Do I have a Loose Steering Column?

November 28, 2006 12:52 PM

Do I have a Loose Steering Column?

I drive a 2004 Nissan Xterra.

Lately I've noticed that my steering wheel jerks hard in different directions when I run over potholes, reflectors, or any kind of bumps in the road. I'm pretty sure this came about recently.

My friend drove my car the other week, and without me saying anything beforehand, he mentioned that I have a loose steering column.

It's a little scary at times, especially since I just moved to San Francisco and the roads there aren't exactly the smoothest. I have to constantly hold my steering wheel in a death grip in fear of hitting a small bump and smashing into the wall next to me.

Does anyone know if this is in fact a loose steering column? Any experience with it? How much does it cost to get fixed?

Maybe I'm just not used to crappy roads?

posted by atmu to travel & transportation (6 answers total)

I'm pretty sure what you're describing is tramlining, in which case bad tires and/or bad alignment are primarily to blame.

A "loose" steering column would also mean that you can move the wheel several degrees in either direction before you feel any change in wheel direction, a symptom you have not indicated.

How old are your tires? Are they inflated properly? When was the last time you had your wheel aligned?
posted by saladin at 1:36 PM on November 28, 2006

Wheels, dammit.
posted by saladin at 1:37 PM on November 28, 2006

It's more likely something in your suspension is broken and needs replacing, like the tie rod ends or control arms. Have it looked at, this is a real safety issue.
posted by knave at 1:41 PM on November 28, 2006

Hey saladin, now that you mention it, my steering wheel CAN indeed move left and right for several degrees without turning the wheels.
posted by atmu at 2:01 PM on November 28, 2006

knave is right, this is a major safety issue. As in, don't drive the car, until it is fixed. Not even to drive it to the repair shop.

You could have a number of things wrong at this point, instead of just one. Bad jolts to steering gear that is already damaged in a minor way can damage additional parts, and steering parts getting strange loads because of other broken or worn steering or suspension components wear out quickly. You might have simply had a bent idler arm at one point, which might cost $50 to replace, and 30 minutes of labor. But if you kept driving it, and your front wheels were wobbling enough, you could now need tie rod ends, or worse, ball joints, too. And if your steering has been slammed a few too many times with sudden uncontrolled side loads, you may even have a damaged steering rack or pinion gear, which will cost several hundred bucks for the parts, and several hours of labor, plus an alignment to correct.

But all of this will seem cheap if you hit somebody head on driving the thing to the repair shop. So get it towed in, pronto.
posted by paulsc at 2:38 PM on November 28, 2006

I have to constantly hold my steering wheel in a death grip in fear of hitting a small bump and smashing into the wall next to me.

Is this really how bad it is? I know what you mean, and it sounds like the way my boyfriend's Blazer drove - until we had the tires replaced and an alignment done. I don't think I was ever close to slamming into a wall because of the play in the wheel or steering, but I did notice a jerk in the steering when hitting a bump or pothole.

Being able to turn the wheel a bit in each direction sounds like something an alignment can fix. When I had mine done, they gave me a report listing the number of degrees the wheel could move in each direction, the manufacturer's tolerance, and their adjusted measurments.
posted by youngergirl44 at 9:10 PM on November 28, 2006