UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi all

Wondered if anyone has experienced the same issues I am experiencing with the steering on my 08 polo 9n3 1.4 16v.

Steering feels loose at times, it pulls to the left constant, the thing that's stumping me is that when I go round corners and hit a bit of rough road there are clunks/bangs and often vibrations, I can feel these clunks and vibrations travel up the steering column.

Bearing in mind I have replaced both wishbones, ball joints, all front bushes, both front shock absorbers and top strut mounts and both track rod ends within the last 10months.

As these clunks and vibrations are only really felt when the steering wheel is off centre, as in steering right or left I am thinking it could be steering rack issues.

Has anyone experienced any similar problems and can help in my diagnosis? I'm beginning to lose the plot with this car :-0

Sorry, I can't help you but it sounds like you have tackled all the usual suspects!

Have you checked just in case the noises etc are coming from the ARB or its mounting bushes and drop links - and the remaining strange feelings are due to wheel alignment issues - and I don't just mean toeing.

Edit:- checking the steering rack inner swivels is easy, you just rock the steering wheel with it at the straight ahead position and engine off, if you feel/hear any knocking, the inner steering rod assemble(s) need replacing.

I've had a mechanic have a quick look over the visible steering/suspension parts and he says there's no play in anything that he's checked, that's what is making me suspect the steering rack/inner tie rods are the culprit.

I have rocked the steering wheel from side to side in the dead ahead position and I can hear knocking noises as I go from side to side as you described..

Over the recent few days when driving I can feel the cars steering pull me all over the road, almost like it's steering itself and I have to counter steer to stop me veering across lanes, it's not terrible but it's enough for me to notice it, is this further evidence of worn inner tie rods need replacing?

Thanks for your input.

Wear in the inner track rod joint:- in my case it was reported at an MOT so I replaced both sides before the next MOT, other than the knocking when rocking the steering wheel side to side - which I only checked after getting that advisory at MOT time - and checked again after replacing the steering rods, there were no other signs of trouble.

In my experience, the only other things that could case this, and might have escaped a mechanic's quick inspection, would be a serious misalignment maybe caused by touching a kerb.

Yes there most definitely is an alignment issue as I did hit a kerb with quite a bit of force but that was last year, I've possibly damaged the tie rods and they've gradually gotten worse.