| How many miles has the car done?
There are several things that can cause what you are describing, but any half decent garage should be able to find them within ten minutes.
My first check would be the lower or inner ball joints, track rod ends or steering rod "drumsticks" (the ball and socket joint at the steering rack end of the track rod).
These can easily be checked by jacking up the front wheels so they are clear of the ground and grabbing the wheels with your hands at 12 oclock and 6 oclock and see if you can get any play, if you feel any clicking/clunking, it is most likely the lower ball joints or inner ball joints.
Do the same test again, but with your hands at 3 and 9 oclock, if you feel more play on one side of the car than the other, then it is likely to be worn track rod ends or "drumsticks".
If you feel no slack in any of these areas, my next suggestion would be the wishbone bushes, these are known to wear out at around 40,000 miles (although I do know of them wearing out faster, depends on use, driving style, tyre size, etc, etc)
The bushes are a little more tricky to check, as they need to be checked with the weight on them, and, unless your mini-me, it is only possible on a four post ramp or a pit. As a guide tho, on the race cars I look after, we religiously change these bushes at least twice a season (a bit excessive for a road car I know!) but our way of checking is when we torque the wheel nuts with the hand brake on, if the front wheel moves forward or backward more than 13mm (1/2 inch) within the wheel arch, we replace the bushes.
hope this helps. "Allow me to explain... Understeer is when you hit the armco going forwards, Oversteer is when you hit it going backwards!" |