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[a2reed]

My 2.5 v6 Elite is strange to drive ... on different road surfaces the steering yanks the steering wheel sometimes nearly out of my hand .... At a guess I would say it is as the footprint of the tyre on one side gets full grip and the other side is not suggesting the steering badly out of line but I have had it computer checked at Blackboots twice and all is well


I also have a mechanical creaking/ crank noise from the right hand strut area...

I have checked the drop links and they are ok and the wishbones are new... anyone had similar could it be the strut or maybe a snapped spring?

[JimE]

maybe steering idler arm worn? Could be worth checking for wear

[feeutfo]

What wishbones fitted?

How did you tighten the bolts?

And how tight are they?

[a2reed]

Can't remember the make ...Dephi I think .. .which one is best ?

THey were tightened to what ever the torque settings in the manual are at the time

I was thinking broken Spring ... could it be that ??

[aaronjb]

Delphi - at least the ones that Chris has seen - are fairly well known for having super soft bushes that are far too compliant; that could well be exacerbating your problem..

Might be worth throwing a set of poly bushes on them and/or swapping them out for Lemforder/OE items?

[albitz]

Broken spring should be obvious if you have a look.

[feeutfo]

As Aaron says. But your symptoms sound related to the rearward bush.

Is it it doing odd things on the brakes?

Delphi I have seen here have been exceptionally poor.

[feeutfo]

Creek could be a number of things. Try tightening the the steering box bolts to chassis.

In relation to pulling check steering idler for vertical play.

But expect random reactions to road surfaces if the wb bushes soft worn torn or generally holding the wheel position correctly.

[feeutfo]

Can't remember the make ...Dephi I think .. .which one is best ?

THey were tightened to what ever the torque settings in the manual are at the time

I was thinking broken Spring ... could it be that ??

Right, can give this a bit more attention now I'm not an a mobile.

Delphi, historically have had issues with bush quality. Lemforder are best, without paying £235 a side for the same item from vx with a GM sticker.

Bolts must be tightened to 120nm plus angle tighten 30 and then 15 degrees WITH WHEELS LOADED so that the centre spacer of the front bush is clamped at the normal ride height, NOT with wheels hanging, or the bush will be over stressed and rip apart as the car is dropped of the jack and driven over bumps and cornering which will compress the suspension further and over stress the bush.

Re busted spring, I doubt it. The fact you have a very strong pull sensation through the steering suggests the road wheel is moving around, so naturally you'll feel and have to adjust that via the steering wheel.
BMWs have track control arms, as opposed to wish bones. But the job is the same. The hold the road wheel steering knuckle position. Point is BMWs description of the part gives a clue as to the function of the part. They control the vehicles track of the front wheels.

There's two elements.
Think of two parallel lines across the front axle. Both with a ball joint at each end.
One line is the steering linkage with track rods at each end.
The other is the subframe with a wishbone ball joint on each end.

Any variation in the length of those two parallel lines ball joints and you will either have to correct the car by steering, or feel a pull, or both.

So there is play somewhere. Loose bolts, torn bushes, track rod play, steering idler play and do on.

So given Delphi wishbones are involved, and having seen exceptionally soft bushes fitted to them, that stands out as a possible cause.

But any play across the steering and suspension "parallel lines" in the front steering and suspension will give varying degrees of poor straight line stability. Some times exceptionally odd sensations make themselves known.

A broken spring is not known to give random symptoms, as it has no play as such. More likely to give an odd ride hight or a lopsided car.

[mga32]

Mine is exactly the same as yours, its bloody annoying. I have changed wishbones (QH) and the steering idler (Lemforder) and I have just had the Geo setup at prodrive, which seems to have made the most difference. There are certain places on my regular journey that you can feel the steering go wobbly, I think I am resigned to putting up with it now, would be nice to get it sorted though.

[feeutfo]

Mine is exactly the same as yours, its bloody annoying. I have changed wishbones (QH) and the steering idler (Lemforder) and I have just had the Geo setup at prodrive, which seems to have made the most difference. There are certain places on my regular journey that you can feel the steering go wobbly, I think I am resigned to putting up with it now, would be nice to get it sorted though.

Yours doesn't sound as extreme tbh. Other considerations are;
Tyre make and construction(Falkens are terrible for tram lining)
Tyre wear. The old set up will have worn the tyres unevenly.
Consider fitting polly front bushes for more accurate steering, with a minor trade off in harshness that's well with paying.

If there is no sensation of a pull through the steering wheel, but the car still veers off, look at rear subframe donut bushes.

[a2reed]

Chaps thanks to all for the comments but as this could be several things ... do you think it is best to strip down the whole side of the car and take out strut and spring  as I can't quite see the spring and can't think of another way ??

[feeutfo]

Chaps thanks to all for the comments but as this could be several things ... do you think it is best to strip down the whole side of the car and take out strut and spring  as I can't quite see the spring and can't think of another way ??

No. Any faults can be found with car jacked up on stands.

[feeutfo]

Ps, if your worried about springs park the car on level flat ground and measure the distance from floor to top of the wheel arch above the centre of the wheel.

Post the measurements here.

[a2reed]

As for the tyres they are Perelli tyres and yes it isnt a case of the car driving off and the steering wheel staying where it is it is a constant fight to keep the thing straight as the road surface changes...particularly bad on the first lane of the motorways where the trucks have worn tracks ...have to fight it constantly sawing the steering wheel

And bear in mind it has been set up twice by WIM in Chesham

Am going to print all your comments out get the car in the air on axle stands and check it all out ,,,thanks for all your help