Steering Wheel Play

[athenslex]

I know my 2001 GS300 is never going to be buttoned down like a German sedan but at especially highway speeds I can move the steering wheel about 1 inch left or right without the car doing anything. The car wanders annoyingly, gets blown around by semis and feels numb. I seem to remember reading something about steering pretensioner??? Any ideas out there? I understand being designed for comfort but this is a little ridiculous.

[GuyTelefunken]

My '98 has almost 120,000 miles on it and there is no wander of any kind. I had three German cars before the Lexus and I have found that the Lexus is the only one that will track perfectly down the highway even you take your hands off of the wheel.

I would suggest that you get the suspension/steering system/tires, etc. checked out. There may be worn parts that need attention. For instance, at one time or another in the past I have replaced the following:

A. Shocks, all four.

B. Front Tierod Ends

C. Front Lower Ball Joints

Personally, I still get a sense of satisfaction of just how solid and lacking of play my steering still is after almost 10 years. The solidity may be felt as numbness by some people. It certainly is not the same as a BMW while going through the twisties.

Note: There is no such thing as a steering pretensioner.

[wm burroughs]

Yeh my steering wheel (98 GS300) feels a little "slushy", but I don't have that much (1 inch) play, and it doesn't affect the car's road handling.

[TRD911]

My '98 has almost 120,000 miles on it and there is no wander of any kind. I had three German cars before the Lexus and I have found that the Lexus is the only one that will track perfectly down the highway even you take your hands off of the wheel.

I would suggest that you get the suspension/steering system/tires, etc. checked out. There may be worn parts that need attention. For instance, at one time or another in the past I have replaced the following:

A. Shocks, all four.

B. Front Tierod Ends

C. Front Lower Ball Joints

Personally, I still get a sense of satisfaction of just how solid and lacking of play my steering still is after almost 10 years. The solidity may be felt as numbness by some people. It certainly is not the same as a BMW while going through the twisties.

Note: There is no such thing as a steering pretensioner.

How about a preload .

I have found something on clublexus that might be usefull.

http://www.gainrecordings.com/lexus/1998%2...8%20field%20fix

and

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread...rack&page=1

The fix might be year specific as they changed the design of the rack sometime druing the 1st year. 98...

B