Wayward at 50

[Robert L Newton]

My A3 gets wayward at 50mph. The rear shock absorbers were knackered, and have been replaced, but the car still wants to wander from side to side at around 40 - 50. Does anyone have any ideas as to what is wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

Regards Robert.

[Steve Q]

Welcome to the forum you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch 🙂

Have you had the tracking checked? 

[cliffcoggin]

If the rear shock absorbers were clapped out there is a good chance the rubber bushes in the suspension links also need to be changed and the tracking reset.

The same could apply to the front shocks, bushes, and tracking. Does the waywardness show as sloppiness at the steering wheel?

[Robert L Newton]

Thanks for the advice. I'll inspect the roll bar bushes, drop links and the front shocks, then get the tracking done if needed. There doesn't seem to be any knocking from the suspension, but I suppose wear and tear can result in many symptoms.

The steering feels precise at slow speed but the car seems to want to steer alternately side to side as the speed increases. Strange, I've never experienced this before with any car I've had.

Regards Robert.

[cliffcoggin]

Use long crowbar under the links to lever them up. Any movement at the bushes means they are shot.

Tracking (toe-in) at the front definitely needs to be adjusted after renewing any soft bushes and loose joints.

[Magnet]

Hello Robert,

You will need to thoroughly test all bushes on the rear suspension as well. It’s surprising how rear wear can affect steering issues - as the tail wags the dog. 
Probably a daft question, but tyre pressures checked and adjusted? 
An acquaintance runs a garage and frequently get comments from customers that the car always feels better to drive after it’s annual service. As he says, if they knew how much the tyre pressures were out when he took it in, they wouldn’t be surprised at the improvement. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Robert L Newton]

Hi Gareth, Thanks for your response. I'm going to check the rear bushes and drop links next and see what needs to be replaced. I think the rear shocks were original, looking at the condition. One was totally inoperative, the other gushing fluid when compressed. Effectively just shells. I was hoping that replacing the shocks would have solved the bouncing back end but alas not to be so simple a fix.                           I've set all tyre pressures to 34psi. So they might not be the correct pressure, they are all equal.

[Magnet]

Thanks Robert, 

As far as I’m aware there aren’t any ‘drop links’  on the rear. 
Tyre pressures:- consult the handbook and set them to that. 34psi would be too high for our similar age 1.6 petrol, which runs on 30 front and 29 back. 
Tyre make and pattern the same across each axle? 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[cliffcoggin]

Robert.

To clarify my reply which may not have been as clear as it could, you need to check all suspension joints and bushes at both the front and the rear. Tracking then needs to be adjusted at both front and rear.