I've got a 97 Camry with a steering issue.

It steers fine in most situations, no noise, not sloppy, not hard to turn, no leaks.

Here's the problem, in wide steady turns it seems as though the steering slips about half way into a turn. Hard to describe this, so I'll try again. Imagine a wide highway bend that changes direction 45 degrees or so. As you turn into the bend it the steering is fine, just as you get into the sustained turn it feels like the steering loosens up and the car starts to come out of the turn some and requires turning the wheel a bit more to cprrect and hold the sustained turn. It does this turning left or right.

I'm suspecting rack and pinion, but that's pretty much just a guess.

I'm going to take it in to get looked at but wanted some ideas as this doesn't line up with most symptoms I've read about failing steering parts.

Thanks,
Russ

May be a stretch, but are you sure that your steering wheel doesn't rock at 12 and 6 o'clock when you grab it. These were known for the steering wheel hold down nut loosening prematurely and there was a recall for my 94 Camry on it. Don't know if it when loosened to a certain point would cause your issue.

I know for a fact the steering wheel nut recall went through 96, I believe it might have included 97 as well. It is definitely covered under warranty and will be fixed for free at any Toyota dealer.