I have a P.O.S. 1992 Sentra, 1.6L which wanders on the highway. It's driving me nuts! The car has 157,000 miles
I have replaced the inner sockets, the outer tie rods, and the lower ball joints. Tie rods (inner and outer) were from Pep Boys, the lower ball joints were from Autozone. None were name brands.
After replacing all the ball joints I had the car aligned by Big-O tires. They said the toe on one rear wheel was off a little, and they graciously straightened my steering wheel by less than one degree and made me believe they had corrected the front toe (for $75).
The damn thing drove better for a week, then when cornering at moderately fast speed I hit a small pothole and thought I felt something give a little. The wandering became worse and as bad as before I replaced all the ball joints.
The car is sensitive to seams or steps in the road surface and crowns. I spend significant time on cement freeways which have been grooved. Lanes have been added so there are steps and crowns between the lanes. The car drives very poorly on this road surface, but will drive fine on smooth blacktop.
It's up on jacks now. I can not find any looseness in the steering or in the lower ball joint/control arm. The front suspension and steering feels very tight, although I can only apply a limited amount of force, as I don't want to push it off the jackstands and I don't have any means of applying leverage.
I can't find any looseness in the rear wheels, although they are not extremely stiff around a vertical axis. If I twist hard on a tire, I can get a small amount of motion, but they are not loose. I must be squishing the rubber bushings and getting a little deflection.
The rear rubber bushing on the lower control arms (transverse link) look pretty bad. The rubber is cracking. But, if this bushing was loose I think I should be able to feel it when braking. The vehicle tracks straight when braking and doesn't have any offensive torque steer.
The tires are cheap, and one front tire has wear on the inside, apparently from bad camber. The tire shop did not detect any out of camber problems or make any camber adjustments (assuming they even put it on the rack).
I have played with tire pressure, but it does not seem to have any effect.
The strut bearings seem to be in marginal shape. They are dimpled, and I can fee the balls rolling from dimple to dimple when turning a tire by hand. I don't know if this is common.
I'm not sure whether I should drive the car to the dump, check myself into a mental institution, or simply try to ignore it. I drive in heavy traffic at high speed (75 MPH) on uneven grooved concrete roads with narrow lanes. I would like to stay in my lane without intense concentration.
Any suggestions? I have already invested more $$ and time than this car is worth, but it has become a grudge match between me and the car. I can't find any obvious reason this car should drive poorly.
If the lanes are groved parallel to the direction of the road then what you are experiencing is normal as your tires are following the groves. Your tires are more the issue then your car.
If the groves are perpendicular to the road's direction then you'll want to have all the bushings checked out in your suspension as you might have some that are worn out.
Are your struts leaking?
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If you are trying to get faster on a track you will go off course. The question is where, and how bad..............
i work at a auto center and i have had this problem with numerous customers and i would suggest that u get better tires since u said they were cheap or at least get the tires rotated and drive and see if the pull goes away and if it does then u know that it was a bad tire that had a shifted belt and made the car pull.........but first of all see if u can get the alignment checked again since u hit that pothole and u might not have to pay for the alignment again cuz there should be a warranty for the alignment for a short period of time.......good luck and hope this helps
Now that's a good idea! The more I think about it, the more I am convinced my alignment must have gotten screwed up when I hit the pothole. It was a small pothole, one that had been repaired but the repair was not completely flush with the rest of the road. Tire rotation is a good idea too.
I have a similar situation on my 92 Sentra, but in no way as bad as you're describing. Just wanders on the highway (any imperfection in the road or seam makes it pull) and it moves around easily in the wind. I was hoping for it to be an issue with my alignment, but my tires have zero un-even wear (they were new when I bought the car ~7000 miles ago) and they're a decent set (Michelin X-radials, 175.70.13's). I plan to upgrade to some 195.50.15's this summer and hope the shorter sidewall helps out.
I also checked all my ball joints, bushings, tie rods, and found everything to be tight. Definitely post-up if you find anything that helps your situation!
the first thing that comes to my mind is tires. next, if youve replaced all those items, did you check the steering rack bushings? bad bushings will cause loose steering feel.
Tires are definalty the issue. Taller, narrower tires will follow imperfections in the road MUCH more then lower, wider tires.
the Narrow nature of your tire is mainly the issue and because you've got the sidwall aspect ratio that you do, the rest of the tire seems to throw you into the grove.
look at a motorcycle going down a groved road. He'll follow every groove if given the oportunity. It's all about your tires.
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If you are trying to get faster on a track you will go off course. The question is where, and how bad..............
Not sure when it'll happen though, considering this week I get to write $1200 worth of deposit checks to a DJ and photographer for my wedding next summer (July 08). Man I miss when tax return season meant car mods. (sorry for the OT rant... fiance has me wedding-planned-out).
Thoughts, but no action. I'm too busy to spend time on this thing. If I think about the 37 mpg I get commuting and try to ignore the way it drives it doesn't seem so bad. I try to tell myself that driving this car is honing my driving skills. I've said that all along until I had occassional flashes of the obvious that driving the car was risking my life and it needed to be fixed. First I replaced the inner sockets and it was better for a while, then the tie rods, then the ball joints...........
Suspension and steering are relatively complex and involve many components which all move and wear. To get a car driving like new, I suspect you pretty much have to replace everything that moves. A little wear in each component adds up. Replace half of the components and you may only solve half the problem.
I notice some back-and-forth tipping motion and I know my torsion bar bushings are shot. Everytime the steering geometry changes the car is going want to change direction a bit. I have been thinking some new front torsion bar bushings would be an inexpensive improvement with some potential.
New strut bearings seem to have some potential too, and aren't too expensive. But I have misplaced my manual and I am not sure if I can replace them without a) pulling the strut apart and/or b) disconnecting the strut from the hub. If I can jack the car up and simply undo the bolts under the hood to slip in new bearings then I might do it.
And yes, my tires are tall and skinny. But I am not convinced tires with a lower aspect ratio would improve things. The car may follow the road more closely (i.e. more violently) with lower profile tires because lower profile tires don't have as much sideways give. But I agree, tires will play an important role and I suspect H&F is correct. Since my objective is minimal cost commuter (preferably one that drives reasonably well), new wheels are not in the budget, and I don't want to turn 6k RPM at 50 MPH.
I have heard about urethane bushings. I believe the only rubber parts on the front suspension are the torsion arm supports and bushings and the control arm (transverse link) bushings. Is it possible to replace the control arm bushings without buying new control arms? I think the front bushing is bonded in, but I have wondered about the rear.
I replaced my inner sockets without pulling the steering rack. I had to undo the sockets 1/16 of a turn at a time, but it was much easier than pullilng the rack. So I didn't dissemble my rack, and I am not sure I could. Nor did I adjust it. But the steering components feel tight.
The car is drivable now. It's interesting how variable perception is. Some days I think it drives terrible, other days not so bad. Sometimes I wonder if it has something to do with temperature or some other variable I haven't identified. It pisses me off that it still doesn't drive well with all new ball joints, but I think I am adapting to the car's manners.
I am with you... some days the car seems great, some days I'm like "goddam this car is all over the road." I agree though, a 37 mpg commuter does make the small problems seem less significant. I like the fact that my tires are absolutely perfectly balanced (for whatever reason, all my previous cars were never perfect) and it runs down the highway at 80 mph all day long without a hitch.
If I ever upgrade my wheels and tires, I will give a full report on the improvement (if any)
i would say it is alignment or tires. if you have the 4 for $100 tires it's not going to track very good. Also if the camber or toe is wack it's going to wander all over. Put more camber in it and a little toe out.
My Sentra was awful on the highway. It would pull to the right so hard it was almost funny. Also, the streering wheel vibrations were so bad you just about couldnt touch the it. My g/f thought it was hilarious though. Anyway, I got a new pair of front tires... car doesnt pull and no more shaking!
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