Hi everyone,

Hopefully someone can give me some advice and point me in the right direction to solving my problem. I have searched as much as i could think of and have not found a probable answer.

When I turn my steering wheel left or right during a turn it does not return itself back to center. The steering wheel is a little stiff in my opinion but it has been that way for about a year since i had the car. I am pretty sure the steering wheel not returning to center just started recently along with some popping/clunking noises from the front suspension. The popping noises only lasted a few days and now I cannot reproduce them consistently. Once in a while i will hear a little pop while turning, but i am not sure if this is from the brakes or not (the brakes is a separate issue i am working on).

I took the vehicle to get inspected and we found some bushings that were worn, i believe they were the caster arm bushings on the front and rear. The lower and upper ball joints looked ok. We didn't notice anything wrong with the steering rack bushings, but when i did look at them myself while having someone turn the steering wheel left and right i saw a little movement in them.

With all that being said I plan to get the Daizen caster arm bushings, steering rack bushings, and LBJ and tie rods and replace those. I have a feeling this will not solve the steering wheel not returning to center problem. Is there anything else i should look at for the steering issue?

I did see the pre-tensioner adjustment thread. I don't believe that would be my issue since the steering wheel not returning to center just recently started with no one ever adjusting it before then.

Any help would be appreciated. Also can anyone confirm if the Daizen caster arm bushings come with the rear ones or just the front.

Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Michael

 

usually, its a caster issue. replace those bushings and ball joints as well. then do an alignment and see from there

 

I could also be that whoever owned the car prior to you adjusted steering pre-tensioner too much if you haven't messed with it yourself and as said above get these lower ball joints taken care of asap if they haven't been ever replaced.

 

Thank you for the responses. I will be ordering the Daizen bushings and i'll go from there. I really hope that takes care of my problems, and i hope the bushings come in a reasonable amount of time.

Thanks again,
Michael

 

I'm with krispl -- sounds like that tensioner was overtightened. But, give the bushing a whirl first to see...

 

Sounds like the lower ball joints are about to snap. I would stop driving the car and change them out ASAP.

 

man i hope they don't snap! I still need to drive the car. We checked them out and they didn't seem like they were in bad condition. I am ordering the Daizen set. I hope they come in fast.

What does everyone use for the rear bushings? OEM replacements or does someone make polyurethane bushigns? I don't see anything for the rear on the TM Engineering website.

Thanks again,
Michael

 

rears are never an issue. No steering wheel back there..

 

Hey guys. My steering also refuses to return to center. Up until today my car did not go straight when the wheel was straight. However, I took it to Lexus and received an alignment and a Steering angle adjustment. So now my car does drive straight when the wheel is straight, but when I turn the wheel it still does not return to center.

I have done some searching and it seems that many people associate this issue with the ball joints.

I just installed new ball joints, tie rods, and caster arms this fall so I don't think that is the problem. My UCA's are also only a year old.

The Lexus tech mentioned that he could not get my alignment all the way in spec. because my vehicle is lowered (only an inch on Eibachs). However, my vehicle is barely out of spec, so I do not know if that is the issue either.

Another option for correcting this problem that I have seen is loosening/ tightening the Steering Rack Adjuster. However, since I have a 98 GS 400 I do not have the option to do this.

The only items I still have to replace in my front suspension are the Control Arm #1's, Inner Tie Rods, Sways Bar Links, Sway Bar Bushings and the Steering Rack Bushings.

Do you guys think any of these parts will make a difference in the issue I'm having?

Any other solutions? Thanks, guys.

 

Your rack and pinion may be sticking inside thats why it wont return

 

your car does have the steering rack pre-tensioner, it looks like a hex bolt to put in, adjust that. if it's too tight then your steering wheel will not return to its original position.

 

How would I fix this?

I thought the 98 models did not have this option. I will take a look under the car tomorrow and check it out.

 

Try putting some ATP AT205 Re Seal. Can be found on Amazon.

 

To both people mentioning have steering issues in which the steering wheel does not return to the center line STOP DRIVING NOW. The reason I say this is because your LBJ are completely bad. When they are worn, you will start to hear a clunking sound coming from the front suspension whenever you turn the wheel. Once it stops making that noise and the steering wheel won't return to center line, the LBJ are completely bad and it becomes a matter of just hitting the right bump for the entire wheel to come off the car. Please stop driving your cars and take them to the shop right away.
This happened to me, the clunking sound, then the sound went away, then the steering wheel stop returning to the center....then I hit a pot hole and the wheel came off my car, luckily there was nobody driving behind me and I was only going 15mph

 

Don't waste your money on other things, I'm telling you its the LBJ. Please replace both ASAP