Fortuner stiff steering vibration

Hard steering and vibrations on a Fortuner that age/mileage could point to a few things. Faulty angle sensor is plausible. Have you checked wheel alignment? A bad alignment can throw off the sensor readings and cause similar symptoms. It's like trying to balance a see-saw with different weights on each side.

That's an interesting analogy! So, if the wheel alignment is off, could that directly impact the steering angle sensor's functionality, causing it to report incorrect data? Or would it simply be a symptom of a larger problem straining the system?

It could cause the sensor to report incorrect data because the steering wheel isn't centered when the wheels are straight. Think of it as the sensor trying to compensate for a constant error. However, given the symptoms and mileage, the sensor itself might be failing too. Best bet is to get it checked by a workshop with the right diagnostic tools. They can read the sensor data and pinpoint the problem.

Understood. Thanks for the insight! It's booked into the workshop; turns out the steering angle sensor was indeed defective. New sensor and recalibration set me back 195€. Hopefully, this sorts it out. I will keep the alignment in mind for the future.