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12-06-2006, 03:37 PM
#1
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Paging Dr. Jekyll
I'm having the same issues as you with my steering. The car pulls to the right, and when you're stopping the wheel can turn a whole 1/4 turn. Wondering if this is related to the clunking my car is making - not sure if I should bring it to the dealer for a subframe alignment. What results did you end up having?<ul><li><a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/s4/threads/584917.phtml#2399007">Steering Issues</a></li></ul>
12-06-2006, 05:38 PM
#5
I still haven't really fixed the issue, but after alot of time with the car, replacing things
and having people drive it, I found it was a combination of things.
1) definitely not the steering rack. I felt a car with steering rack slop and that is VERY obvious. My car has no steering play in the whole system
2) my pulling was due to a couple of things. first I think my subframe is out of alignment and/or my steering alignment was just not done correctly. I'm going to take the car to the dealer to have them align it to spec with a subframe alignment and see what happens. The bad alignment caused the tires to wear differently which amplified the problem.
3) I know one of my shocks are blow (rear drivers side). This is probably effecting things as well.
I'm basically living with it for now. I'm under the assumption in the spring I'm going to get new tires and suspension (penske's if I can swing it). At that point I will again go through all the suspension and steering components to make sure everything is still ok. Once I have the suspension set up I will take it to the dealer or a good shop to have it properly aligned. That should fix all my problems. For now I'm just living with shot suspension (going to have the blown shock replaced though) and a bad alignment.
If you think your mm is shot, there is a good possibility that is the clunking. Like i said in your other thread, Fixedwing's clunking traveled and sounded like suspension (I thought it was the rear). Replace those and see if it goes away. Also right now my RS4 IC's are free floating. Over some bumps I can hear it rubbing or knocking on the inside of the bumper (need to fix that as well). For a while I thought it was my suspension, but later found it was not. So a broken IC mounting bracket could also cause a clunking.
Also keep in mind tire choice plays a big role with these cars. Going from worn summer tires to winter tires i noticed a big change in the way the car behaved. Also some steering play is inherent in our system. There are a lot of moving parts and a lot of rubber joints. I don't think it will ever be as solid as say an M3. But that's just the nature of the car, luxury sport ;-) Hope this helps.
1) definitely not the steering rack. I felt a car with steering rack slop and that is VERY obvious. My car has no steering play in the whole system
2) my pulling was due to a couple of things. first I think my subframe is out of alignment and/or my steering alignment was just not done correctly. I'm going to take the car to the dealer to have them align it to spec with a subframe alignment and see what happens. The bad alignment caused the tires to wear differently which amplified the problem.
3) I know one of my shocks are blow (rear drivers side). This is probably effecting things as well.
I'm basically living with it for now. I'm under the assumption in the spring I'm going to get new tires and suspension (penske's if I can swing it). At that point I will again go through all the suspension and steering components to make sure everything is still ok. Once I have the suspension set up I will take it to the dealer or a good shop to have it properly aligned. That should fix all my problems. For now I'm just living with shot suspension (going to have the blown shock replaced though) and a bad alignment.
If you think your mm is shot, there is a good possibility that is the clunking. Like i said in your other thread, Fixedwing's clunking traveled and sounded like suspension (I thought it was the rear). Replace those and see if it goes away. Also right now my RS4 IC's are free floating. Over some bumps I can hear it rubbing or knocking on the inside of the bumper (need to fix that as well). For a while I thought it was my suspension, but later found it was not. So a broken IC mounting bracket could also cause a clunking.
Also keep in mind tire choice plays a big role with these cars. Going from worn summer tires to winter tires i noticed a big change in the way the car behaved. Also some steering play is inherent in our system. There are a lot of moving parts and a lot of rubber joints. I don't think it will ever be as solid as say an M3. But that's just the nature of the car, luxury sport ;-) Hope this helps.
12-06-2006, 06:49 PM
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Well this alignment ordeal is new after doing a lot of suspension work
I got an alignment (but not at the dealer where they move the subframe) after installing suspension, but it's had about a month to settle now - so hopefully this will be fixed with a subframe alignment?
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12-06-2006, 06:50 PM
#8
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Interesting about the steering wheel pulling to the right on braking. My car...
does the same thing. The dealer just lowered the subframe to do the oil pan gaskets and did an alignment after the job so I doubt alignment is the cause on my car.
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