A week ago I posted to AudiWorld - http://forums.audiworld.com/a4/msgs/2047455.phtml about my 99.5 A4 experiencing a "clunk" in the steering that was noticeable when rocking the steering wheel either at slow speed or at a stand still. Now, the problem seems to have increased after being intermittent for the past two weeks.
Four symptoms:
1. Clunking noise from footwell area on the driver's side (LHD). You can hear it when driving at low speed with the windows up or when at a stand still and rocking the steering wheel. A slight vibration cab be felt in association with the noise.
2. The steering is occasionally pulling to the left (you can see the wheel slowly creep over if you let it go while in motion).
3. For a few weeks now, the ride has been noticeably rougher than ususal. I can feel more of the road than normal -- too much. On more than one occassion I stopped to see if I had a flat or poor inflation which was not the case.
4. The tightness of the front suspension is lacking. It feels soft and insecure especially in turns.
I've been reading up and even downloaded some docs from Erwin to try and understand the suspension and steering hoping to see if it would help me identify the problem. So far I am thinking it is likely to be the tie rod ends which I think have in turn knocked the alignment out of whack. But even after a good deal of investigation, I cannot identify if the rods are bad or not. If you refer to my previous post above you can see the outer tie rods in the pictures posted. The car is off to Auto-AMD in the UK to get checked out and repaired.
What concerns me is that the car was involved in a accident 18 months ago where an absent minded BMW bashed up my right front wheel. The right side wheel, strut, hub, hub carrier, control arms, bearings, springs, tie rod, etc. were all replaced. And the left side strut, springs, and bearings were replaced as well. However, the rack and the left side control arms, sway bar, and tie rod were deemed undamaged.
My question is (if you're still with me, and thanks if you are) is:
Would it be possible or even likely that a failure occuring in the unreplaced items (i.e. the rack, the left side controls, sway bar, and tie rod ends) could have been prematurely fatigued as a result of the accident even though at the time they seemed to be ok and lasted for another 18 months? Is it far fetched to think that the accident may have left hidden weaknesses that would show themselves down the road?
My insurance company is currently suing the other driver as they still have not responded to my claims and I could conceivebly get this suspension work covered if it can likely be attribued to the accident itself.
Any input, thoughts appreciated.
Thanks,
Ian.
Four symptoms:
1. Clunking noise from footwell area on the driver's side (LHD). You can hear it when driving at low speed with the windows up or when at a stand still and rocking the steering wheel. A slight vibration cab be felt in association with the noise.
2. The steering is occasionally pulling to the left (you can see the wheel slowly creep over if you let it go while in motion).
3. For a few weeks now, the ride has been noticeably rougher than ususal. I can feel more of the road than normal -- too much. On more than one occassion I stopped to see if I had a flat or poor inflation which was not the case.
4. The tightness of the front suspension is lacking. It feels soft and insecure especially in turns.
I've been reading up and even downloaded some docs from Erwin to try and understand the suspension and steering hoping to see if it would help me identify the problem. So far I am thinking it is likely to be the tie rod ends which I think have in turn knocked the alignment out of whack. But even after a good deal of investigation, I cannot identify if the rods are bad or not. If you refer to my previous post above you can see the outer tie rods in the pictures posted. The car is off to Auto-AMD in the UK to get checked out and repaired.
What concerns me is that the car was involved in a accident 18 months ago where an absent minded BMW bashed up my right front wheel. The right side wheel, strut, hub, hub carrier, control arms, bearings, springs, tie rod, etc. were all replaced. And the left side strut, springs, and bearings were replaced as well. However, the rack and the left side control arms, sway bar, and tie rod were deemed undamaged.
My question is (if you're still with me, and thanks if you are) is:
Would it be possible or even likely that a failure occuring in the unreplaced items (i.e. the rack, the left side controls, sway bar, and tie rod ends) could have been prematurely fatigued as a result of the accident even though at the time they seemed to be ok and lasted for another 18 months? Is it far fetched to think that the accident may have left hidden weaknesses that would show themselves down the road?
My insurance company is currently suing the other driver as they still have not responded to my claims and I could conceivebly get this suspension work covered if it can likely be attribued to the accident itself.
Any input, thoughts appreciated.
Thanks,
Ian.
