car unstable/wandering about... any ideas?

it feels a bit like when you catch the side of a lorry rut and it grabs the steering wheel, but it doesnt do it all the time, on the same roads, or to one particular side. it sometimes does it when pulling away, and sometimes when braking. again not to one particular side. sometimes when cornering the steering feels very light too. theres no real vibration like when traking is out.

ive done the idiot checks like tyre pressures and condition, and checking the wheels are tight.

any idea what it could be?

ive had similar when bushes are fubared, but mine are pretty new polly bushes (on front anyway).

ball joints? track rod ends? wheel bearings (shouldn't be bearings as they were replaced a few months back)?

i need to sort it soon cos it seems to be getting worse very quickly.

cheers

For a start, all cars should pull slightly to the left as a precaution. You avoid oncoming traffic if you at the wheel etc

Cars that are either lowered, have wide wheels, low profile tyres do tend to tramline with the contours of our lovely roads.

Tracking could be out(dint you do that not so long back?)

bushes or bearings, you already ruled them out though.

Last thing that it could be is, YOU JUST CANT DRIVE

I dont think cars are spose to pull the the left atall, and ive never heard of it as being a precaution for falling asleep either lol, most cars will pull to the left on public roads because of the camber on the road surface. on a nice flat runway or something like that they really shouldnt.

id say your trackings out and possibly the camber, i know my cabby wondered all over the place when i put loads of camber on the front to get it lower.

mine does ita serious amount, my tracking is out and all my camber is fucked haha, just hang on and enjoy the ride

My Polo used to be like that after I lowered it. Was ok after getting tracking done!

Cars do tend to pull to one side.

it feels like it did when my camber and tracking were way out.
but its only started doing it in the last week or so, before then it was spot on. recon the lovely roads round here have bent or moved somethin...

gonna change ball joints and track rod ends for a start cos i dont know how old they are...

its just fudging annoying!

cars do NOT pull to one side "as standard" as your tyres would scrub out and you would be fighting against it all the time. fwd are setup with a slight bit of equal toe in so when your going along they are actually pulled straight.

If its pulling in 1 direction its tracking.

If its wandering and feels like it doesnt self centre, pulls to either side then its camber problems most likely negative

bob_drinks_beer wrote:

it feels like it did when my camber and tracking were way out.
but its only started doing it in the last week or so, before then it was spot on. recon the lovely roads round here have bent or moved somethin...

gonna change ball joints and track rod ends for a start cos i dont know how old they are...

its just fudging annoying!

Sorry but why go spend all that money of sumfin just on a huntch? mine and im suremost other peoples first port ofcall would be a garage to get the camber and allignment check, costs what 20quid. then whenyou know that fine and you still have the same problem, then look into other possible courses and replacing parts.

just my opinion, ignore me if ya like im probly talking sh1te as usual lol

you havent run over any more paint cans have you?

Probs exagerated with the pull to 1 side comment. More like drifts to left over a stretch of road, like say a motorway.

i think the power of the polo is causing the world to spin faster, causing your car to seem like its pulling around, when actually its fine, the ground is just trembling underneath it!

the garage i usually use is fully booked till end of the month, i was gonna chuck it in there straight away.

dont think its the power of the polo mark... its bark is a lot worse than its bite! lol

Got the same prob with my roc :( bought my suspension setup 2nd hand and turns out it`s shagged,have also got camber set at 3 deg instead of .9 deg.
It`s horrible to drive,hit a bump and it`s bouncing off the bump stops,get to the apex of a corner and it goes crab like.Just arranged to pick up a full set of Koni`s so will be getting it set up propper once i fit them,place in huntingdon called wheels will be doing the fine tuning after i fit them.
Blew away a mate in a 2ltr 16v mr2 on the straights,but he caught up on the corners as i can`t get round them going any faster than a granny