Fit wandering on highway + steering wheel not returning to center
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Joined: Nov 2025
Posts: 167
That’s kind of where my head is at too right now. I agree it doesn’t make sense to jump straight to replacing the rack without first verifying that the geometry and suspension components are actually behaving correctly under load.
One thing that keeps bothering me though is the progressive caster change on the right side. Back in April it was around 3.8 on the right, then around 3.4 before the most recent alignment, and finally around 3.0 after alignment.
That makes me wonder if something in the right front suspension geometry is gradually moving or settling somehow.
At the same time, I also can’t completely ignore the possibility that the aftermarket suspension/top mounts changed or amplified the steering feel compared to before.
The hard part for me is that I’m not very DIY, so I have to rely on garages for diagnostics, and this seems to be the kind of subtle problem that many shops don’t really take the time to dig deeply into unless something is obviously broken.
Also, the car has 283,000 km (160,000 miles+), so I also have to be careful financially and avoid throwing parts at it randomly. The body is still very clean and rust-free though, so I’d really like to find a reasonable path to keep the car driving properly for another 6–7 years if possible.
One thing that keeps bothering me though is the progressive caster change on the right side. Back in April it was around 3.8 on the right, then around 3.4 before the most recent alignment, and finally around 3.0 after alignment.
That makes me wonder if something in the right front suspension geometry is gradually moving or settling somehow.
At the same time, I also can’t completely ignore the possibility that the aftermarket suspension/top mounts changed or amplified the steering feel compared to before.
The hard part for me is that I’m not very DIY, so I have to rely on garages for diagnostics, and this seems to be the kind of subtle problem that many shops don’t really take the time to dig deeply into unless something is obviously broken.
Also, the car has 283,000 km (160,000 miles+), so I also have to be careful financially and avoid throwing parts at it randomly. The body is still very clean and rust-free though, so I’d really like to find a reasonable path to keep the car driving properly for another 6–7 years if possible.
a socket set and torque wrench aren’t hard tools to use. Make sure everything is tight to spec as it should be then like I said mark the bolts a mark on them and the top hat, doesn’t have to be pretty just either a line or some like to make either a — across both items or a > < they’re called witness marks, so at a glance you can tell if something has moved even a small amount. Might also mark the top hat itself.
I assume the orientation of the top hat mount is with the slits running front to rear (allows caster adjustment) as opposed to perpendicular to the front of the car (allows camber adjustment)?
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From: Canada
In my experience, solid bushings (two concentric metal tubes with the space between filled with rubber) mostly fail when the rubber de-bonds or otherwise tears free from one of the tubes. That lets the center tube twist with respect to the outer tube and also move along the tubes' axis. In the case of the lower control arm's forward bushing, the free twisting isn't a big deal, but the axial movement would let the whole arm move forward and aft (not very far, but more than it was designed to), changing caster with braking and accelerating events. I think this would more likely be a source of metal-on-metal squeaking rather than handling issues.
Non-solid bushings have similar concentric tube construction, but are larger and have voids in the rubber, resulting in one or more rubber "arms" linking the inner and outer tubes. Examples include the engine mounts, rear beam bushings, and front lower control arm's rear bushing. Typically, a surface crack in the rubber becomes a stress point which evolves into a tear all the way through one or more of those arms. The center tube is usually still trapped in the outer tube, but is no longer suspended by the rubber as intended. The center tube (with whatever portion of rubber that's still attached) can be forced into those void spaces - depending on the specific bushing's construction, the center tube ends up flopping around within the confines of the outer tube.
In the context of the front lower control arm, that would let the position of the lower ball joint (steering pivot) pivot around the front bushing with steering and/or braking/acceleration forces.
If the bushing were cracked when you originally took it in for struts, the technician may have unbolted the strut and let the weight of the knuckle, bearing, brake, and outer axle (ball park - 40 lbs / 20 kg?) all sit on the ball joint at the end of the lower arm. In other words, that weight was resting on a lever arm trying to twist the bushings. I'm not saying that's an unusual practice or "wrong" per-se. Healthy bushings should be able to take that. Rather, I'm saying that every time they replaced the struts, the tired bushings got a thrashing.
Non-solid bushings have similar concentric tube construction, but are larger and have voids in the rubber, resulting in one or more rubber "arms" linking the inner and outer tubes. Examples include the engine mounts, rear beam bushings, and front lower control arm's rear bushing. Typically, a surface crack in the rubber becomes a stress point which evolves into a tear all the way through one or more of those arms. The center tube is usually still trapped in the outer tube, but is no longer suspended by the rubber as intended. The center tube (with whatever portion of rubber that's still attached) can be forced into those void spaces - depending on the specific bushing's construction, the center tube ends up flopping around within the confines of the outer tube.
In the context of the front lower control arm, that would let the position of the lower ball joint (steering pivot) pivot around the front bushing with steering and/or braking/acceleration forces.
If the bushing were cracked when you originally took it in for struts, the technician may have unbolted the strut and let the weight of the knuckle, bearing, brake, and outer axle (ball park - 40 lbs / 20 kg?) all sit on the ball joint at the end of the lower arm. In other words, that weight was resting on a lever arm trying to twist the bushings. I'm not saying that's an unusual practice or "wrong" per-se. Healthy bushings should be able to take that. Rather, I'm saying that every time they replaced the struts, the tired bushings got a thrashing.
It honestly lines up surprisingly well with the timeline:
- mild problem before,
- noticeably worse after the aftermarket suspension install,
- then dramatically worse after the OEM top mount replacement,
combined with the gradual right-side caster drop.
What I’m still unsure about though is whether that alone would fully explain the constant highway wandering at steady speed. I can understand how braking/acceleration loads could shift the arm and affect caster dynamically, but on the highway I’m often just cruising steadily and the car still wanders left/right much more than before.
Do you think a deteriorating lower control arm bushing could realistically create that kind of continuous instability by itself, or would you start suspecting that something else (rack/compliance geometry/etc.) is contributing too?
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If it makes you feel any better I know mine hasn’t had the easiest life or best maintenance prior to me owning it and it’s at 284,000 miles. You mentioned the aftermarket top mounts and caster changing. You say you’re not very DIY, but you can absolutely do the following. Take either paint pen or better yet a scribe (hardened tip scratching tool for making fine but distinct lines in metal) and mark the location of the bolts on the top hat once verifying they’re torqued to spec.
a socket set and torque wrench aren’t hard tools to use. Make sure everything is tight to spec as it should be then like I said mark the bolts a mark on them and the top hat, doesn’t have to be pretty just either a line or some like to make either a — across both items or a > < they’re called witness marks, so at a glance you can tell if something has moved even a small amount. Might also mark the top hat itself.
I assume the orientation of the top hat mount is with the slits running front to rear (allows caster adjustment) as opposed to perpendicular to the front of the car (allows camber adjustment)?
a socket set and torque wrench aren’t hard tools to use. Make sure everything is tight to spec as it should be then like I said mark the bolts a mark on them and the top hat, doesn’t have to be pretty just either a line or some like to make either a — across both items or a > < they’re called witness marks, so at a glance you can tell if something has moved even a small amount. Might also mark the top hat itself.
I assume the orientation of the top hat mount is with the slits running front to rear (allows caster adjustment) as opposed to perpendicular to the front of the car (allows camber adjustment)?
I’m honestly not very comfortable doing much DIY work myself beyond basic things, but your explanation definitely gives me more specific things to ask the shop to inspect carefully when I bring the car back in.
The whole “something moving under load” theory is starting to sound more plausible to me than it did initially.
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From: Canada
Definitely possible. Bushings can look fine even if they're not. The only way to actually be sure is to disconnect the control arms and inspect the bushings out of the vehicle. As @bobski mentioned, the rubber may be fully intact but the tube in the center that the bolt goes through might be torn free from the rubber. And you likely aren't going to notice that with the arms installed.
I have a 30-minute inspection appointment Tuesday with a local garage that I trust reasonably well, but they’re more of a general repair shop than a Honda/suspension geometry specialist.
Given everything you explained about the possibility of an internally failed lower control arm bushing, what would you personally suggest I specifically ask them to inspect or test?
I’m trying to avoid sounding like I’m just throwing random forum theories at them, but at the same time I also don’t want this to turn into another quick visual inspection where they say “everything looks fine.”
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Just let them know what's going on, and that you have been to several shops already chasing this issue, that it's NOT in your head. Something is going on, that while things "look" fine, isn't.
Again I know you say you're not very DIY, I hate when people say that though, as I just don't believe it. To me I hear "I don't want to take the time, or buy the tools and learn". You're not stupid, I assume you have two eyes, two arms, two legs, hands, feet. You're capable of doing it and no one will care as much about your car as you. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, it just sounds like you already have spent a lot of time and money chasing this.
If you must, I'd recommend looking for a specialty shop, often you can find performance shops that specialize in a specific brand or car. I doubt you will find a Honda Fit specific shop lol, but you can likely find a performance shop that's very familiar with Honda's in general and or specializes in them, and generally those shops IMO tend to live or die by their reputation so they often (not always but often) do quality and quick work.
Again I know you say you're not very DIY, I hate when people say that though, as I just don't believe it. To me I hear "I don't want to take the time, or buy the tools and learn". You're not stupid, I assume you have two eyes, two arms, two legs, hands, feet. You're capable of doing it and no one will care as much about your car as you. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, it just sounds like you already have spent a lot of time and money chasing this.
If you must, I'd recommend looking for a specialty shop, often you can find performance shops that specialize in a specific brand or car. I doubt you will find a Honda Fit specific shop lol, but you can likely find a performance shop that's very familiar with Honda's in general and or specializes in them, and generally those shops IMO tend to live or die by their reputation so they often (not always but often) do quality and quick work.
Last edited by MeanMan; Yesterday at 10:46 AM.
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Joined: May 2011
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From: Canada
Just let them know what's going on, and that you have been to several shops already chasing this issue, that it's NOT in your head. Something is going on, that while things "look" fine, isn't.
Again I know you say you're not very DIY, I hate when people say that though, as I just don't believe it. To me I hear "I don't want to take the time, or buy the tools and learn". You're not stupid, I assume you have two eyes, two arms, two legs, hands, feet. You're capable of doing it and no one will care as much about your car as you. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, it just sounds like you already have spent a lot of time and money chasing this.
If you must, I'd recommend looking for a specialty shop, often you can find performance shops that specialize in a specific brand or car. I doubt you will find a Honda Fit specific shop lol, but you can likely find a performance shop that's very familiar with Honda's in general and or specializes in them, and generally those shops IMO tend to live or die by their reputation so they often (not always but often) do quality and quick work.
Again I know you say you're not very DIY, I hate when people say that though, as I just don't believe it. To me I hear "I don't want to take the time, or buy the tools and learn". You're not stupid, I assume you have two eyes, two arms, two legs, hands, feet. You're capable of doing it and no one will care as much about your car as you. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, it just sounds like you already have spent a lot of time and money chasing this.
If you must, I'd recommend looking for a specialty shop, often you can find performance shops that specialize in a specific brand or car. I doubt you will find a Honda Fit specific shop lol, but you can likely find a performance shop that's very familiar with Honda's in general and or specializes in them, and generally those shops IMO tend to live or die by their reputation so they often (not always but often) do quality and quick work.
You’re probably right that something may be moving or behaving incorrectly even though a quick visual inspection says everything “looks fine.” That’s honestly the part that has been frustrating me the most with this issue.
I also understand your point about DIY work. I’m just realistically limited by space, tools, experience and time right now, so I’m trying to approach this as carefully and reasonably as I can without throwing random parts at it.
At least now I feel like I have a much better direction to discuss with the shop when I bring it back in. Thanks again for taking the time to explain everything.
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CrystalFiveMT
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