I Can Feel The Bumps On My Steering Wheel?

[dssnosher]

Awful feeling when my '98 GS400 goes over a small curb with both wheels straight. As soon as wheels hit the curb something in the front shakes and i can feel everything in steering wheel as it shakes too. Changed lower ball joints yesterday and changed right tie rod about 3 month ago. haven't done alignment thou after these changes thou but i did it shortly before. Anyone else had this steering wheel knocking sounds before?

[CarbonGS]

you may want to see if your tower struts were torqued down to specs. it could also be your steering column. there is a way to tighten that up as well.

things you can possibly do:

steering rack bushings

steering column pretensioner

check sway bars

something that worked for a member on cl was tightening every bolt up front.

"went back to the alignment shop, and the owner stated that he had another GS like mine the friday before, and they fixed it by tightening EVERY bolt in the front end. Since it was slow this morning, he had a mechanic tighten every bolt/nut on the front end underneath....VOILA, it fixed it.

He explained that the front end is on a SUBFRAME. This subframe bolts to the chassis, and over time the bolts loosen, causing the subframe to move slightly back and forth as directions are changed and brakes applied. The mech tightened for 1/2 hour. They would not let me under the car while working, but he said that he tightened the sway bar bolts, stabilizer bolts, strut bolts, lower "A" frame bolts, rack and pinion bolts, and upper strut bolts BY HAND. No impacts. I was amazed at how smooth the car drives now.

I think I will check the bolts on a regular basis. I have been under that car SO many times lately, but missed this. I felt that it HAD to be a PART. I was down to the lower "A frame" bushings and the upper shock mounts. I was literally grabbing at straws. It detracted so much from the enjoyment of the car."

hope this helps.

[dssnosher]

you may want to see if your tower struts were torqued down to specs. it could also be your steering column. there is a way to tighten that up as well.

things you can possibly do:

steering rack bushings

steering column pretensioner

check sway bars

something that worked for a member on cl was tightening every bolt up front.

"went back to the alignment shop, and the owner stated that he had another GS like mine the friday before, and they fixed it by tightening EVERY bolt in the front end. Since it was slow this morning, he had a mechanic tighten every bolt/nut on the front end underneath....VOILA, it fixed it.

He explained that the front end is on a SUBFRAME. This subframe bolts to the chassis, and over time the bolts loosen, causing the subframe to move slightly back and forth as directions are changed and brakes applied. The mech tightened for 1/2 hour. They would not let me under the car while working, but he said that he tightened the sway bar bolts, stabilizer bolts, strut bolts, lower "A" frame bolts, rack and pinion bolts, and upper strut bolts BY HAND. No impacts. I was amazed at how smooth the car drives now.

I think I will check the bolts on a regular basis. I have been under that car SO many times lately, but missed this. I felt that it HAD to be a PART. I was down to the lower "A frame" bushings and the upper shock mounts. I was literally grabbing at straws. It detracted so much from the enjoyment of the car."

hope this helps.

JFYI

Been to 2 shops yesterday. Both of them were not able to find anything wrong with suspension. One stated "Everything is so tight in here, almost feels like it was filled with cement", but problem still exists. I will definitely let them know about your recommendations and about bolts on the front

Thanks!

[CarbonGS]

no prob. overtightening can be bad too ya know! there are specific torque specs for everything.

[dcfish]

no prob. overtightening can be bad too ya know! there are specific torque specs for everything.

Check the steering knuckle.

[CarbonGS]

no prob. overtightening can be bad too ya know! there are specific torque specs for everything.

Check the steering knuckle.

yes, the steering knuckle and pretensioner are your main concerns at this point. you've pretty much eliminated all other causes