Wishbone Bush Test?

[mrben]

Hello all. Is there a way to test the wishbone? I'm getting an odd steering fault. Car seems to wonder

a bit when going over cambers/manholes in the road. Feels like your fighting the steering a bit.2 new tie rod ends, and 1 newish inner tie rod, they seem

ok with no play. Bottom ball joints don't seem to have any play, I'm wondering if it can be wishbone bushes? There is also a slight wobble starting to occur when putting your foot down going up a hill. Feels like its coming from the front left. Could be connected to wondering steering fault?? Thanks for any info

[BrianH]

Hello all. Is there a way to test the wishbone? I'm getting an odd steering fault. Car seems to wonder

a bit when going over cambers/manholes in the road. Feels like your fighting the steering a bit.2 new tie rod ends, and 1 newish inner tie rod, they seem

ok with no play. Bottom ball joints don't seem to have any play, I'm wondering if it can be wishbone bushes? There is also a slight wobble starting to occur when putting your foot down going up a hill. Feels like its coming from the front left. Could be connected to wondering steering fault?? Thanks for any info

What tyres are you using? Brand and load rating?

 

I've had no end of weird issues on the mk1 with a set of cheap tyres on the front = Wobble on braking, uneven wear etc even though they were the correct rating (allegedly) If the ones on the back are a different brand it may be worth swapping them around?

 

I had the wobbling effect, though that was most noticable under braking. About half of it disappeared with a new set of front tyres, the rest went with a new set of discs shortly afterwards. All the time those tyres were on the front it was noticable they were worse than the ones they replaced. They also didn't last as long!

[sparky Paul]

Movement in any steering or suspension joint can cause wobbles or vibration at speed.

 

As for the front wishbones, It's the rear vertical bush that usually goes, and a visual check with the wheel jacked off the ground should reveal any defects instantly - splits, or the rubber becomes detached from the outer shell. The front bushes rarely fail, but you can check for movement by inserting the end of a pry bar between the casting and the subframe, also a visual check where the bush protrudes from the wishbone casting.

 

Have you checked the tracking after replacing the track rod bits? Toe out can cause the car to wander and follow road undulations.

[mrben]

Hi Spark. Yes had alignment done after bits thanks. I'm starting to think its a bearing problem, thats what the noise sounds like. (Sorry i didn't realise  you had replied)

[BrianH]

Hi Spark. Yes had alignment done after bits thanks. I'm starting to think its a bearing problem, thats what the noise sounds like. (Sorry i didn't realise  you had replied)

Unfortnately the forum is a bit broken at the minute - new replys aren't getting shown properly on the main forum page etc.

[mrben]

Ah right, I see.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sonikt]

Don't know about the steering wander but a wobble when accelerating up hill is 100% a driveshaft/CV problem. I spent over £1000 on bushes, ball joints and even a new DMF before I got to the bottom of this!

 

Simple way to check is if the wobble stops immediately when you ease off the accelerator. Find a quiet, steep hill and accelerate/ease off a few times while driving up. If the wobble only happens when accelerating (never at coast) then it's the driveshaft inner joint.

 

What causes this is a sticky spider bearing on the inner driveshaft joint. There are three bearings on the spider, each slides in it's own channel in the cup. On flat road the grease in the joint allows the stuck bearing to still slide in the channel, so the joint still more or less works even though one of the bearings is stuck. But uphill at full load the grease is forced out and the bearing starts to bind in the channel. This prevents the inner joint from flexing as it rotates, so it effectively becomes a crank and oscillates the engine on it's mounts as it momentarily sticks at the same point each revolution. This causes a disturbing feeling of the whole car wobbling from side to side. 

 

Driveshafts/CV joints are very prone to damage when suspension, wheel bearings, clutch etc. are being worked on, I see far too many mechanics carelessly allowing driveshafts to hang unsupported which can damage the joints. But new complete driveshafts are available very cheaply on ebay (like £25) and are not very difficult to fit.