weird steering

[fourcircle]

god it's been ages since I posted. Maybe that's because the car hasn't given me trouble for ages.. or maybe it's because I've been so busy I haven't had time to do any new mods? maybe both?

So anyway, I don't do much driving these days other than around town so I can't say for sure when this issue started but there a couple of things that suggest something's amiss.

First, the steering is really prone to uneven surfaces. so even small dips and bumps in the road tend to push the steering left or right.

As I go faster (and i'm talking 60mph here, not crazy speeds) the steering feels quite twitchy. If I have to overtake at 80mph or something, pulling back in after passing feels very unstable. I'm really not digging this at all.

The steering doesn't feel loose at all and I had the 4 wheels aligned last year because it was pulling to the right slightly. that improved but didn't fix it completely. So now it's pulling to the right quite a bit again and I don't think I need to get the 4 wheels aligned every year.

So before I crawl underneath and start taking wheels off etc does anyone have tips for what I should be looking for?
cheers
nj

 

[S4_dan]

What car do you have again?

I'd check ALL of the control arms for play although trying to get the movement to manifest itself whilst checking takes some doing! Check the inner ties and tie rod ends. (I currently have a bit of play in my O/S inner tie rod and has vague steering which I don't like)

Then check all of the rear bushes for play. Could be a worn upper or lower tracking arm causing the car to crab a little and affet the steering feel.

 

[fourcircle]

thanks mate. good advice. it's a 3.0 quattro and I had ALL of the arms changed at the same time about 3 years ago because I thought I was being clever. two needed doing and I thought I'd save the hassle of doing 1 or 2 at a time for a few years and did the whole lot. I wonder if something could have come loose because the bushes shouldn't be worn at all.

I wish my etka was up to date so I could pull off the drawings to look at. And I wish I had a lift because checking for play on basic ramps or axle stands is going to be difficult.
cheers

What car do you have again?

I'd check ALL of the control arms for play although trying to get the movement to manifest itself whilst checking takes some doing! Check the inner ties and tie rod ends. (I currently have a bit of play in my O/S inner tie rod and has vague steering which I don't like)

Then check all of the rear bushes for play. Could be a worn upper or lower tracking arm causing the car to crab a little and affet the steering feel.

 

[DieselJake]

Mine's had something similar a couple times;

First time it was a wheel bearing which got to the point of feeling dangerous before being replaced.

Second time (and pretty much an ongoing issue) is where the bolts on the wheels were coming loose despite being tightened properly, guess that's what I get for spacers and cheap aftermarket long bolts.

 

[S4_dan]

Did you put a decent branded set of control arms on? Some cheaper ones tend to fail early and can cause all sorts of problems.

 

[fourcircle]

Mine's had something similar a couple times;

First time it was a wheel bearing which got to the point of feeling dangerous before being replaced.

Second time (and pretty much an ongoing issue) is where the bolts on the wheels were coming loose despite being tightened properly, guess that's what I get for spacers and cheap aftermarket long bolts.

Good thinking mate. I'll check the bearings all round. Well... I'll try to tighten them. Other than it will be quite difficult to test them. any ideas?
I have spacers but all bolts etc seem nice and tight.

Did you put a decent branded set of control arms on? Some cheaper ones tend to fail early and can cause all sorts of problems.

Yes, I shelled out 400 quid for a Meyle set and another 400 quid to have them fitted (I tried but couldn't get the old tie rod ends off. My mechanic had to take the full struts/legs off in the end)
I really hope the parts aren't the problem.