Re: Toyota Corolla May Be Recalled over Steering Problem

Electric windows/power windows, electric door locks, some vehicles have electric/electronic doors and locks, electric trunks, (boots, in Brit speak) power steering, power brakes, electric/electronic power everything.Both of my Dodge vans have power steering and power brakes.I wish they didn't have power steering.I can easily do OK with old style factory installed manual/non power steering.Brakes too. cuhulin

_______________ Here, Here! There's just certain things they shouldn't electrify. . . It's like reinventing the wheel. I don't want a PS system that "mimics" the centered feel of a well designed suspension. I want a well designed suspension with next to no power steering over

nuff said.

-CC

Your automotive future looks dim. My guess is that the gas engine is not going to be around in a short while. The steering assist, brake assist, heating and cooling will all have to be electrical. Well, that's the breaks. My neighbor had to have her 2 year old Hybrid Camry's power steering system replaced so it might be that the technology is not reliable at this time but that's to be expected.

The good news is that we'll probably still have caster, camber and toe-in adjustments. What's SAI?

______________ It's a difficult angle to explain, but pretty there's an invisible line(like the earth's axis) around which a tire rotates as the wheel is turned. Facing the car dead on, this steering axis is inclined so that it angles in at the top(toward the middle of the car). This is not to be confused with camber, which is the tilt of the TIRE itself in(negative camber) or out(positive).

The past 20 years it's been called Steering-Axis-Inclination. Some truckers and old-timers still call it Kingpin.

It's function is to create lift as you steer the wheels away from a dead-ahead. The wheels want to go down into the ground - which is impossible - so the nose lifts, just perceptibly, as you turn the car's wheels. When you let go the steering wheel, or let it slide through your hands, the car's weight forces the wheels back to a dead- ahead(in an ideal world!). This is the same counterweight you feel when you turn the steering wheel to make a turn -either in a no-PS or a car with variable-PS and you're at moderate to high speeds.

That is the exact feeling - that communication between the steering/ suspension & the road - most of us "luddites" are afraid to lose during the fly-by-wire transition.

-CC

______________ It's a difficult angle to explain, but pretty there's an invisible line(like the earth's axis) around which a tire rotates as the wheel is turned. Facing the car dead on, this steering axis is inclined so that it angles in at the top(toward the middle of the car). This is not to be confused with camber, which is the tilt of the TIRE itself in(negative camber) or out(positive).

The past 20 years it's been called Steering-Axis-Inclination. Some truckers and old-timers still call it Kingpin.

It's function is to create lift as you steer the wheels away from a dead-ahead. The wheels want to go down into the ground - which is impossible - so the nose lifts, just perceptibly, as you turn the car's wheels. When you let go the steering wheel, or let it slide through your hands, the car's weight forces the wheels back to a dead- ahead(in an ideal world!). This is the same counterweight you feel when you turn the steering wheel to make a turn -either in a no-PS or a car with variable-PS and you're at moderate to high speeds. And in overboosted PS(hydraulic OR electric) you feel less of that weight as you move the wheel away form a dead-ahead. How, will someone please enlighten me, is that a good thing? I want to KNOW when the wheels are in a position other than straight-ahead. 60s-70s domestic full- sizes were notorious for this numb-feel! Add in a few brewskis and try negoitiating something like that(or a 09 Corolla) through the back- country turns and see how U make out. ;)

That is the exact feeling - that communication between the steering/ suspension & the road - most of us "luddites" are afraid to lose during the fly-by-wire transition.

-CC

______________ It's a difficult angle to explain, but pretty there's an invisible line(like the earth's axis) around which a tire rotates as the wheel is turned. Facing the car dead on, this steering axis is inclined so that it angles in at the top(toward the middle of the car). This is not to be confused with camber, which is the tilt of the TIRE itself in(negative camber) or out(positive).

The past 20 years it's been called Steering-Axis-Inclination. Some truckers and old-timers still call it Kingpin.

It's function is to create lift as you steer the wheels away from a dead-ahead. The wheels want to go down into the ground - which is impossible - so the nose lifts, just perceptibly, as you turn the car's wheels. When you let go the steering wheel, or let it slide through your hands, the car's weight forces the wheels back to a dead- ahead(in an ideal world!). This is the same counterweight you feel when you turn the steering wheel to make a turn -either in a no-PS or a car with variable-PS and you're at moderate to high speeds. And in overboosted PS(hydraulic OR electric) you feel less of that weight as you move the wheel away form a dead-ahead. How, will someone please enlighten me, is that a good thing? I want to KNOW when the wheels are in a position other than straight-ahead. 60s-70s domestic full- sizes were notorious for this numb-feel! Add in a few brewskis and try negoitiating something like that(or a 09 Corolla) through the back- country turns and see how U make out. ;)

The strong centered feeling and self-return - that communication between the steering/ suspension & the road - most of us "luddites" are afraid to lose during the fly-by-wire transition.

-CC

____________ Correction: pretty MUCH there's an invisible line!! OMG I sound like our last "president" when I type!

-CC

Ever driven a car with electrically enhanced steering?

My bet is for one it's the first Corolla the complainers have ever owned, which takes some getting used to all by itself if you've never owned a Corolla, and the electrically assisted PS, that is a different aniimal all of it's own.

For people that aren't used to Corollas the steering can be daunting. It's really, really tight, even in the days before rack and pinion. It is very easy to make a Corolla sway back and forth if you're not used to the tightness of the steering. Since my first 4 cars were Toyotas, I was used to the steering right from the start.

Someone used to a more drifty steering system (like Chryslers) might think there's something wrong, but they're just not used to the tightness. You have an Auris...looks kind of like a cross between a Matrix and a Yaris...I'd bet the steering is fairly tight in that, too.

In message , Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B writes

If you mean ,Sharp, or Precise then yes, it's typical Rack and Pinion steering. (As opposed to Recirculating Ball, spongy and imprecise.) If you mean hard to turn, then no.

the paid sociopath presenting allegations and hysteria as "fact". how true to form.

We already don't have caster & camber adjustments on most new cars (unless you want to go to the frame shop and have it bent into spec).

Ha ha. You're absolutely right about that the strut suspensions are not adjustable for anything other than toe-in. My mind must be back in the 70s!

"C. E. White" wrote in news:hlmd9h$ndj$1 @news.eternal-september.org:

And none of the earlier 21 were confirmed as being due to a stuck gas pedal, even after the passage of as many as nine years.

Note the exquisitely careful language in this AP article: variations of the word "allege" are placed in every clause that gives events and numbers.

Also note one of the last paragraphs, quoting an NHTSA official: "Transportation Department spokeswoman Olivia Alair said in a statement it was "normal for NHTSA to receive an increase in consumer complaints after a recall is announced and the public learns of a safety defect."

I restate, this time with more authority: ONE death confirmed, or NO deaths confirmed as being directly caused by a stuck gas pedal that was not due to incorrect or unsecured floor mats.

What, you never heard of usenet authority?

--Vic

jim beam wrote in news:feKdnQj3EumcpuLWnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@speakeasy.net:

Organized labor gave $21 million to the Democrats over the last election cycle, which was 91% of their total PAC contributions. Automakers contributed about $1 million, split evenly between Blue & Red.

The press is unionized.

Toyota has no union plants, now that they've closed NUMMI.

Obama and the Democrats are union stooges, in a very open and public manner.

Add all that together, and you've got at least a big part of the current mess exposed.

Hardly uncommon, in fact this is exactly how Iraq happened.

__________________________

Notice Hachiroku how I have not mentioned the name "TOYOTA" until now? That's because I'm probably the only one on this thread who has the sense to trash what really needs trashing - this FRICKIN' ELECTRIC POWER STEERING! Let's focus on the root of Toyota's - and every other mfgs - problem - a technology that hasn't been fully developed before implementing in any country's car.

-CC