Camry :: 2011 LE - Sloppy Feel To Steering Most Noticeable At Freeway Speeds
Nov 6, 2014
2011 Camry LE with what I would call a mushy or sloppy feel to the steering. It is most noticeable at freeway speeds and requires an almost constant driver input to maintain the car in my lane with slight corrections back and forth right and left. This is fatiguing on long drives. It feels like there is too much power steering assist at higher speeds, although an independent mechanic said he didn't think it has variable assist power steering. There is no pulling in one direction. Alignment has been checked and it's ok, and tires are balanced and properly inflated.
Strong wind or large trucks passing me cause me to struggle to maintain the car in it's lane. Toyota dealer mechanics and the Toyota rep checked it and gave me the "drives as designed" answer and that there is nothing wrong with it. I had an independent mechanic look it over and he said there is nothing wrong and that there is nothing that can be done to change the feel of the steering. It is hydraulic steering and not the electronic power steering. I have test driven other Camrys as well as Corollas and other makes of cars and they all drive with a more sure feel to the steering and I just want my Camry to drive like that.
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I bought 2012 Prius ii around 6 weeks ago. From day one I started noticing vibrations in the steering wheel most noticeable at highway speeds. I can describe this as high frequency vibrations that become very very annoying especially if you drive to work for an hour every day. This car has OEM Bridgestone Ecopia EP 20 tires. I took the car to the dealership twice already, they balanced the tires twice and road force tested it twice. They replaced front tires for me because based on the test results one tire was at 16 lb the other one at 19 lbs.
The new tires are at 8 and 10. They keep on telling me that this is by design and is a characteristic of the vehicle. However the Prius I test drove when I was buying it did not have this problem, otherwise I would never buy it. This vibration happens in any mode and I can even feel it at lower speed now though it is not as noticeable. I had a few people including Prius owners drive my car and everyone feels the vibration. With so many Prius models sold I highly doubt that everyone just accepts it as a feature.
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This summer I replaced the inner and outer tie rod ends on a 97 Nissan Altima, had a bent wheel replaced, and had an alignment done. Everything worked smoothly for the last 5,000 or so miles. I had my tires rotated and balanced recently which created a new problem, a shaky steering wheel most noticeable at slow speeds. I've had a similar problem before and had it fixed by balancing the tires. I took it back in to have them rebalanced, thinking they may have forgotten to do it the first time. They rebalanced them and the problem has not changed at all.
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2007 Hyundai Elantra, gets this noise/squeak when around freeway speeds.
I took this short video, squeaking starts around half way in: Video - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
This is a really annoying noise .
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For Camry owners with a possible diagnosis for a bad front wheel bearing. About a week ago, I started to hear a low pitched hum from the front of the car, noticeable at first between 35 and 40MPH. Above 40 MPH, the sound kind of mixed with road noise, so it was difficult for me to determine if the sound got louder, etc.
This sound was reduced as the car was braking and disappeared completely when stopped at a light or parked in neutral.
I did not notice any change in the noise when turning left or right, but this observation MAY NOT have been accurate since I do not make many turns at 35-40 mph.
Took the car into the dealership and they diagnosed a bad front wheel bearing, which they had to order. Since this is a 2011 Camry with only 11,000 miles on it, it is a warranty repair.
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it's strange, it feels like something is loose, not the steering wheel but the column that the steering wheel attaches to, this only happens when going over dips or bumps, any time the wheels take impact.
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Have excessive cabin wind noise in your Gen 6 when travelling Freeway speeds. I know there would be some noise but when passengers mention it and we talk louder than normal then i think its an issue. It is kinda loud now...
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I've got a 2007 Touring with 40k miles on it. Never had any issues until about 2k miles ago, when we started noticing noise while driving on the freeway. The higher the speed, the louder the noise. It starts to be noticeable at about 40mph and gets really annoying at 65 - 75mph. It seemed to come from the RH-side, and the dealer was quick to blame it on out-of-alignment tires. Dealer 'investigation' was about 2k miles ago.
We've changed and aligned the tires this week; alignment on all four corners was almost within tolerances (off by a small amount). I've also changed the oil, since it was due.
Nevertheless, the noise is still there; now it seems to have 'moved' directly in front of the driver. What could it be?
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2002 Camry LE 4cyl. automatic. I bought this car with 7500 miles on it in 2010. It had been involved in a low speed parking lot collision and apparently the left front corner and front took the hit. It'd been repaired and looked like new when I bought it. It still had the factory tires on it, but they were 8 years old, so I put a set of new Kumho Solus' on it. This was a friend's mothers car, so I know the history of it.
The left front suspension has always felt odd to me. Nothing serious, but just "off." When backing up and turning it has a sort of wobbly feel on that corner at times. I've been assured by several mechanics that they can find no problems. It feels to me like maybe sometimes the strut piston sticks on that corner. Don't know if that ever happens or not, but that's the best description I can come up with!
It has always vibrated from 45 on up. It's not a hard shudder, but just a constant vibration at highway speed that you can feel in your feet and the steering wheel. I've had it balanced and re-balanced to no avail. Sometimes it gets a little better, sometimes worse, but it's never gone away. Recently it seems to be getting worse.
I put it up on jackstands and accelerated to 60, and it vibrates like the wheels are out of balance. Yesterday I replaced the Kumhos (they had bad road noise anyway) with Michelins. The Michelins cured the road noise problems and have a much better overall feel, but I've still got the balance problem.
Just put it up on jackstands again and spun it up, and I still have the same vibration!
What to look for? The car has just now turned over 35k miles. I'm wondering if the CV joint on that left side was damaged and is causing the vibration. I've got new wheels as well instead of the factory steel rims. Also, with the car up on stands, the wheels spin true. No bent hub, etc.
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2010 camry LE
A family member did a tune up on the car and did not realize that the power steering reservoir had a HOT and COLD min/max lines. He filled up to the max line for HOT while the car was completely cold. He also filled up with Prestone Power Steering fluid with Stop Leak instead of ATF/DEXIII.
The car was driven a few times for maybe 50 miles in total before I found out about all this and I drained the fluid out to the appropriate levels. However the steering at low/parking speeds is still very tight (tighter than what I used to remember, at least).
Did he royally screw up the power steering system here? What can I do?
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During the past couple of months, I've noticed a moaning when I turn the steering wheel at slow speeds, mainly while driving in parking lots. When I turn the A/C off, the sound disappears. Is my compressor on its way out? The dealer replaced a leaky condenser in 2011. My fear is that they didn't replace it properly with adding oil back to the system.
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For the past month or so my car is very twitchy and wanders a lot. The steering is so loose that it feels flimsy and sloppy. The front wheels grab every little rut and grooves in the road and pull my car left or right. I have to keep my hands on the steering all the time. I switched out my regular Lexus wheels/tires for my winter wheels/tires and the problem is still there so its not anything to do with the tires.
The car does not feel heavy or planted anymore. The steering feel is like an old Lexus ES from 10 years ago to be exact. At this moment I feel nervous driving the car. Never felt this way ever before.
I had my alignment done last year but haven't hit any potholes or anything. But this feeling feels like the steering pump leak, loose tie-rods, etc. I am not sure. Either way its unacceptable for a 2 year and 10 month old car with only 36k miles.
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I own a 2004 Passat- 1.8. I want to make my steering and throttle more responsive. The throttle is very slow responding, and the steering is very sloppy. I know this is supposed to be VW's Luxury car, but this would greatly enhance the performance and driveability of this car. How do I do this?
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The problem makes the car unsafe to drive. The quickest way to describe it is a hard pull to the left after a very linear steering feel. My perception is almost as something is holding on and then just fails and lets go and the car quite abruptly shoots left in a very unsafe manner. Here are the things I have done to remedy the situation, I replaced the struts with factory replacements 15,000 miles ago. At the same time i replaced the left and right axles, drove the car with the problem then last weekend, I replaced the upper tie rod arms, and lower tie rod ends, the sway bar bushings, and the control arms on both sides. I literally feel as though it is a darn near new front end.
Just yesterday I had 4 new Goodyear eagle tires and an alignment done and the problem became more pronounced and worst. I really like this car and want it to be a joy to drive as I know from others these little hatchbacks are a real joy on winding mountain roads.
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I just drove a car I'm looking to buy and the steering wheel was pretty loose. Not jerky, just sloppy.
I can tell it needs an alignment, but what could I be looking at in order to tighten it up?
I've learned that front ends can get pricey pretty quick.
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I am the original owner of a 2001 Ford Excursion with about 262K miles on it. I have thought about selling it more than once but I have finally come to realize that this is a very sturdy and reliable truck - so why sell it?
With that said, there are a few items that I need to address. The most important right now for me is to get the steering adjusted some how to eliminate the looseness. It is especially noticeable when driving on the interstate, I guess because I am traveling faster.
I am not a skilled mechanic but I do want to learn more about performing some of the simpler maintenance items since I have lost faith in the auto repair shops.
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I'm trying to find why my car's steering wheel vibrates. This happens at all speeds regardless or acceleration or breaking.
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2004 Corolla, 100,000 miles. It makes a strange sound when moving. It's noticeable at speeds higher than about 30 mph. It changes with road speed, not engine speed. It's similar to a failing wheel bearing sound. I've stuck my head out the window on each side of the car and can't localize the noise. I checked for deflection in all four wheels, and they're all tight.My next thought was a transmission problem. I checked the fluid and found it to be at the proper level. I doubt if it's ever been changed. I drove the car and released the accelerator, and I put the transmission in neutral. The noise did not change. I'm not sure what that tells us, but it's another data point.
Currently I have the front wheels off the ground. If I run the drive system to 30 to 40 mph that way, the sound is not there. I don't know that both wheels are going the same speed, so I'm not sure it's an accurate test.I've checked wheel bearings before on my Cavalier and easily found the defective one. I could tell which one it was by hearing the noise while in the driver's seat, and the check verified that. I think I know how to find a bad wheel bearing, but maybe there's another test I don't know about. I'll search online.Maybe it's a noisy tire. I can't locate the source by ear, and that's something I'm usually good at. I wonder if the transmission or differential might be making the noise but only when it's under an actual load.
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I have 124,000 miles on my 2002 subaru impreza outback sport and this car runs very well and has been maintained well however the last couple weeks I have noticed a slight rattling sound toward the right front side of the car almost as if there were pebbles inside the wheel covers when the car is driven at low speed and I begin to accelerate. It also sounds as if the rattling could also be coming from the exhaust also as if it were loose fitting but the tailpipe is on the left looking from the rear of the car. Another possibility I thought of was the fender was loose or the tire was rubbing against the wheel well or something. It is one of those small annoying sounds that does not seem to warrant bringing in to a mechanic yet but I am curious about what that is.
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Basically when I'm coming into my driveway (I turn to the right into it) I hit with the right front first and get this shuddering sound accompanied by a sloppy feeling in the steering wheel.
Sounds like the old door stop Springs. I sometimes get it as well when hitting bumps with either side at a time but not when hitting speed bumps or bumps where both wheels hit at the same time.
Went to the dealership but they couldn't reproduce it on the newly built read that's as smooth as glass.....
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I have a 2002 ford f350 sd crew cab, i have changed the front and rear brakes, since then the steering has gotten sloppy. I was driving around 30-40mph and making a sweeping right turn and the front end was wobbly at a low speed it is fine and on a left turn it is fine. It feels like it is the drivers side tire that is the problem. I have to change the tie rod that is attached to the pitman arm. I don't want to bring it to a shop.
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