steering problems

[stanske420]

i have a 2005 G35 6 speed that i purchased in may. im having problems with the steering, it feels like the car is out of control. this happens on uneven roads and roads with lots of tar. can anyone help?

[ADDirishboy]

Are your tires following cracks of any sort? I've experienced that on roads that have blemishes running down them and the tires want to follow where the blemishes are...

[stanske420]

this happens on alot of roads. i had a vw gti with clustom dc sport wheels that did that, this is nothing like that. i dont wont to let go of the wheel because i know it will shoot left or right. i have had an alingment, rotation.

[Razi]

What are your toe settings at?

I think too much toe-out can cause a car to shoot around, following cracks on the road.

[ADDirishboy]

Did you recently have the alignment done? Is there a possibility that you could have bent a control arm or tie rod or something?

[xekushnr]

Gotta be steering or suspension. Check ball joints, tie rods, struts, strut mounts, and springs. If all are good and tight get an alignment. Any accidents?

[stanske420]

did everything at a dealership. replaced the rear shocks, didnt help.

[bcar240]

did this happen all of a sudden, or start and get worse? If it started all of a sudden, was there something that caused it, ex. hitting pothole, etc...

I had a similar problem once when my caster got WAY out of spec. The roads are crowned (tilted), so that one side is lower to allow the water to drain off, usually to the right, but sometimes to the left. Cars with caster that is different on the front wheels will not equalize as well (due to uneven jacking force) and will tend to track to whatever side of the road is lower. This could show up just as a wandering pull, but in my case, I could let go of the wheel on certain roads and it would rapidly swerve towards the side of the road. It also caused me to have to correct my steering pressure frequently, I would have to hold counter-pressure to the direction it was trying to pull, which changed with the road. This is just one possible reason it could happen, I mentioned it because some techs will overlook this as a cause. If you are given a choice, you want your caster to be equal left to right, and ONLY THEN to dial it into factory specs (or as close as you can get).

[audtatious]

This is usually toe/alignment

[stanske420]

the caster that you had mentioned sounds like my problem. is that something i can do or would i need to take it in? know about the price$

[alms24sebring]

From what I know, caster is untunable on almost all cars. Do you have anything aftermarket dealing with suspension on the car?

[stanske420]

stock parts

[Dattebayo]

Just take it to a tire shop and have them check the alignment and suspension already. You're killing it with all this conjecture...

[bcar240]

From what I know, caster is untunable on almost all cars. Do you have anything aftermarket dealing with suspension on the car?

This is true, completely forgot about that. I did have to installed aftermarket tension rods to even be able to adjust mine. My car had taken a large hit in the past and had never been quite right (millimeter scale frame tweakage) and adjusting the caster made it decent again. The shop should at least be able to check if caster is off on your car, then you should be able to go from there.