems to move in and out of the bushings with just minimal force - here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=I3mh1Rga_NM

I'm not sure if this is normal, but that's the only thing I could really feel was "loose."

I also rotated the tires front to back and vice versa, but I feel like it actually made things worse. Now it feels like my rear end wants to slide out easily / is wobbly. I'm 99% sure I did everything up correctly - I lifted the car by the front jack point and the rear diff, made all the lug nuts snug before dropping it, and then torqued them to 100 ft/lbs on the ground. I hope I didn't mess something up, but I don't know why it would be worse after the rotation.

[strat61caster]

Stop screwing around and get it on an alignment rack.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by speedyspaghetti

Hey so I put the car up on jack stands today to see if I could see anything.

I noticed that my front sway bar seems to move in and out of the bushings with just minimal force - here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=I3mh1Rga_NM

I'm not sure if this is normal, but that's the only thing I could really feel was "loose."

I also rotated the tires front to back and vice versa, but I feel like it actually made things worse. Now it feels like my rear end wants to slide out easily / is wobbly. I'm 99% sure I did everything up correctly - I lifted the car by the front jack point and the rear diff, made all the lug nuts snug before dropping it, and then torqued them to 100 ft/lbs on the ground. I hope I didn't mess something up, but I don't know why it would be worse after the rotation.

Welp, I can appreciate your tenacity in trying to figure out what's wrong with your car ....... but, I have found that there is a time to give up "looking" yourself and take the car into an alignment shop.

Now, ol @strat61caster is running out of patience with you. And you are on the verge of getting a from me.

Even IF you find a loose/broken piece and fix/replace it ....... most likely you are still going to have the alignment done at a shop anyway.

Whatever is going on with your car sounds like it's a serious condition, that could cause a mechanical failure.

END OF LECTURE




humfrz

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by speedyspaghetti

made all the lug nuts snug before dropping it, and then torqued them to 100 ft/lbs on the ground.

not you issue, but I believe is should be 89 ft/lbs.