Got some steering wander

[BennyLava]

Still got a little of that "steering wander" in the 09 sedan. Its worse at higher speeds. 60, 70, 80mph. You can feel it do it sometimes at lower speeds like when driving around town. But it doesn't happen as often. Its when you'll feel the steering wheel move a bit, (and indeed the car moves a bit) but you didn't move it. At higher speeds, this actually moves the car around a little, inside your lane. It feels like there is a high wind blowing, even when there is no wind that day. Tires are new and properly inflated. Car had an alignment at the dealership roughly 2 weeks ago.

Anyone know what causes this? Cause I'd really like to fix it. The car has 200k miles on it, and it did not do this in the past.

[NYC-SE]

Tires are new.

That would be my first guess. New tires can behave strangely while breaking in. It is also possible that the tread pattern is a bad fit for the Yaris. There are several posts here about tires that wander.

[kimona]

My guess would be tread pattern of your new rubber.

[dogsridewith]

Search term "vortex" should get you to some threads here on possible aerodynamic involvement in the hatchback's higher speed stability.

[BennyLava]

My guess would be tread pattern of your new rubber.

Aw man... the dealer mentioned something like that. When I took it to get it aligned, the looked the car over. Told me the rear brakes needed serviced. Which I did myself and they weren't kidding. Then they swapped the front tires around. They said that I should be good now, but do not put the driver's side front tire, back onto the passenger side. They said I could move 'em front to back, but not side to side.

So maybe if I just move both of the front tires to the back, the issue will be greatly lessened. Since now its not connected to the steering.

As for the tread pattern itself... I've had Michelin defenders before, but didn't have this issue. Don't know if they've changed the tread pattern in the last 5 years though.

[B.B._07]

Did you have this issue before getting the new tires? If not then the tires would be suspect, however if you did then I would look for any worn suspension or steering parts that might be the root cause.

[BennyLava]

Yeah it had the problem before. That is the confusing part.

[B.B._07]

Yeah it had the problem before. That is the confusing part.

Well you can rule out the tires are the root cause. I'd say lift the front end of the car, put it on jack stands, get yourself a big prybar and go hunting for loose/worn steering or suspension parts. I'd start with the inner and outer tie rod ends, and then move on the the front sway bar & links. If you just had a alignment done, I think the tech would have noticed a worn tie rod and passed that info along to you.

[DarkShadowFox]

could be uneven tread wear i know that when i put one new tire on the rear of my car it made my steering wheel wander. gotta remember these are tiny cars road imperections will make them more sensitive. its supposed to be an inter city car, not much of a long distance DD.