Steering lock to lock pop
Thread Starter
4th Gear
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Steering lock to lock pop
Hi I was wondering if anyone was also plagued by a weird oscillation in their steering wheel when driving in a fully turned steering wheel position? I notice that when I parking or maneuvering and am turning the wheel toward a left locked or right steering wheel locked position that my wheel oscillates slightly as it is moving forward or reverse. It feels as if the wheel is popping ever so slightly out of place and as soon as I take the wheel out of the hard turn the popping stops. It reminds me of my truck when its in 4 wheel drive and you turn that wheel it tries to let you know. It is really hard to explain but it seems as if something is out of round in the steering and as the wheels turn it pops that imbalance through the steering wheel by giving the wheel a nominal nudge as if it's trying to fight the turn ever so slightly. Again wheel is turned hard and the forward slow progression is felt through the steering wheel as a noticeable "pop" of the steering wheel in the opposite direction. Other than that it tracks straight at hi and lo speed and is all sorts of fun to drive in fast turns etc. Thanks in advance for any help.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,258
Likes: 543
From: Appleton WI
What you described sounds normal for these cars. It is a combination of the alignment and the width of the tires.
When you turn the wheels to full lock, you are essentially riding on the edges of the tires (one outside edge, one inside edge). This reduces contact patch and allows the tires to skip ever so slightly and that is the "oscillation" you feel. This gets even more noticeable in colder weather if you have summer tires.
If you were to do the same maneuver, only faster, the tires would roll and make full contact with the ground thereby eliminating the skip. I'm not advocating pulling into parking spaces at a faster rate
. You can however prove the theory in an empty lot.
When you turn the wheels to full lock, you are essentially riding on the edges of the tires (one outside edge, one inside edge). This reduces contact patch and allows the tires to skip ever so slightly and that is the "oscillation" you feel. This gets even more noticeable in colder weather if you have summer tires.
If you were to do the same maneuver, only faster, the tires would roll and make full contact with the ground thereby eliminating the skip. I'm not advocating pulling into parking spaces at a faster rate
. You can however prove the theory in an empty lot.
Thread Starter
4th Gear
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Dude! You are the best! thank you so much for putting me at ease and of course that makes so much sense and I have to admit my tires are a little older and need replacing and it was cold out when I really notice it. Thx again so much. Peace.
