LCA bushings damaged?

[swansem]

Hi all, I have a WALK installed on my car, unfortunately I’ve hit a few speed bumps, as shown in the pictures, as my car is really low, the other day I noticed this while I had it on a lift, not sure if this is something I should be concerned about? The poly bushings are still solid as a rock but my car has been having some light steering issues and poor feedback for a while and I’m not sure if it could be because of this.

[LC5F]

Was there any play in the consoles from the bolts stretching?
If they are still solid, I would say that those are just flesh wounds.
Only top mounts, forward FCA bush or Tie rods left to check for play.

[swansem]

I replaced all the stretch bolts when I did the Tyrolsport subframe kit, I’ve checked everything suspension wise, everything feels solid, there’s no play anywhere.

This is a list of all the things I’ve replaced/swapped trying to find out why my steering feels so disconnected/unresponsive:

-Wheels/Tyres
- subframe bolts
- coilovers
- fsb
- adjustable fsb endlinks
- steering rack
- tie rods
- steering column

When I’m going in a straight line I could move my steering wheel left and right about a quarter of an inch without the wheels moving, also going around curves I can feel some  understeering, like the wheels would fight to try to keep going straight and the car leans a lot on to the outer wheel. Just the whole steering feedback doesn’t feel quite right. My dad drives an Altima which I also drive sometimes and the steering almost feels the same as the Altima’s, which I know shouldn’t be the case.

I’ve done alignments at a very reputable place, all alignments come out perfect. I don’t know what else to check at this point…

[GilesWoodward59]

Stupid question perhaps from me but have you checked the wheels are properly set on the hubs / bolts fully tightened? My mate had a similar issue to you and he only identified the problem when his back right wheel overtook him on the road…

[swansem]

Yes, I’ve made sure of that as well. All wheels are sitting properly and tightened down to spec.

[LC5F]

There was a thread 4 to 6 months ago talking about dead steering in the central position - at the time I couldn't get my head round the issue until I was stuck on a 50mph average speed section of the M6, pretty much very little steering input and could feel deadness approx 1 cm each way - suspect it's always like that.

[swansem]

Wouldn’t doubt if it was me who opened that thread lol  I’ve been having this issue for a while now, been asking in multiple forums, nobody seems to know what’s going on…maybe it’s my mind playing tricks on me? Idk I haven’t driven any other mk5 to compare and see if that’s how it’s supposed to be, but I’m almost sure that the handling of the car used to be a lot better than what it is now..

[pudding]

It's impossible for anyone to know what is going on, given all the variables involved and how subjective steering feel is.  You never get exactly the same steering feel on all road surfaces, at all speeds, with all tyres, at all times.

One thing's for sure; a ride height low enough to smash console bush housings smash into the road isn't helping matters!