I am new to the post so don't shoot the messanger the first time. I bought a used 2009 LTZ with 8900 miles on it. The problem is that it likes to wander on rutted roads or uneven pavement. On a four lane road changing lanes, if it is uneven, is a handful. The same thing if passing a car on a two lane road. It jerks the steering wheel as you cross over the hump. It drives straight down a flat road and handles fine if the road is rough. It is the uneven pavement it does not like. In the rain, it is worse and with snow, I don't even want to know.
Things that have been done:
1. Numerous dealer road tests. They don't test drive it on the correct road. I try to tell them!
2. FEA
3. Reprogrammed the electric steering
4. Reprogrammed the speed sensor.
5. The car has not been wrecked.
Has anybody run into this kind of problem? I hope it is not a characteristic of the electric rack and pinion. Thanks

I have gotten no replies but I will keep it going anyway. It is still a problem. Several trips to the dealer and it still is bad. A GM engineer is suppose to look at it today. Everything is within spec but it handle horrable. Going to get rid of it if they do not do anything,

Its very normal to do that honestly.

Its just physics. If the side of the tire is on a higher part than the rest of the tire the car is going to want to travel that way. We have a VERY bad area here where we get off an expressway for our apartment complex that has a diagonal cut in the road and the car always wants to follow the cut back into the flow of traffic.

Yep, the roads around here have very uneven crowns, and "I have to pay attention or she wanders around all over the place.

BTW, Its a V6 LTZ, 2008

Mine does the same on uneven or bumpy roads.. 09 v6

Thanks for your responses. Just like all of you, I have driven many years on uneven roads and this car is horrible. I have had numerouse other people drive it with the same consensus. If all the LTZ's with the electronic steering handle like this, the tow truck operators will have a field day this winter in the north east. I believe everyone with the V6 has hydraulic steering. I have had a V6 car as a loner this past week and it drove fine, somewhat to the effect you have all stated. Today GM says the car is with parameter. I will soldier on.

I set my tire pressures up to 36 lbs cold and it stopped. Try it. The tires that come with these cars have very soft sidewalls. I got the tip from the Car and Driver road test article.

I set my tire pressures up to 36 lbs cold and it stopped. Try it. The tires that come with these cars have very soft sidewalls. I got the tip from the Car and Driver road test article.

Very good tip!

Thanks for your responses. Just like all of you, I have driven many years on uneven roads and this car is horrible. I have had numerouse other people drive it with the same consensus. If all the LTZ's with the electronic steering handle like this, the tow truck operators will have a field day this winter in the north east. I believe everyone with the V6 has hydraulic steering. I have had a V6 car as a loner this past week and it drove fine, somewhat to the effect you have all stated. Today GM says the car is with parameter. I will soldier on.

I would keep on the dealer. You must have warranty left. I did not know LTZ came with electric power steering. Look at the complaints on this and you will see many are unhappy.
I only have 2000 miles and trying to get out of it. It seems dangerous to me. I want to get out of it before the crap really hits the fan and no one wants them. It warrants a NHTSA investigation. I will use Lemon Law if I have to.

I set my tire pressures up to 36 lbs cold and it stopped. Try it. The tires that come with these cars have very soft sidewalls. I got the tip from the Car and Driver road test article.

What tires do you have? LT2 I4 AT6 w/ Firestone FR710 - 215 -55R17.
I would not say soft sidewall, but probably not hard either. 40 PSI limit and alignments are to be done at proper inflation.

I have to wonder what tire and size this vehicle was designed for?

I would keep on the dealer. You must have warranty left. I did not know LTZ came with electric power steering. Look at the complaints on this and you will see many are unhappy.
I only have 2000 miles and trying to get out of it. It seems dangerous to me. I want to get out of it before the crap really hits the fan and no one wants them. It warrants a NHTSA investigation. I will use Lemon Law if I have to.

Only the 4-cyl has the electronic steering, and that is on base models as well. I have the electronic steering (as well as in my Mazda) and I don't have any problems. Fact of the matter is that this is just how it is. Some cars are worse than others. Pretty much you have to deal with it, or buy a different car and hope it's better.

With the electric steering there is no "resistance" so you have to keep control of the car yourself. With a hydraulic steering there is enough resistance to keep the car straight until you ask for it to change.

There is nothing wrong with the car or the steering. Its the characteristics of the car and electric steering. Like any car you have to get used to its little nuances. This is one of them.

I've been fighting this one since day one. I love the car except the way it handles. As i have posted before, i have replaced my tires and experimented with different tire pressures in an attempt to correct the wandering and have had some improvement. (I have the 18" rims with the stock 225/50/18 OEM size tires.) I really think that this car wasn't "dialed" completely in when engineered due to the inability to control the torque steer. I know that all front wheel drive cars have this problem to some degree but this one has it more IMHO. I really think that with the soft sidewalls on the OEM tires, coupled with the elongated Epsilon 1 platform and torque steer and the street/highway unevenness all makes for a difficult/disconnected drive for us sometimes, especially with air turbulence from an big rig. The answers to a better controlled, better handling, more solid "earth to driver" feel that we all seem to lack and want with this car, may be found simply in a stiffer sidewall tire or a lower profile tire (One that has less sidewall) or maybe lowering the car or better struts/springs. I don't have the resources to buy say: different tires, one set at a time, to find that "magic" tire that does the trick or to install different springs only to find out that it now rides like a tank. I'm willing to try a set of 19" wheels with performance tires to see if the stiffer/lower sidewalls improve control. I do think that there's a great handling car in there trying to get out.

I've been fighting this one since day one. I love the car except the way it handles. As i have posted before, i have replaced my tires and experimented with different tire pressures in an attempt to correct the wandering and have had some improvement. (I have the 18" rims with the stock 225/50/18 OEM size tires.) I really think that this car wasn't "dialed" completely in when engineered due to the inability to control the torque steer. I know that all front wheel drive cars have this problem to some degree but this one has it more IMHO. I really think that with the soft sidewalls on the OEM tires, coupled with the elongated Epsilon 1 platform and torque steer and the street/highway unevenness all makes for a difficult/disconnected drive for us sometimes, especially with air turbulence from an big rig. The answers to a better controlled, better handling, more solid "earth to driver" feel that we all seem to lack and want with this car, may be found simply in a stiffer sidewall tire or a lower profile tire (One that has less sidewall) or maybe lowering the car or better struts/springs. I don't have the resources to buy say: different tires, one set at a time, to find that "magic" tire that does the trick or to install different springs only to find out that it now rides like a tank. I'm willing to try a set of 19" wheels with performance tires to see if the stiffer/lower sidewalls improve control. I do think that there's a great handling car in there trying to get out.

The consensus from dealers and service departments is that these handling problems we are seeing got worse with lower profile tires, less sidewall flex.
I had an Aurora, 235-70R17. You could not ask for a better handling vehicle. At any speed, if you drove across one of those areas that is causing this car to misbehave, you'd feel the front tire react and immediately after the rear. And if it was a relatively small area, the reverse as the vehicle cleared it. It was as if the side effected would move but the foot print on the opposite side stayed in place, like stretching it sideways and then naturally returning to geometry without causing any drift or angling of vehicle. It might have had something to do with the unique suspension bushings. They are big rubber doughnuts mounted in horizontal plane allowing 360 degree flex around vertical access at all points.
Torque steer is not an issue on mine. Maybe in early 90's, GM had an internal memo regarding it and unequal length drive shafts was considered a major cause. I had a Topaz with Mazda diesel that had that setup, but torque steer was near non-existant. Maybe the heavier engine and strong tight power steering minimized it. The Aurora with its V8 had absolutely none, equal length shafts. But my wife's Rondo handles like it has been wrecked. First, the idiots only included adjustments for toe. All four wheels are out for camber and caster on the front. And has unequal length drive shafts. It is so bad that going up or down an incline you feel the vehicle shift according to torque, and of course accel or decel. It is likely that some of it could be corrected with alignment and some with tires, but I hold little hope of it all going away because of the unequal length drive shafts.
I looked closely at my BU after someone mentioned torque steer, and as near as I can tell the shafts are the same length or very close. So, I'd look toward an alignment issue first. Try somewhere else and ask for printout of before and after. That rack may be out of calibration. If you don't see a change, swap tires left to right and see if the characteristics change. You could have one tire that is bad. Because of the different camber calibration left to right on front, you might have to drive some miles before the tires wear in to the change. The slight alignment change on mine seemed to make a slight difference for a few days. That would be because the footprint of the tire changed until it wore back to the new settings.
And that really makes me wonder what will happen when you rotate because it seems the rt front would have a different wear pattern.

And since I started this thread....... To the guys that say live with it, that's BS. This car is dangerous especially in the north east with winter coming. It is an electronic steering rack as I can "look" at the rack and see no hydralic hoses or a pump (dead give away!). Stock tires from the factory. The dealer has done several alignments and adjusted every thing electronic they could. Some changes help while others didn't. Nothing fix it correctly. And as someone else has said, look at all the other posts about this problem.
Now I'll get everyone excited.... I got rid of the car in less than six months. I traded it back into the same dealer and bought a Toyota Camry Hybrid. Very very nice car. Overall much better than the Malibu will ever be. And I don't have to "live with it not handling"! This is the very first foreign car I have every bought. Sorry gents!

On my 3.6 the steering was definitely the weakest part of otherwise fine car. The rut sensitivity was bigger than on any other cars I have driven. The hydraulic steering was heavy but numb...
Definitely needs more R&D. My current vehicle, while not being latest and greatest has a much more spot on feel and no rut sensitivity. And it's an SUV of all things.

And since I started this thread....... To the guys that say live with it, that's BS. This car is dangerous especially in the north east with winter coming. It is an electronic steering rack as I can "look" at the rack and see no hydralic hoses or a pump (dead give away!). Stock tires from the factory. The dealer has done several alignments and adjusted every thing electronic they could. Some changes help while others didn't. Nothing fix it correctly. And as someone else has said, look at all the other posts about this problem.
Now I'll get everyone excited.... I got rid of the car in less than six months. I traded it back into the same dealer and bought a Toyota Camry Hybrid. Very very nice car. Overall much better than the Malibu will ever be. And I don't have to "live with it not handling"! This is the very first foreign car I have every bought. Sorry gents!

Good luck, given Toyota's recent quality issues, I hope you don't end up beating your head against the wall. I guess I'm more understanding and less nit pickey than a lot of you guys.

I have a 2010 LTZ 4 cyl, A6. Drove it off the lot 2 months ago. The dealer fills the tires with nitrogen. It's supposed to give better overall performance. My LTZ seems to ride just fine.

I have a 2010 LTZ 4 cyl, A6. Drove it off the lot 2 months ago. The dealer fills the tires with nitrogen. It's supposed to give better overall performance. My LTZ seems to ride just fine.

Mine too! The electronic steering does take some getting used to (it's just a new feeling for people that had hydraulic before), but I actually prefer it now, feels more responsive to me. As for the rutted roads, I avoid them in general with any car I drive, and when I am on them, I drive slowly, especially with the low profile tires on the 18" wheels.

First, the tire pressure thing of over-inflating seems very wrong. These Firestone FR710 definitely do not have a soft sidewall and I'd rate them at average or above for stiffness of radial car tires.
As mentioned earlier, most dealers feel that the lower sidewall of option tires and wheels has brought more handling complaints. That is the shorter and consequently often stiffer sidewall displaces the vehicle from its line of travel more than a tire with a higher profile when driving over those disturbing spots on the street.
Of course, the suspension has a lot to do with that as well and I feel they went toward the cheap side on the Malibu. Also making your tires hard beyond the recommended pressures will punish your suspension and likely wear prematurely.

Second, I still have issue with this electric power steering and firmly believe it is a major issue. The dealer aligned my vehicle, less than 2K, and now notice issues I had not previously. The car did seem to handle slightly better for the power steering issue when I first got it back, but believe that was because the contact patch of tires was changed with the adjustment and it took awhile to wear the tires to the new contact settings. I believe the reason it felt better at that time was because enough pull was introduced to keep the wheels to one side of the slack that is felt at the steering wheel.
Along with that change, I now suspect that the dealer rack was not calibrated properly.
I sense what seems to be dog tracking along with a different feel to turning left and then right. The bow tie on the steering wheel is not perfectly level. When driving in the left lane with a crown to the right, I actually have to hold it from creeping over the crown. When on a stretch of road that the car drove straight, I could rock the steering wheel what felt like dangerously worn parts without altering its course. BAD! electric steering!
I added three pounds to the tires on the return trip because of temperature difference and it did not alter the handling much at high speed and loaded vehicle. That is the ride did not become harsh but maybe slightly worse at trying to track surface changes. I drove through a couple of lengths of new surface with rain grooves, about 60 miles total of the 1100 one way. Considering how close and small those grooves are I should not have felt that much squirm. This is another reason I suspect they actually mis-aligned the vehicle and also the likely reason I now sometimes feel torque steer.

That play in the steering is still my highest concern because of saftey. But because of the length of this trip I became aware of other issues. What I had originally thought to be a mild flat spot on the right front tire which could be felt at the steering on some surfaces has evolved. It was constant the first 200 miles of flat travel. When I got to rolling hills it was more noticeable up grade and then it became more noticeable coasting down grade. Not a tire, right? It eventually became obvious that it was coming from drive shaft joint. And learned it was in the center when riding as the passenger. I'm not sure why, but know that vibration is annoying and painful on a long drive because of the terrible design of the steering wheel. The contour of the rim is wrong for a comfortable grip and does not have enough padding or whatever to isolate vibrations from the drivers hands. It seems the same is true of the steering column and the whole vehicle for that matter. Terrible armrests that expose joints to a mild but very long beating and even the seats pass this vibration. The only time I felt this miserable after that trip was riding in my wife's KIA Rondo and I've made that jaunt 50 or more times.

Back to tire pressure for a moment. Once back to the south and the vehicle was unloaded, the handling was absolutely terrible on local streets until I let some air out of tires. It warmed here so that cold inflation was in the 33-34 range.

If I can not get some satisfaction from GM on this steering problem, it will be the last GM I ever own.

As I wrote, I had the car less than six months and now own a Toyota Camry. Excellent car. Should have driven it first and not listened to all the hype about the new Malibu. You can all keep getting use to it! It is not right.

As I wrote, I had the car less than six months and now own a Toyota Camry. Excellent car. Should have driven it first and not listened to all the hype about the new Malibu. You can all keep getting use to it! It is not right.
I might check it out.
As I wrote previously, it seems they may have mis-aligned the vehicle because of a rack out of calibration. An added effect noticed now is that the rear end seems to pitch to one side slightly when going across a wide but even bump such as a speed bump. It seems to try to do a hop to the left with the rebound. I will write more on this after I get a highly accurate pressure guage to help eliminate any tire influence.

As I wrote, I had the car less than six months and now own a Toyota Camry. Excellent car. Should have driven it first and not listened to all the hype about the new Malibu. You can all keep getting use to it! It is not right.

Make sure you bring it in for the accelerator recall.

I might check it out.
As I wrote previously, it seems they may have mis-aligned the vehicle because of a rack out of calibration. An added effect noticed now is that the rear end seems to pitch to one side slightly when going across a wide but even bump such as a speed bump. It seems to try to do a hop to the left with the rebound. I will write more on this after I get a highly accurate pressure guage to help eliminate any tire influence.

Thats very strange. I take it you have expressed your concerns to the dealership? And if you have and they did nothing, call a different one that will actually listen to your concerns.

The car had 4x alignments (some were better than others but did not fix the problem), 2x tire rotations, numerous tire pressure changes, 3x rack reprogrammed and 2x speed sensor reprogrammed. The dealer was very helpful. But after six months and winter coming, I could not wait to see if GM was going to fix it. I could not find where this car had been in any kind of a wreck or anything like that as that thought crossed my mind. The car is actually back on their lot and for sale as a GM certified car! Good luck guys in getting yours figured out.

The car had 4x alignments (some were better than others but did not fix the problem), 2x tire rotations, numerous tire pressure changes, 3x rack reprogrammed and 2x speed sensor reprogrammed. The dealer was very helpful. But after six months and winter coming, I could not wait to see if GM was going to fix it. I could not find where this car had been in any kind of a wreck or anything like that as that thought crossed my mind. The car is actually back on their lot and for sale as a GM certified car! Good luck guys in getting yours figured out.

After reading this entire thread, I am starting to speculate that it is the driver, not the car that is causing this issue. No offense, but if you cant correct or judge that the car is going to wander on un-even surfaces and prepare yourself for some type of correction, then you should not be on the road. I live in the city here, and used to drive a 2002 Yukon before switching to the malbu. I have the hydrolic steering and the torque steer took me 1 week MAX to get used to and anticipate. I drive on uneven city roads every day during my communte to school and back, and I have not had any problems. I also bought my malibu in the middle of winter last year and it did just fine with 2-4" of fresh snow on the ground.

I am really sorry that you had such a sour experience with the malibu and wish you the best with the toyota.

Thats very strange. I take it you have expressed your concerns to the dealership? And if you have and they did nothing, call a different one that will actually listen to your concerns.

I have not had contact with them since returning from the trip but will soon. Going through customer service, they wanted me to take it to a second dealer because of the steering concerns. The only local Chevy dealer they had listed is actually the same ownership. The closest one they had listed is about 120 miles away and they chose not to send me there. I know there are other Chevy dealers, but why would they have not had them listed?
As to the weird handling that seems possibly alignment, I realize it could also be a difference in struts, springs, etc.

Also, they refused to give me a copy of the case file which they closed. They said it was confidential.

After reading this entire thread, I am starting to speculate that it is the driver, not the car that is causing this issue. No offense, but if you cant correct or judge that the car is going to wander on un-even surfaces and prepare yourself for some type of correction, then you should not be on the road. I live in the city here, and used to drive a 2002 Yukon before switching to the malbu. I have the hydrolic steering and the torque steer took me 1 week MAX to get used to and anticipate. I drive on uneven city roads every day during my communte to school and back, and I have not had any problems. I also bought my malibu in the middle of winter last year and it did just fine with 2-4" of fresh snow on the ground.

I am really sorry that you had such a sour experience with the malibu and wish you the best with the toyota.

I have driven many FWD vehicles and torque steer is just not annoying but dangerous especially if it coincides with something unforseen. Most of these vehicles had absolutely no torque steer which means they were likely designed properly and in align. The worst is on my wife's KIA Rondo. She had never got it fixed, but I may help her put some pressure to the issue even though I seldom drive it. The first possible cause is that it has unequal length drive shafts and that is a known cause according to a memo I found a few years ago that GM had. The second is that it is impossible to align it because it has no camber or caster adjustments. And it is definitely out of align, big time. Also the tires are a possibility. These Hankook have a slant pattern that runs across the tread, yet they claim they are not directional. Assuming the water travels under the tire, through the tread, it would be coming out the left edge of the tire as viewed from the rear. Certainly some squirm is likely on dry road. Add in the different spring and shocks front to rear you certainly could have weird behavior. This may be the first to fix, that is unmount the tires from one side and flip so that in the above example of water, it is either toward the center or away from the center of vehicle.

The second worst is becoming this Malibu as the torque steer seems to be getting worse.
As to the quality of Chevy, most dealers go through Enterprise for a loaner. Only top line vehicles such as Mercedes maintain loaners. The counter guy at Enterprise told me they do several times the business with Chevy and talking to owners as to why their vehicle was in, he believes Chevy has some real issues. To the point that he'd never buy a Chevy.

My Grand Am had torque steer... when I floored it. Sorry if I've missed something in previous posts, because I haven't re-read anything, but are you getting torque steer under normal acceleration?

Also, take it to a GM dealer, there is no need to take it to a Chevy dealership. Warranty work will still be covered. There is nothing saying you must take it to a chevy dealership.

If youve never felt torque steer in a FWD car then you havent had one with enough power. Its is there NO MATTER WHAT. Its the same reason a RWD car will squat the passenger side rear farther than the driver side.

Regardless, I still think you just need to get used to such a different car. The Malibu has basically the same suspension design as higher end cars and handles much better than before.

Plus, the car does have a camber and caster adjustment. All cars do. Its just how easy it is to adjust and on cars without "adjustable" suspension you have to get it aligned to change the caster and camber.

If youve never felt torque steer in a FWD car then you havent had one with enough power. Its is there NO MATTER WHAT. Its the same reason a RWD car will squat the passenger side rear farther than the driver side.

Regardless, I still think you just need to get used to such a different car. The Malibu has basically the same suspension design as higher end cars and handles much better than before.

Plus, the car does have a camber and caster adjustment. All cars do. Its just how easy it is to adjust and on cars without "adjustable" suspension you have to get it aligned to change the caster and camber.

I agree. Some people are so fricking picky that they will never be pleased.

To dmw2692004:
For my background I have driven race cars for over 10 years on road courses. I have set up many FEA's on cars so know them well. And you missed the electronic steering part. I drove the hydraulic steering Malibu and it did not wander as I expected. There is a serious design flaw in the LTZ Malibu and I will leave it at that. Try driving your car out of the city on 20 miles of uneven 4 lane highway driving at 75 mph and see what you think.

To dmw2692004:
For my background I have driven race cars for over 10 years on road courses. I have set up many FEA's on cars so know them well. And you missed the electronic steering part. I drove the hydraulic steering Malibu and it did not wander as I expected. There is a serious design flaw in the LTZ Malibu and I will leave it at that. Try driving your car out of the city on 20 miles of uneven 4 lane highway driving at 75 mph and see what you think.

Ok...and? We bought our car a year ago and it has almost 20k miles on it. Its been to TX and back 2 times and numerous trips down to Nashville. The car handles completely fine.


Anyways, what is the design flaw?

To dmw2692004:
For my background I have driven race cars for over 10 years on road courses. I have set up many FEA's on cars so know them well. And you missed the electronic steering part. I drove the hydraulic steering Malibu and it did not wander as I expected. There is a serious design flaw in the LTZ Malibu and I will leave it at that. Try driving your car out of the city on 20 miles of uneven 4 lane highway driving at 75 mph and see what you think.

You're comparing apples to oranges comparing your experience with race cars vs. this family sedan. That's like me saying I've been using a PC for the past 15 years and the apple sucks because it doesn't have a start menu. Well duh!

Also, comparing the hydrolic to the electric is apples to oranges as well. I've owned both electric and hydrolic and I can't say I like one or the other. I can say that I have not had any problems with my LTZ's electronic steering. Either you had a bad apple, or you're just too damn sensitive and picky.

Personally I would rather have electronic steering over hydraulic.

If youve never felt torque steer in a FWD car then you havent had one with enough power. Its is there NO MATTER WHAT. Its the same reason a RWD car will squat the passenger side rear farther than the driver side.


[You obviously don't know what you are talking about. The Aurora engine available in Cadilac, one Olds, &Buick Lucernne, V8 with dual overhead cams, has plenty of power. It has no torque steer.
As to RWD, it depends which way the motor turns. If you pay attention, you can rock a vehicle side to side, RWD, even not in gear, by punching the engine. the counter torque is being passed through the frame.]


Regardless, I still think you just need to get used to such a different car. The Malibu has basically the same suspension design as higher end cars and handles much better than before.

[It must have been ___________, before. Don't confuse "basically" with reality and you need to recheck your high end cars.]

Plus, the car does have a camber and caster adjustment. All cars do. Its just how easy it is to adjust and on cars without "adjustable" suspension you have to get it aligned to change the caster and camber.

[All vehicles should have camber and caster adjustments, but they don't. ]

[All vehicles should have camber and caster adjustments, but they don't. ]

Yes, they do.

Where have you heard and seen that shows the Malibu is impossible to adjust in those two areas?

Unbelievable! I won't continue on as you know best. You both must work as dealer service technicians as you have blamed the driver. The dealer ship did not blame me and was looking further into the problem. Why you might ask? Also look at other threads in your very own Malibu site and you will see this is not the only car, oh I mean driver to complain about this. I decided to trade because of winter coming not lack of dealer input. No longer a member and the car still wanders but I don't own it. You guys have fun.

There are at MOST 5 threads with people "complaining" about the handling of the car. I truly believe that its either a mechanical problem or the driver just doesnt like the feel of the vehicle.

I personally believe this is one of the best handling family sedans under $30k.

Macleod52 And bballr4567 i hate to burst your bubble, but there is countless posts throughout the internet concerning this issue. From the Saturn guys over at Saturnfans forums to the Pontiac G6 guys over at G6Ownersclub. ( All Epsilon 1 platform, if you didn't know.) They all have numerous posts concerning "Bad handling and Bad parts" with mixed results. Some have had good experiences with their services departments, while others have had quite a fight on their hands with them. I have had very little luck with my issues with my service department. Three different times in for the dreaded "CLUNK" and with it getting much colder now, the "clunk" has become a "CLONK CLONK CLONK". Last time i had a service tech even acknowledge hearing the clunk but said "it was a normal condition". That was, IMHO absurd and irresponsible!!! I have, let me make this clear, N - E -V -E - R have i in 46 years of owning new cars ( Mostly GM ) had a new car feel like it's front end is a hand built go-cart. (Front end wise) It's going back and if they don't even attempt to fix it this time ( Don't even try the "PACK GREASE INTO THE ISS" again!!!!!! B.S.) I will declare LEMON. The wife won't drive it and it's HER CAR!!!!! Don't get me wrong, I like the car except for the way it handles and the noisy front end. So, for those that think "you're just too damn sensitive and picky". Read, Learn and explore your world. For those of us that have real issues, Fight the good fight and good luck!!! Does "GM suing it's suspension/steering supplier for 30M scream somethings wrong? You be the Judge. If i can't get some satisfaction this time it maybe on to another car make. Stay tuned.

There is a difference from a MECHANICAL failure which the ISS (although it doesnt fail at all) is and what a person perceives as a bad handling car.

From what Ive read the ISS does nothing but make noise that the owner doesnt like. It does not cause the failure of any part of the steering itself.

Now again, the ISS does not make the car handle worse. It merely makes a noise.

I know that it sounds bad and that its annoying but it will not make the car "wander" all over the road.

I personally think it's strut bushings that are defect, but i'm just the "owner" not a ASE cert Master T. Agreed on the ISS, after packing it with grease it did get quiet for a little while, But front end still had "Clunk". Still wandered though. Just can't figure this car out. Last sedan owned, 2001 Pontiac Grand Am GT drove and handled great. This one Not even close.

You know you opened my eyes a little. I used to own an 01 GA as well and it had the clunk as well. I cant believe you think the GA handled better though. Mine was lowered and I think the Malibu has FAR better handling than the GA.

What fixed it? A little bit of oil on the strut mounts. It allows the mount to actually move when you turn the steering. Just a few drops worked and it worked for a while.

All though dropping oil on the strut towers sounds tempting......., Na, though the look on the service tech's face would be priceless. Anyway, It's practically a new car for god's sake. 25,000m. Just want it right.

Im serious. Its a pretty common issue on all cars that use this type of strut mount.


Also, might want to try some Fluid Film. The mounts usually pop and clunk when cold and the lubricant allows them to move. They are supposed to move anyways.

You know you opened my eyes a little. I used to own an 01 GA as well and it had the clunk as well. I cant believe you think the GA handled better though. Mine was lowered and I think the Malibu has FAR better handling than the GA.

What fixed it? A little bit of oil on the strut mounts. It allows the mount to actually move when you turn the steering. Just a few drops worked and it worked for a while.

'99 GT here as well. While the Grand Am handled decently, I had the proverbial clunk as well. Turned out to be the tie rods. Replaced those and it was fine, for a couple thousand miles until it happened again. The Malibu is a much better car than the GA and I still stand by what I've been saying.

Red Ryder - The people I have been referring to have no said clunk (at least the ones I'm responding to). They are complaining about the electric steering, two totally different things.

Red Ryder Thanks for the educated reply. I like my new Camry. I would not dream of going back to the Malibu. I have a Silverado and a C6 corvette and wouldn't trade them for the world. But the Malibu is gone. This is the first none American car I have ever owned so we will see how it goes.
As I have tried to explain, mine did not wander all the time. It was more of darting move. Add that to winter weather and I just don't think it is a safe combination.

You know you opened my eyes a little. I used to own an 01 GA as well and it had the clunk as well. I cant believe you think the GA handled better though. Mine was lowered and I think the Malibu has FAR better handling than the GA.

What fixed it? A little bit of oil on the strut mounts. It allows the mount to actually move when you turn the steering. Just a few drops worked and it worked for a while.
I would advise against putting oil on strut mounts until you know exactly where it is going. Some rubber components deteriorate badly when exposed to oil and I'd bet the engineers never figured oil would get way up there. Is there a bearing at the strut mount?
Some vehicles had issues with the bearing which was a number of balls in a hard plastic casing, but not hard enough. The balls made small indentations in the plastic and thus moments of resistance. They were not sealed either which allowed for condensation and corrosion. The grease was stiff to the point it pushed itself to the outer surfaces and little remained on the balls. Solution was to tear down and replace bearing in strut mount. If not badly corroded then you could force full of grease and that helped.
Oil can swell some types of rubber so you may have been getting a temporary tightening. Also it may have been temporarily softening the rubber, but again it can deteriorate the rubber.
Some types of rubber, neoprene, can stand up to more chemicals.
Grease is usually less likely to damage rubber, lithium or moly.

The strut mount is rubber on rubber. That is it.

The oil FIXES the noise because it lubricates the rubber and allows it to move without popping.

Only reason oil works is because its "thin" enough to fit in between the two pieces of rubber. White lithium, grease and all others dont work because they are too thick.


FYI, a few TSBs have actually advised dealerships to lubricate the strut mounts with oil on some vehicles that have the noise.

White lithium is available in a spray can and just the answer for hard to get at places.

White lithium is available in a spray can and just the answer for hard to get at places.

No, its not. Its still far thicker than a few drops of oil on the top of the strut mounts. Trust me, Ive tried it. It doesnt stop anything and white lithium isnt suitable on any cars that see temps below freezing for a while as it can freeze itself.

Trying to catch up.
I had never heard of white lithium freezing, but it does seem to dry out after a very long time.
The stuff in the spray can that I'm familiar with seems to have a solvent such as freon or propane that evaporates in seconds. In that liquified state it gets into very tight places.
But, rethinking what it should be used on would be important. Not all materials are grease or oil safe, especially rubber. Neoprene is better for some applications.
I have to wonder if the lubricant is actually getting down into the strut bearing? That would normally be greased.

On my 08 Malibu I don't seem to have that wandering feeling of the car. I did notice it took a short time to ajust to the stiffer steering wheel feeling. At highway speeds this is a plus and gives you better control feeling of the car. Going back to the tires, the Goodyear Eagle LS-2 tires that came with the Malibu, I did not like the wet, snow and highway lane changing proformance of the tire. On the highway with the center groove the tires and car would follow the groove in the road and made it annoying to change lanes. I had changed the tires to Goodyear Tripletreds and it has change my highway groove problem. The car changes lanes with no problems and has no wandering feeling. Again the car only felt like that on the highway when changing lanes with a center groove in the road with the original tires. The new tires has a little stiffer ride and are a little bit noiser at highway speeds because of the aggressive treds, but has better steering wheel feeling now and rides over these grooves or Imperfections of the roads better with the new tires. I found that the Low Profile Original OEM Tires was a problem for me, not the car. I do have the V6 with the Hydraulic Steering. Don't know if it is only the Electric Steering that is having this problem? By the way, my mother is on her second Toyota Puris and one day she needed me to drive her to the eye doctor for surgery. She wanted to take her car because it was good on gas and I told her that we would take my Malibu instead of her deadly Toyota Puris and that I would rather spend the extra on gas and know that we would get there and back to the house safely. Good luck!

The EPS on 4 cylinder seems to have more concerns related to steering and handling.
The V6 might even have different alignment specs because I noted on the printout I got that it said 4 cylinder.
Tires have had issues of their own and can certainly cause control issues. The LS2 were noted by dealers to have scalloping problems if run at all low.
Visible road changes such as grooving would be more understandable, for some vehicles, but I can not detect visually what the changes are that cause handling issues. For some vehicles because my previous vehicle took all such changes of road very handily. If there some disturbance on the road that caused the vehicle to move a little, it always straightened itself before you could respond. I'm sure engineering has a lot to do with this and that vehicle used a different method of attachment for moving suspension parts to the frame/body. It used large rubber doughnuts in the horizontal plane with the attachment to the frame being a bolt through the center at the vertical. This allowed 360 degree control in the axis of concern, horizontal. Also it allowed movement in the vertical because the doughnut was suspended in midair by the fastening bolt. Considering how beautifully this car rode I have to wonder why GM did not use it on other vehicles.
Did you stay with same tire size?
Do you know about TPC, tire performance criteria? It is almost certain that those oe tires had it stamped on the sidewall. According to GM it ensures you have the best possible tire for your vehicle and passes like 30 different needs for your vehicle. Only GM uses it and you are supposed to ask for replacement tires by that number from the dealer. From what I've learned from a tire rep trying to get their tire used is that the number is specific to a model of tire. So far the TPC seems to be as useful as pocket lint.

I have the 3.6 with HPS and the Eagle LS2 tires. Up until about the 5000 mile mark my car tracked straight and the steering wheel was straight. Musta hit a bump or pothole, but now the wheel has to be turned slightly left to go straight.

It has always had difficulty with uneven roads. The road department is doing a lot of work around here so the highways are really weird. They've moved lane lines so that now some lanes are half new and half old, and the outside (slow) lane particularly has the old divider right where the right tire goes. My car is throwing me sideways constantly so I have to move a lane left to keep from getting sea-sick! It looks like the comments here mostly suggest that it's the tires causing this.

Any other suggestions?

I did go with the original LTZ rim size, 225/50/18. I first was looking for a snow tire towards the end of last year but it was too late by then because they only make winter snows once a year and most decent tires were all sold out. This tire was my second choice and able to stay with an all season tire without the extra expense and hassle to switch back and forth from all seasons to winter. Just want to make a note about this tire that it is a noisy tire with the aggressive treds but not unbearable
. I have read alot of reviews on the tire and it is one of those Love or Hate tires. Most complaints were road noise and others stated they would not trade-off the tire because of there excellent road performance because of a little more than acceptable noise, while others had no complaints at all and loved the tire. I am just hoping that the tire does not get too loud after some miles on them. After about 800 miles on them they have seemed to got better for noise and ride right now. A very mixed review on the tire. Anyways the Eagle LS2 tires were very quiet and rode very smooth until you came to imperfections in the road and the wet, snow performance was the biggest down-fall for the tire. The Goodyear Tripletred tires have improved the Malibu steering and have not experienced the awful Groove/imperfections with the steering of the car like I did with the OEM tires. I had originally inquired about the tripletred tire at one of our local Goodyear tire shop and they said that they don't even carry the Eagle LS2 tires in their store but could get them if requested. They said they don't recommend them and as for the snow performance the tred design is like riding on a Toboggan Sled. The tires ride on top of the snow rather than cut through it. They recommend the Goodyear Tripletred and said it is their #one selling tire. They said that the Eagle LS2 tire is a cheap tire and would not recommend this tire to any of there customers. Other than the tires, I feel for you guys that are having this issue and hope that there is not a flaw in Steering design. I hope this does note act-up after some miles on the car. This is a cool site and it is nice to find out if other owners are having similar problems or know how to correct them or what to look for and ect. Right now all I can say is that the new tires has been an improvement for my Malibu Steering, Ride and Wet Performance with no pulling of any grooves or imperfection of the road and does not Wander. Good Luck and please keep us informed of any new info or thoughts.[

The Malibu in this original thread was the 4 cyl with the electronic steering. I drove another LTZ for several days with the V6 and hydraulic steering on the exact same roads with no problem. 08chevymalibultz is not comparing the same car. The dealer tried different tires but it did not work. They were very concerned that it was an inherent problem and that GM should be doing something about it. I could not wait for that to happen with GM going belly up. I will take my chances with my Camry (i'll put it in neutral!) instead of loosing control on the highway in the rain or snow. I would have had many more chance of that happening.

I was just giving my personal input on my Malibu and what my personal experience with the OEM tires. The new tires has change my steering wheel feeling and handling of my LTZ, in which I still own. I don’t see that everybody has this issue but I am not saying that it didn’t exist on anybody’s Malibu and had stated that I feel for the people with this issue "Meaning I felt sorry". My Malibu only had this problem on the highway when changing lanes with a groove in the center or any road imperfections in the road until I had changed the tires. Your original post had stated something similar with passing on a two lane or going over a hump when changing lanes, if I am correct? I also had stated I did not know if this was only with electric steering. My sister has the 08 Malibu hybrid with the electric steering and has had no problems. So yes I am talking about the same car! The only deferent’s is that she does not have the same wheels and tires, which might make a totally different ride and steering control of the car. I was not going to mention this until I got more info. By the way, Didn’t you get rid of your unsafe-awful Malibu LTZ? How is your Camry? My neighbors Camry sits in there driveway most of the time because they are concerned for the safty of there two young kids, thanks to Toyota of Japan. You claim how unsafe the Malibu LTZ is but you climb into the Camry with pride. Give me a break MALIBU4ME. OR I SHOULD CALL YOU CAMRY4ME?

[QUOTE=08chevymalibultz;34270]I did go with the original LTZ rim size, 225/50/18. [/U][[/QUOTE

There is no doubt tires can make a big difference. I too remember a vehicle I had that wanted to follow those truck grooves on the road, very annoying. I no longer remember which vehicle or tires.

In the Goodyear line, I did have a tire which I think was called Regal, something with an "R", but not sure they make them anymore. It was one step down from Eagles. It was a good all around with one exception and that was the sidewall sipes, they only went halfway down. There are quite a few tires made that way to extend tread wear, but bad for conditions I often encounter when raining. It is common to find water standing on the road in low lying areas and deep sipes allow it to escape avoiding hydroplaning. It was a tire I would not have bought and came on the vehicle.

I have found that tires with greater lateral sidewall flex seem to handle those truck grooves better. Tires that are quite rigid seem to make the vehicle jump around more, are less forgiving to surface amonalies.
And that does increase with lower profiles. (less sidewall to flex) Some want that type of response out of a tire, tight feeling. I guess it could be looked at as a warning sign to slow down but I'd rather have a tire that can handle such and remain sticky.

[QUOTE=08chevymalibultz;34270]I did go with the original LTZ rim size, 225/50/18. [/U][[/QUOTE

There is no doubt tires can make a big difference. I too remember a vehicle I had that wanted to follow those truck grooves on the road, very annoying. I no longer remember which vehicle or tires.

In the Goodyear line, I did have a tire which I think was called Regal, something with an "R", but not sure they make them anymore. It was one step down from Eagles. It was a good all around with one exception and that was the sidewall sipes, they only went halfway down. There are quite a few tires made that way to extend tread wear, but bad for conditions I often encounter when raining. It is common to find water standing on the road in low lying areas and deep sipes allow it to escape avoiding hydroplaning. It was a tire I would not have bought and came on the vehicle.

I have found that tires with greater lateral sidewall flex seem to handle those truck grooves better. Tires that are quite rigid seem to make the vehicle jump around more, are less forgiving to surface amonalies.
And that does increase with lower profiles. (less sidewall to flex) Some want that type of response out of a tire, tight feeling. I guess it could be looked at as a warning sign to slow down but I'd rather have a tire that can handle such and remain sticky.

Me, too! Is it possible to get a tire that doesn't follow every groove like the old bias belted tires did, and yet still handles well?

[quote=E_Net_Rider;34317]

Me, too! Is it possible to get a tire that doesn't follow every groove like the old bias belted tires did, and yet still handles well?

Believe it or not my new 20" Falkens don't follow any grooves. The old LS2's were horrible at that. Drove me nuts changing lanes.

For me it was a short trip. (Driving me Nuts!) I've had so much wobble that I've already broken three windows. Thankfully mine was down so only the guy next to me lost his! ;)

Drivendaily,

Did you get tire rotation right before this issue surfaced?

That's a good question. I don't believe that the wandering over lane divisions started after a rotation, and the slight drift right was definitely not after a rotation. So the drift is likely my issue and the wander is likely just crappy tires. (Eagle LS2)