Stiff steering - not exactly

Some things to check:

Make sure that the belt for the power steering pump is not slipping;

Make sure that the power steering fluid is full;

Check the condition of the steering shaft u-joint where it comes out of the firewall. If it looks rusted, replacement is in order.

You might also check that the front struts are rotating freely in the top bearing. Spring bind (the upper spring cup jams) is not uncommon on older vehicles.

Stewart DIBBS

I heard of a complaint similar to this once, it turns out the bolts that hold the steering rack to the frame were loose. Every so often, the rack would move when the wheel moved, and this created play in the steering wheel. I can't help but wonder if your rack moves around, then decided to bind and cause the play to go away.

Jesus!...pretty scary, better have that looked into pronto podner, can you imagine that last bolt coming free on a long right hand curve on the freeway with a line of tractor trailers approaching at 70 MPH?

That complaint had different symptoms, and that poster had just had the rack replaced and improperly installed.

My money is on the steering shaft u-joint.

I would not bet against YOU without VERY good odds Ray!...

BTW, hasn't the ujoint that you speak of a rubber absorber with a metal 'limiter' which limits the amount that it can turn before it becomes 'direct drive' so to speak?...seems to me if that rubber was about shot then the symptoms that he mentions would match?...

I think our Scion Xa has really stiff steering, and terrible handling. But it's hubby's car and he likes it, so that's all that matters. Someone said it was cuz the car was new, but neither my Echo or the Corolla had that feel when new.

Natalie, really missing hubby's old Corolla FX 16

Yeah, it would suck to have the rack come loose.

It wasn't my car that had loose bolts, in fact I think it was a discussion I followed on the newsgroup, and the resolution of the problem was to tighten the bolts.

That's a good place to be looking too. Good call, Ray.

I have not seen the rubber disc setup you're describing used in a Toyota steering column. I'm not sure I understand what you're describing, but it does sound a little like the SADS shaft on a Previa.

General Motors used a kludged steering shaft connector with a flat disc of fabric reinforced rubber like that many moons ago. Like in the 60's and 70's. Never seen one on a Toyota.

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"Ray O" wrote: snip

I remember them looking quite simple, just a disk of rubber with imbedded nylon? string, about a two inch disk maybe a half inch thick, looked like a piece cut out of a tire sidewall would look.

Each end shaft would have a two legged spider bolted to opposite sides of the disk and the other end shaft would have it's two legged spider bolted to the disk at 90 degrees, making a u-joint.

Simple and effective. Safety device (in case the rubber disk came apart) was a metal disk attached to one shaft which was bigger in diameter than the rubber disk with a 'U' cut out of it's edge mating 'very very loosely' with a metal pin attached to another metal disk attached to the other end shaft...

Yes, I remember those too...

"J Strickland" wrote: snip

That's exactly what I was trying to explain Jeff...(not too well I guess)...They probably (as you say) don't use them now...remember the safety device?, the steel disk with the U cut out of the rim mating with the steel pin attached to another steel disk on the other side of the joint?

That idea sounds KISS simple, and probably a lot more long-lasting.