I've noticed no one has replied which means I've stumped everyone (unlikely), I didn't ask my questions clearly enough, or no one wants to read the wall of text below. So let me quickly summarize below to make it easier because I really need to figure this out...

My car is being 'blown' all over the road at highway speeds and it's very hard to keep it centered. I always have to correct the steering wheel. Upon inspection, my mechanic found no loose or worn ball joints or bushings in the front or rear of the car but he did find an issue with the caster & camber on the left drivers side wheel - see alignment report below. All front end bushings and ball joints and upper control arms were replaced 1 month ago (problem existed before replacing everything). There is no uneven tire wear on any of the four wheels.... So....

1. Can the Camber & Caster issue be the problem?
2. Could it be a bad steering rack even though there is no leakage and steering is otherwise quiet and feels fine?
3. What else could be causing the car to veer left and right especially on a windy day or passing a semi truck?

Thanks!




I've been having a problem with my car when I'm driving at highway speeds (+60mph) that causes the car to randomly veer left or right. I could be driving down a dead straight highway with both hands on the steering wheel holding it steady but the car will flounder left right left right left left right right with no rhyme or reason. I will say that if I'm driving on a windy day or passing a semi truck then my car feels like it's getting blown around and I keep having to correct the direction. In fact I have to make so many minor adjustments while driving that it's getting extremely annoying and to the point where I have to solve it or get rid of the car.

As a result of this problem I have replaced 100% of the front end bushings and ball joints including the compression rod bushings. At the time I had two badly worn inner control arm bushings so I thought that would have fixed the problem but it didn't. The only things I haven't replaced are the steering rack, inner tie rods, or outer tie rods. I finally broke down and brought the car to an independent mechanic who I trust so he could find the reason but after spending a day looking over the front and rear suspension he couldn't identify anything other than a worn sway bar end link - which I subsequently replaced but it had no affect on the steering.

I also got it aligned two weeks ago and there appears to be a problem with the camber & caster which is apparently not adjustable. I asked my mechanic about it and he said it appears the pin on drivers side that bolts the compression rod to the frame might be slightly bent but neither of us are convinced that's the real culprit because the car veers to BOTH the left and right. If it was only going in one direction or the other then maybe that would have been the problem.

But I swear it feels like something must be loose somewhere. Why would driving in a head wind or even a light breeze push the car all over the road? I'm really at a loss for what to do so I really hope someone can point me in the right direction.


See attached picture of the alignment below..

 

Just to add a bit more info. Suspension is completely stock (i.e. bushings were replaced with OEM or are otherwise original). Car has 215,000 miles on it. I have two sets of wheels and tires. First set are oem 17" wheels with all seasons, and the 2nd set are aftermarket 17" wheels with snow tires. Problem exists with both sets of wheels and tires. Lastly - None of the tires are wearing unevenly. Thanks!

 

Please see update to post #1 above. Thanks

 

Why didn't you take it to an Infiniti dealer?

Why do you think some independent so called mechanic knows anything about a 12 year old Infiniti with 215k miles?

Many of your vehicle parts are at or near end of life so it is going to be costly to keep replacing parts.

Time to start thinking about a new vehicle and stop pouring money down a rat hole.

Just my $.02

Good luck

Telcoman

 

Thanks for your suggestion. To be honest I am basically my own mechanic since I've been working on my own vehicles all my life. However, after being unable to solve this problem I recently brought it to a mechanic friend who put it on a lift and also tried to find something loose or broken. It's not rocket science - if a vehicle is operating this way, then something has to be loose or broken and typically steering and suspension systems are exposed and easy to see what's wrong - with exception to the steering rack because sometimes these fail without any visible problems.

I also just can't come to terms with the fact that the vehicle is old and must be thrown out - not yet. I just retired a 1992 Mercedes Benz 300D with 367,000 miles on it with the ORIGINAL SUSPENSION.

I'm also not really spending a lot of money on this - just time - since I'm doing most of the work myself. Bushings are cheap and easy to replace (for me) but the baffling things I can't find any more that are worn or broken and if I can't identify a problem then I can't fix it - and neither can my mechanic or the dealership.

 

Id double check the compression rod bushings. Those are the most common front end suspension failure on these cars.

 

Did anyone check for a bent frame?

 

No, I don't believe anyone has. Maybe I'll find a qualified shop that has that capability. But let me ask - if the bushings in the front and rear are tight, shocks/struts are ok, and the Alignment was correct, can a bent frame exhibit this problem? If the frame is bent, wouldn't that prevent it from every being aligned properly?

Also - there are times when the car will drive straight. Usually on a calm sunny day it will be easier to handle. It still flounders a little but it's hardly noticeable. But if it's breezy or windy out and/or I'm driving behind a semi-truck, the car becomes very difficult to handle and wants to veer left or right.

 

Do you have any looseness or play in your steering wheel?

The only thing I can think of is that your steering gear might be broken/'worn. Check out PS10 on the FSM.

 

Thanks I'll take a look at it. Later this week I'm going to take it back to the shop and both my mechanic and I are going to have another look at it. I'll check the steering gear and the rest of the assembly shown on PS10. The steering wheel and linkage are not making any strange noises and doesn't feel loose at all but we'll take another look at it.

My mechanic friend really thinks that fixing the caster issue will solve my problem. So our first priority is to get that fixed since it's the only known problem that I have right now.

 

Whenever I have that problem (driving all good then BAM you're almost out of your lane) it was actually a wheel bearing... Rear ones. You're able to do the work yourself so you should be fine. I would also check the sway bar end links. Good luck!

 

Hi - I really appreciate the suggestion and everyone else's but I just replaced the rear wheel bearings about a month ago and I checked them this morning (per your suggestion) and they are still good and tight. About a month ago I had a horrible whirling/grinding noise coming from the rear and I thought it was coming from the right rear bearing so I replaced that but the noise didn't go away. So then I replaced the left rear bearing and that took care of the noise. So both bearing were replaced even though only one was bad and they were torqued to 160 ft-lbs.

Also, all sway bar end links in the front and rear were replaced last weekend. I also replaced the sway bar bushings in the front and rear.

Again - my mechanic really thinks the problem is the caster issue as noted in the alignment in my first post. We're going to address that problem and see if we can fix it this weekend and get it re-aligned. If the problem still exists then I might look into getting a new steering rack. I will also double check the linkages and gears between the steering wheel and steering rack.

Also - My compression rods are original but when I changed the bushings a while ago, I went with the ADUS 560 poly bushings - http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Front-Lo...BTrCKp&vxp=mtr. As you can see in the pictures, one (or two) sides of the bushing is flat instead of round - So I wonder if these bushings need to be properly oriented when being pressed into the control arm?? If I installed these bushings with the flat side facing the wrong way then maybe the compression rod isn't being properly held into position especially when the car is being forced side to side from a cross wind. Or maybe the compression rod is in position but the bushing is allowing too much flex if it's not oriented properly. Any thoughts about this??

 

Awesome, sorry if I missed that you replaced the sway bar components too, I was on my phone.

Those compression rod bushings aren't one of the known brands I trust, but others may have experience with them. Did they seem to fit well in the compression rods? I'm not sure I would trust those...

What do you plan to do to fix the caster issue? I hit a nasty pot hole and actually bent the stud that the compression rod bushing slips over, and I had to nail it with a sledge hammer to get my caster back in spec... Scary stuff ha. Those bushings may be related to your caster issue.

 

My mechanic and the alignment shop (and I) believe the stud is also bent so we're going to address that asap. When your caster was out, did the car feel squirrely on the highway??

 

Sweet, well not sweet, but we had the same issue! haha. It didn't make it loose but it made it pull right (passenger side bend towards rear)