feels like driving on ice - suspention?

[mistrall 0]

hi guys, after the winter months the car has developed quite a scary feel - its like im driving on ice and ocasionaly when going round a rounderbout or diferent gradients it almost feels like im driving on 3 wheels lol . i have taken it to 2 garrages, the 1st sead they couldnt see anything wrong with it and the 2nd took her for a 2 min spin round the block and sead that it was proberly my suspention shocks that had gone and advised me to get a full new suspention, all this was checked without taking any wheels off.

 

i have a dilema, the suspention is under warenty which is good but they wont give me the suspention untill i fill out a form with what exactly is wrong with my suspention, im worried that if i wright the wrong things on it "im not a mechanic" they may not validate the claim for the new ones, could this be the case?

 

also any ideas what might be causing this? i also have a leaky cv joint (dont know if that has anything to do with it lol)

[craigowl 0]

A garage once fitted new suspension (shocks, springs - supplied by me) to a Mk2 GTi I once had.

Afterwards, the car felt firmer but was tramlining and wandering - as they can do on ice.

I thought this was just an effect of having firmer suspension, but went back a few weeks later. We found one of the front tyres had almost no tread - surface newspaper smooth!! and the other had only half a tread. These tyres had been relatively new. The tracking was badly out. I do not think the dumb mechanic given the job of fitting the new shocks, etc had realigned the suspension judging by the sheepish attitude of his boss!

 

After a proper (>£100) "computer" alignment elsewhere (at VAG), the car felt absolutely brilliant.

 

Just a suggestion - good luck with investigation.

[vw domo 0]

the cv boots often go which is just a cover round the joint filled with grease if that's what they meant.

 

if the shocks are gone there's no reason why you shouldn't be entitled to a new set on the warranty.

 

hope you get it sorted ok.

[The_Dude 0]

Knackered top mounts?

[mikkijayne 0]

Before changing the expensive stuff I'd check the cheap bits first:

 

Tyre condition and pressure

Tracking

Wishbone bushes (particularly the rear void bush)

Tie rod ends and ball joints

Rear beam bushes

 

Also have a good look at each damper and check for leaking oil. If you've blown a seal on one corner (particularly the rear) this can give some very bad effects. If it is this then at least you only have to pull one corner to get it replaced under warranty.

 

:cat:

[mistrall 0]

had the tracking done (properly) didnt fix it, when i took it to the garrage the sead that the wishbones were fine, going to swap the backs wheels for the front to se if it makes any diference, whats a tie rod end? hehe

[andy 0]

whats a tie rod end? hehe

The tie rods are the rods that effect the steering inputs upon the hub. The rods that come from the steering rack and attach to the hub assembly using a kind of ball joint. A knackered one will give a feeling of looseness about the steering in general.

[biggrim 0]

How old are your tyres and have you been driving the car a lot? I remember I had spare tyres in the garage that had been sitting for a couple of years. Almost brand new when taken off my old car but sat in the cold. When I put them on the G60 (back) I had to tiptoe round corners or roundabouts when the road was even a tad moist or else the back end would just overtake me. Got new tyres on and was perfect after that.

 

HTH

[Critical_Mass 10]

Any update on this. Ive got a similar scenario, im thinking top mounts as when the steering is on full lock there is a squeak of rubber.

[mistrall 0]

sill not got it sorted, going in on wed so will let you know hehe