Sharp Feedback through wheel and clonking

[monk180]

Hi,

My car has developed a strange handling characteristic and noise.

Say going over a bad bit of road, not too deep potholes but shall we say "pattering", lots of small bumps. There is a clonking from the front end, and felt through the steering wheel, like Skuttle shake on a bad convertible.

Also say, doing a nice left hand bend on dry tarmac, not silly fast but a good load on. If there are pot holes on the right side of the road, then the car feels like it sort of jumps outwards when the right tyre looses contact with the road for a second.

No free play in the steering at all, so track rod ends are ok.  Reckon it could be the lower wishbone bushes?

Any thought much appreciated.

Thanks
Fred

[shail]

Don't want to worry you bit when I had a slight clonking over small potholes (and not over big ones) it was play in the steering rack diagnosed by mechanic quite quickly. New rack was fitted and problem went away.

[ChrisGT]

Could be several things... Hopefully something simple like anti roll bar drop link but could be lower ball joint, wishbone bushes, broken spring, worn top mounts, steering rack... Best to get it along a garage to get it checked out.

Chris

[pudding]

Yup /\

Diagnosing chassis noises on the internet is like diagnosing itchy bollocks.  Could be crabs, chlamydia, gonorrhoea, wearing the same skidded pants for 3 weeks, crotch rot, thrush, anything.....

Probably wise to start with the most expensive component first, the rack.  Get it on ramps, put it on full lock, climb underneath and grab the fully extended tie rod and give it a very firm tug (like the aforementioned body parts).  If you can feel even the slightest amount of play, that will be a source of the noise.  A little wear is fine so long as it's not affecting the handling, and you can tolerate the noise.

But I suspect on yours, you will be wanting to examine the rear wishbone bushes, aka 'console bushes'.  Any pronounced twitching of the steering wheel and clonking is usually the road wheels moving around of their own free will......which is normally bushes, shot dampers, shot wheel bearings, shot tie rods etc etc.

[monk180]

Thanks Pudding Man! None if the mentioned groin conditions, although maybe I should wash my knickers more often !!

I took it to my local garage and they said the rear wishbone bushes. Trust the advise given, and long time customer,  but just wanted to run it past the forum or maybe take to my nearest VW specialist "Midland VW".  As the local will see lots of different cars, perhaps a specialist can pin point better? Not to undermine my local, just want a second look over, as this could cause solving an issue not sorting, then trying something else ect.... costs going up all the time.

Car done 97k and front shockers are on the way out, had the "light misting of oil or has limited damping effect" MOT advisory on both fronts.

Thanks
Freddie

[J66hhr]

Could be a broken coil spring.. or a wheel bearing if you can still hear it on a smooth road

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