i put on 700 miles driving to and from the mountains this weekend, and before i left i changed the oil and rotated the tires

one of the four tires (now the front left) is pretty bald on the edges because i drove it low on air for quite a while (i filled it up before my trip, though)

today i noticed that when i make right turns, the handling is very sloppy...almost to the point of being a little scary...i'll start the turn and unless it's a really slow turn, the car almost feels like it's going to go straight instead of turn...it does turn, but it's almost like the steering wheel is slipping

sometimes when i'm starting or stopping, it feels like it rocks a little bit...i'm not sure if the tire above is related, but i thought i'd mention it...all the tires are inflated properly and so none are low

thoughts?

12/20/2010 8:06:11 PM

check the steering linkage connection

check power steering fluid level, too

make sure the steering rack is not loose, also

lots of possibilities



also, YEAR, MAKE, MODEL?

12/20/2010 8:09:08 PM

Quote :

"also, YEAR, MAKE, MODEL?"

hah, i always when folks forget that

2002 saturn SL1 manual with ~154k miles

12/20/2010 8:12:58 PM

get up under there and look around

12/20/2010 8:19:53 PM

dude, i don't know what to look for...and i won't have time to learn until after the holidays

12/20/2010 8:24:08 PM

sounds like you need to get a rental car for the holidays.

12/20/2010 10:32:36 PM

^ my wife has a car and we're off of work at the same time, as well as going to the same places, so i'll probably not spend the money

that said, it's certainly more convenient to have two cars...how dumb would it be to keep driving it short distances? pretty dumb?

12/22/2010 8:20:27 AM

Sigh

12/22/2010 10:25:44 AM

^ that was helpful...thanks!

fwiw, i checked the power steering fluid and it was fine in terms of level...i don't know what it's supposed to look like, though, and it was kind dirty-looking

12/22/2010 10:58:17 AM

Jack the front of that slut up and start shaking the tires up and down and left to right to see if there is any play in some of the joints.

12/22/2010 12:31:34 PM

that sounds like fun, and something i can probably do this afternoon!

12/22/2010 1:14:39 PM

First things first, with the car turned off is there any play in the steering wheel? Can you turn the wheel any before you start to feel it engage the steering system to turn the wheels?

Second, do what Ragged said. Put it on jack stands and see if either tire has any movement. Usually you can see pretty obviously what is moving if you get someone else to shake the tire and you look under the car. Probably just a worn out tie rod end or something.

Could just be a really shitty alignment if everything is tight in the steering system.

[Edited on December 22, 2010 at 1:45 PM. Reason : s]

12/22/2010 1:45:02 PM

My sigh was in reference to the fact that you say how bad and unsafe feeling te steering is but you still ask us if we think it's ok to drie. How the fuck do we know. It's your car and your responsibility to be able to know whether or not it is road worthy. From your posts it sounds like a death trap waiting to happen

12/23/2010 1:35:07 PM