d22 steering issues

Since new my nav veers to the left or right of road. (depending on camber).

When not moving and engine off, the steering wheel has about 2 inches of play each way.

What would anyone reccomend to correct this.

any one else have this problem.?

they can get a bit twitchy if the tire pressures are not right. try lowering your front tire pressures.

yeah mine is about the same,
i dont know if there is a way to tighten it up but it would be good if ya could

you can tighten up the steering box but i would have a play with tire pressures first.

how do ya tighen the steering box?
as i checked my tyres'this afternoon.

Thanks Guys.

Seems its not only mine then.

You do get tired of "driving' every meter. The thing just wanders too much.

Did have 40lbs in the front tires, dropped down to 37. Didnt help, but thanx Tweekes.

does it drive ok when the front hubs are in?

tire pressures depend a lot on the tires.
usually run 40-50lb but got them at 30-35lb due to not carring much weight. (except for silage bales !) i found running the fronts at 35lb it doesn't wander so much. ie drives a lot like it does when the hubs are in. i guess the extra drag keeps the suspenion at a better angles.

roythboy said:

Thanks Guys.

Seems its not only mine then.

You do get tired of "driving' every meter. The thing just wanders too much.

Did have 40lbs in the front tires, dropped down to 37. Didnt help, but thanx Tweekes.

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Have you had it in for an alignment? The old man's F-Series had a huge dead center problem so you had to drive every metre. Got it aligned, pretty much solved the problem. Still drives like s*** but what do you expect from that thing.

Just because it was like that new, doesn't mean it's not an alignment problem. Have you seen them loading car carriers? I cried when I was watching them, wouldn't be hard to bend something with the way they treat them.

I run my tyres at 35 and have had an alignment in the last 4 weeks, drives dead straight.

Tested my tyre pressures after a 45 minute drive and they were at 39 so met the 4 psi rule nicely.

i dont think were talking about driving dead straight.
we mean that there is a fair bit of play in the steering
like if you move the wheel like 10mm one way does your car move?
cause it does nothing in mine.
the play is there when the car isn't moving so it isn't wheel alignment

how do ya tighen the steering box up?

Kickars2 said:

i dont think were talking about driving dead straight.
we mean that there is a fair bit of play in the steering
like if you move the wheel like 10mm one way does your car move?
cause it does nothing in mine.
the play is there when the car isn't moving so it isn't wheel alignment

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Thats what i am talking about exactly mate.

I have had a 50mm efs lift done a few months ago, also had wheel alignment then. Still the same.

Its an 08 str that has done 14000k.

It is the play in the steering wheel thats an issue.

Thanks for the ideas guys.

In the initial post he says it veers left or right depending on road camber, just saying that mine doesn't. Mines also an 08 with 50mm EFS lift and slightly less k's.

Mine has this problem too, in my opinion there is far too much play in the steering before anything happens. When I bought mine I test drove a couple including a brand new one and they all did it so just thought it was a Nissan thing. Mine tends to track a little bit too but I think that is more a wheels alignment thing.

Hi guys I'm fairly new to this forum. I have been watching with alot of interest in regards to these issues as my 04 ST-R had steering issues when I got it 6 months ago. Mine wandered all over the road and the steering wheel felt loose, it seemed worse when wheels were not at dead centre.

I had a wheel alignment done and it helped a little but it started to pull to the right, then I adjusted my steering box and found it help alot more (still not great but better).

Jack your car up on stands so front wheels are off the ground, you can now feel how loose it actually is. Good time to check your wheel bearings as well (I found one loose). The steering box is directly under the battery, and I had to take mine out to get to the adjustment screw for steering box.

You will have to get under front wheel arch and move the dodgy dust skirt (not sure what it's called) that goes from the front of wheel arch, over top suspension arm and to the rear of wheel arch. Only need to take about four out front the front end and you should be able to get to steering box.

There is an adjustment screw with a slot in the top of it and a lock nut on the top of steering box. You need to loosen nut off, and if you move the wheels through full lock by hand while you are adjusing the screw with flat nosed screw driver and you will feel the steering firm up. You will notice the steering will lock up tight, once this happens wind the adjuster back out until the wheels move freely again, I only had to adjust mine in about 3/4 of a turn. Make sure you retighten the lock nut back up, I don't have the torque spec but I just did mine back up as tight as it already was (just by feel).

I only did this by feel, and if you do the steering box up too tight the steering will not self centre when you drive it. This happened to me and was very hard to drive, but all I had to do was adjust the screw out a little more and all was good. You can adjust it to suit your own needs.

Hopefully this helps someone, and hope I didn't confuse anyone. I isn't the easiest job and is easier with two people, just to help with adjusting the screw while moving the wheels.

Just a quick note on another subject, while you are under your car (I'm sure everyone is aware of bolts coming loose at random) check your fuel tank mounting bolts, I found one of mine missing and another loose at the back end. I could move tank up and down 20mm or more, could explain some of the mystery knocking noises.

Nice post Galvo, welcome to the forum.

thanks galvo ill give it a go.
do you actually have to take the battery out or can ya reach it when you have that dust skirt thing up?

Mine has pulled to the left ever since I fitted new tyres a year ago (Cooper ATR). The tyre co that fitted them reckoned it was just the camber of the road and didn't bother checking the alignment again (won't go there again). I took it into another mob and although they made adjustments, the problem was unchanged.
Dean

hey moke, i'm running cooper discovery ATR's now and mine pulls to the left!

going to get a balance and alignment soon.

have you noticed any odd wear? tried swapping the 2 front wheels to see if it pulls to the right now?

Mine has always pulled slightly to the left. I have read a number of times that they all do.