Twitchy front end

V

Viren

Member
I've been noticing the front end feeling a little odd recently. Over a bumpy surface the car seems to want to steer left or right slightly, more noticeable at speed say more than 50mph, however can feel the steering move at less than 50 over a bumpy surface as well. Feels like when a car gets dragged in by camber in the road.

I had wheel alignment done 6 months ago. I'm going to take a look with the wheels off on the weekend, would appreciate any help on what to check whilst I'm there. Thanks
 
Wrong tyre pressure or warn bushes / track rod ends could do that. Definately worth starting with getting the alignment checked out. :thumbsup:
 
Had a similar issue which turned out to be the front strut top mounts being worn out & allowing the shock/strut to move over bumps etc. Mine was considerably more noticeable at lower speeds & the steering would move when driving at a snails pace.

Took me an age to find this out though as everything in the front end (bushes/ball joints etc) looked good & tight so you may have the same difficulty.
 
Thanks for the responses, I'll take a look at the strut mounts tonight should be a fairly easy check I hope. Were you able to move the strut with your hands?
 
I took a pry bar under the front wheel & levered it up, could then move it in all directions.

This might not be whats wrong with yours but worth a check.
 
Front wishbones rear bushes is another area to check.
Car is "bump steering" Your alignment is changing as the suspension loads up causing the car to steer in the direction of the loaded wheel Either worn suspension linkages or your alignment is incorrect. ( if the alignment was done with worn suspension)
 
Mine had the symptoms you describe. I was on Vredstein Ultrac Sessantas on the front from which every possible mile had been extracted. I changed these for Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetrics and it transformed things.

Now much less need to react to camber drift and feels a lot more planted and seems to settle a lot quicker after going over a bump. Even Mrs R noticed the huge improvement!
 
Interesting that tyres make such a difference, I have eagle f1 on the front and contis on the rear, has been fine for few thousand miles so this looks to be alignment or suspension linkage related, didn't have a chance to check it this evening, will have to wait till the weekend now, hopefully straight forward!
 
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