"loose" steering?

[detroiter]

I recently replaced my battery so that thing is good to go. I didn't mention that in previous post because I just did it today. I'm sorry for the confusion. I just thought it was strange that after going down some bumpy dirt roads, that once I came back to smooth pavement...the weighted steering feel was back again. Best way to describe it is you know how when you're driving 5mph in the Yaris and the steering is really loose and floaty feeling? Well imagine that even when you're driving 70mph or so on the freeway, you still have the same feel and response out of the steering wheel, you don't have the gradual weighted feel that grows the faster your car is going.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by detroiter

I recently replaced my battery so that thing is good to go. I didn't mention that in previous post because I just did it today. I'm sorry for the confusion. I just thought it was strange that after going down some bumpy dirt roads, that once I came back to smooth pavement...the weighted steering feel was back again. Best way to describe it is you know how when you're driving 5mph in the Yaris and the steering is really loose and floaty feeling? Well imagine that even when you're driving 70mph or so on the freeway, you still have the same feel and response out of the steering wheel, you don't have the gradual weighted feel that grows the faster your car is going.

It's such a hard thing to describe, and therefore hard to get on the same page about, but I think that point has been reached. Also, most people probably think we are crazy because this issue hasn't become part of their own realm of experience re their Yaris. My Yaris got to the point where intermittently i'd have that '5 mph feeling' while going 70 mph, but this cleared up when I got a new battery. If you are still having this issue after installing a new battery, and continue to experience this issue, then I'd look at both the steering rack and the wheel bearings. These are the only things that have been wrong on previous cars i've owned when I was getting the feeling we're describing (or something somewhat related) while driving the car.