[makaveli200369]

I am not sure if this is the nature of the car or if supra's have a lot of bump steer. On the freeways..the bumpy or uneven surfaces make my supra steering wheel shudder left/right constantly until it passes to smooth road. On smooth road the steering wheel is perfect. I just had an computer alignment done and everything was tuned within factory spec.

With my two other cars when I pass these same spots on the freeway..I can feel the suspension taking up the bumps etc. but the steering wheel stays still as it does this.

My car has stock springs on Koni shocks. It did the samething on my stock shocks. I thought but getting new shocks it would take care of this but did not change anything.

The car does not drift left or right on even roads. Any idea what is the cause..or is this normal of supras? Thanks

 

[Adrian98]

alignment and wheel balance have the biggest factors in this

 

[ChiliSauce]

If you have a aftermarket wheels with a more agressive offset it can change youre suspension geometry. Most people who have road steer usually have pretty wide wheels.

 

[quick]

This could be due to worn bushings or suspension components.

Also, the stock alignment is suboptimal. Consider running Lance's alignment settings from mkiv.com

 

[makaveli200369]

I will check on the alignment settings from mkiv.com

As far as my wheels I am running a 18X8 up front 245/40/ZR18..the thing is the wheel offset isnt made for the car I am running a wheel spacer to make it flush with the fender. So that could be the reason for the changed geometry and causing the wheel to shake.

All my bushings are fine I checked them out..the car only has 52k miles on it.

Thanks for the responses guys

 

[quick]

Spacer shouldn't do it unless it prevents the wheel from being hubcentric... are your wheels balanced properly? Do you have this problem with the stock wheels as well?

 

[makaveli200369]

I never drove the car on the freeway with the stock wheels. I sold them right when I got the car and put my extra set of wheels on. This are Real Racing hart C5's. The spacers are H&R high quality billet spacers with a hub centric ring on them to make the wheel centered. I used this same setup on my 3000GT VR4 and never had this problem so I know the spacers arent causing the wheel to wobble. I ran the same setup on that car. It is possible the tire is causing it...my friend gave me his used tires to mount on these wheels. Maybe something is off with the tires.

But If there was...something wrong with the tires, spacers, or wheels...wouldnt it be shuddering at all times? On smooth roads its perfect like butter.

So this is not a normal trait of the supra? When you guys drive over rough roads, freeways, etc. your steering wheel doesnt shudder? I can hear my watch on my arm making noises as I am trying to hold the steering wheel still.

As mentioned before I drive over these same roads with my civic and 3000GT and do not have this problem. I know their suspension is different but I just thought it was odd to have the supra do this.

 

[quick]

You're using the same spacers as you used on your 3000GT? Is that even possible? Do they have the same specs?

I don't have the problem you're describing at all.

 

[makaveli200369]

Yes they bolted right on same bolt pattern. The main thing I am trying to find out is if other supra owners have this problem..if the car has major bump steer by nature. If other people dont have this problem then it'll make it clear for me that something is wrong or off in my suspension. I didnt want to waste my time looking for something if that was the nature of the car. Thanks

 

[quick]

Gotcha. No Supra I've driven or heard of has issues like this. What were the alignment settings you got from the shop?

 

[dolsen]

any development in this area? I'm having the same issue

 

[CLNSC3]

Is there a lot of play in your steering wheel too? If so it may be worth taking a look at your steering rack bushings!

 

[Troux]

It is possible the tire is causing it...my friend gave me his used tires to mount on these wheels. Maybe something is off with the tires.

Definitely look into this. I assume each tire/wheel combo is balanced, but the treads need to be quite identical between the left and right side. I learned this the scary way when I thought I could buy a brand new tire on one wheel when it got a bad hole.

 

[makaveli200369]

I finally got my front and back R2 bushings and will be doing install soon. I'll let ya know if it cures the steering wheel shudder shimming problem when hitting certain bumps

 

[Ben777]

Definitely look into this. I assume each tire/wheel combo is balanced, but the treads need to be quite identical between the left and right side. I learned this the scary way when I thought I could buy a brand new tire on one wheel when it got a bad hole.

Aside from the wheel balance, with used tires, check for bubbles in the tire.

 

[Supra NA-T]

really sounds like an alignment problem.

 

[StickyRice]

I had 295s in the front before and had pretty bad bump steer, but went with 275s this time and a new alignment with less camber upfront seem to help quite a bit.