question about steering

steering rack.. this is the portion of the steering that is pushed back and forth by the steering gear (in simple terms, take a splined gear, and unroll it.. you get a flat piece of metal with teeth sticking out of it.. now.. take a gear and roll it back and forth on these splines. if you hold the gear stationery, and rotate it, the flat portion of metal will be forced to slide back and forth..

this is how you steer left to right..
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/steering.htm

question about steering

What is the steering rack and what is the steering gear?

so heres another question. If the steering is a little wonderish and squirrely and not smooth... what could it be. Could it be the strut mounts? Seems to be a little play in the wheel.

play in the wheel is steering bushings..

wandery can actually be wrong tire width, offset, or even the tire itself (along with steering bushings)

if you have an 03, you should not be having a steering problem..

i'm gonna guess it's your wheel/tire setup

woah... sorry i forgot to mention its for a 98.... originally i thought I was going to get a 03 so I changed my screen name but I never did end up getting the 03. The steering feels sloppy at times not smooth. And sometimes whenever I hit a bump or an imperfection in the road it kinda jerks the wheel in the other direction.

you still didn't answer if you have aftermarket wheels

its because u got front wheel drive. if it feels sloppy when u accelerate thats torque steer.

I think he means light steering feel and a lot of play. Similar to alot of American Cars, that the steering feels unconnected to the road.

yeah I have aftermarket wheels.... looks like i do need new tires b/c we recently got a lot of snow here the other day and when i was taking off I was doing a lot of sliding. Im also thinking of putting the stock rims back on. Another possibility it could possibly be is weak springs in front? Other than that the only other thing I can think of it a problem with the steering gear. I drove both my moms 91 and my sis's 96 camry and both have normal steering... my steering is a lot looser it seems like.