Steering wheel seems tighter

Was the steering recall performed on your car?
Make: TOYOTA Model: PRIUSModel Year: 2005Manufacturer: TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.Mfr's Report Date: MAY 30, 2006NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 06V188000 N/A
NHTSA Action Number: N/A Component: STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM

 

Have you checked tire inflation to make sure that no tire is underinflated?

Would you characterize steering effort as "heavy", where it takes more effort to turn the wheel than before?

If the steering wheel is turned so that the front wheels point straight ahead, will the car track in a straight line or does it tend to veer to one side?

 

Hi Gkalkas,

Did you have your tires rotated? If so, this is the effect of the different tires, with different wear patterns at different locations, now. In a few weeks it should diminish.

As spring is getting near, you may want to opt for a stiffening plate for the gusty wind on the highway issues. Especially with the extra cantilever load of the PHEV pack.

 

I do not think that the BT plate will do anything for your particular problem.

Following is the spec for steering effort:

(g) Turn the steering wheel 90 degrees to the right and check
steering effort (torque) while turning. Check in the opposite
direction using the same manner.​

Steering effort (Reference):​

5.5 N·m (56 kgf·cm, 49 in.·lbf)

For the symptom of "poor return" the repair manual suggests the following causes:

1. Front tires (improperly inflated, unevenly worn)
2. Front wheel alignment (Incorrect)
3. Steering column assy
4. Steering gear assy​

5. Power steering ECU

 

I think the OP is getting weaker.

Have you noticed any left side neglect, or problems concentrating? Maybe you should hit the gym more often.

Tom

 

Hi gkalkas,

All I can say is that for gusty winter and springtime Chicagoland winds, a stiffening plate helps allot. If you want less dead zone on the steering, pumping the tires up somewhat might help too. Try the max sidewall rating for the front tires, and -2 PSI from that for the rears for an experiment.

The stiffening plate will result in the suspension doing more of the flexing - as the car is intended. It will feel crisper, and you wont feel a back end shimmy with a slow period for a long time when the car side loading changes rapidly (wind gusts, left turns over cambered roads, crossing rail-road tracks that are angled to the road). The shimmy is still there, but its period is about 1/10th what it was, and it decays away within a fraction of a second, versus the 3 or 4 seconds without the plate. With the extra load in the back, the period may be even longer.

You also need to check your aligment numbers. You want to see a slightly positive front toe-in. The Prius spec allows a slightly negative front toe-in. Toe-in is as it sounds, the angle of the static tires toward each other. As if the car was pigeon toed. The reason the car is setup this way is the play in the bearings. As the car runs down the road, the bearing play allows the wheel toe-in to go more negative. So, if its a little positive when static, toe-in wont become negative, and the tires will be closely alligned with the direction of travel. Going negative will tend to result in a feedback of forces on the tire that will cause the car to want to move sideways. When the tires are straight or with a little toe-in, the feedback due to the forces on the tire tends to keep the car running in the same direction.