Steering 'wobble'

toml

New Member
Jul 24, 2005
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Hi all,

Had a quick search around for steering threads but didn't come up with much.

What parts can generally wear out in the front end of a MKIII that would cause 'wobbly' steering? The front wheels feel 'wobbly' compared to the steering wheel. Any slight bump in the road will cause the car to 'tramline'/pull very hard off to the side.

Any ideas what this is? can it be fixed? are there any aftermarket parts which will help further than just replacing stock bits'n'pieces?

Thanks :)
 

toml

New Member
Jul 24, 2005
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Erk, and I'll have to remove the wheels + steering knuckle + upper control arms before I can get the lower balljoints out?

Seems like a decent amount of work involved here - I think replacing the upper control arm bushings with poly bushings sounds like a good idea, since I have to remove the upper arm anyway.
 

Facime

Leather work expert
Jun 1, 2006
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While the ball joints will cause the steering to jump wildly about, the steering stabilizer is supposed to "dampen" a small amount of steering track. you might want to replace that at the same time.
 

88supraFAST1

7M WHAT
Feb 8, 2006
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Battle Ground, Wa
now are you targa or not. if your targa is off you willl wobble like a mofo. if your not targa check your sway bars all your bushings brakes and all your suspension and so on.
 

Facime

Leather work expert
Jun 1, 2006
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88supraFAST1 said:
now are you targa or not. if your targa is off you willl wobble like a mofo. if your not targa check your sway bars all your bushings brakes and all your suspension and so on.

Im targa....and I dont wobble! :biglaugh: :biglaugh:
 

BorHor

2JZ-GZE
Jan 10, 2006
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I went to toyota yesterday and asked how much a steering stabilizer was. They want like $200 for it. The guy there told me to take take it off. lol
 

toml

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Jul 24, 2005
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My [STEERING] wobbles the same amount whether the targa is on or off. The body flexes a little more, as you'd imagine, but it doesn't seem to affect the steering.

Can someone tell me where this magic "steering stabilizer" is? :)
 
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Yellow 13

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Apr 4, 2006
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Fairfield, California
My 89 Did'nt wobble with the targa off but my 88 did. 89+'s have more reinforcement to dampen the wobble.

Toml, Have you checked to make sure your bushings are all still good. One car I bought they had completely deteriorated.
 

toml

New Member
Jul 24, 2005
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Adelaide, Australia
IJ. said:
LOL not your post the other one about it being the cause of the wobble!

It's just 15+ year old steering components!

Oh! Right :) Yeah, I knew it was just old components... but i'm trying to work out which of those need to be replaced. So far I think balljoints are the primary suspect, followed by bushes and this stabilizer thingy. :)

Once you know which parts you should be looking at and what they're called, it's much easier to diagnose their condition ;)