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2019 Highlander Steering wander at highway speed.

5.3K views 21 replies 13 participants last post by  zeng1  
#1 ·
I am not sure whats going on bought it brand new and the SUV has never been stable at highway speed, constantly needs to bring it in the center whil driving at hwy speed, Can be tiring and take fun away of driving to maintain control . It Wanders right and left at 50 MPH and above. I have 37K miles on it now. Its my second car which my wife drives, she is good driver and speedy one too and she complains about it as well. Any suggestion why a brand new car would have such issues. Appreiciate your feed back
 
#2 ·
It might just need an alignment done.
 
#16 ·
Step one: take it to a shop to have the front suspension checked for worn parts. Get those taken care of before anything else.

Step two: get it aligned by a shop with a computerized alignment rack. Most shops should have those now. Just avoid the ones with the guys who use a piece of string and a plumb bob...lol They can get you into the neighborhood, but if you're paying to have it done spot on, pay a little more for the real thing.

Improperly aligned "toe" could cause it to wander on the highway too. Vehicles need a little tow in to be stable on the highway. I once had some worn front suspension parts replaced, and the shop that did the job took it next door for the alignment. Well, the guys in the other shop didn't align the car and the toe was off when I got it back. (Camber and caster was not adjustable on that vehicle). It wandered a bit and didn't want to track straight on the highway. I took it back and they actually aligned it that time. It tracked perfectly afterwards.
 
#17 ·
Step two: get it aligned by a shop with a computerized alignment rack. Most shops should have those now. Just avoid the ones with the guys who use a piece of string and a plumb bob...lol They can get you into the neighborhood, but if you're paying to have it done spot on, pay a little more for the real thing.
I agree with almost everything you're saying but.. does this fancy alignment rack do a good job at testing real conditions on the highway?
Can it stimulate wind, uneven road or high speed driving?

That would be cool to have. Full on environment Simulator like in the Resident Evil movie..

i bet all the FTK crypto in the world, he could go through all of that and still have the issue despite then paying however many hundreds for the time and service...

if that happens, maybe they'll come back and tell us.. but "vehicle walking all over" , is textbook steering or logically the sway bar end links. The camber isn't great on any of these vehicles as they age but it would show in the tires if there's a problem.. either way there's no real way to adjust it short of a bandaid fix for alleviating the sag of a worn out part due to fail anyway.

OR I'm tripping out and forgot my meds today, u decide
 
#21 ·
Weird you say it wonders left and right. Just about every road has a bit of lean to the left or right to it. Rarely perfectly flat, My car is pretty sensitive to the slight angle of the road at highway speed. If I let go of the steering wheel it will drift left or right depending on the road and I am usually always holding just a little pressure on the steering to keep it straight, I too thought I had an alignment issue but when I am on an actual flat roadway it will track dead straight. Not that this is your issue but came to mind when you mentioned both left and right. Does it have a problem left and right on the same roadway? For sure needs to be looked at by a professional to see what is going on. Any play in your steering wheel when parked?