Are you driving on crappy soft asphalt around where you live? (lots of bumps and grooves)

 

Worn out steering rack bushings can cause this.

 

Yup, I live in San Francisco, and the roads are so terrible that I even AVOID driving around town during the weekends - the wheel fight is too tiring. The only time I enjoy taking the shark out is out of town.

 

Yes you need and alignment. mine still fights sometimes. but not even close to what it was before the alignment. Do a search on getting the car aligned... their is some special guildlines and if not followed you will nto get a correct alignment

 

Out of 10 928s I've owned over the years, I've had 3 of them that exhibited this problem. In one case, replacing the lower aluminum ball joints made it better, but didn't cure it. I've tried replacing ball joints, steering racks, steering rack bushings, tie rods, tie rod ends, multiple alignments, etc, and never could fix the problem in those cars. It seems to be more of an issue with larger wheels. If someone finds the magic bullet, I'd sure like to know what it is!

 

Mine did not do this until recently. I am really leaning toward the tires but will have Greg look at it if the new tires don't solve the problem.

 

Tires certainly seem to make a difference, all other things equal. The worst tires for this trait were Dunlops. The best I've found so far have been Bridgestone 050s. But all of them wore unevenly on the inside. Please don't tell me they are out of toe. Duh!! That is obvious, at least to me. It is NOT OBVIOUS to anyone to whom I've taken the car for alignment. It is obvious to Dave Lomas in Salt Lake City who must eat some kind of brain food of a superior nature because he is the first to agree with me that the wheels are toed out, but he also found worn rack bushings and advised changing them. It is a bit of a drive for me to bring it back to his shop. I ask the question: Why is it so many "technicians" find it impossible to detect worn parts before performing an alignment, and then need to do the whole freaking job again, missing the same parts again and again? Is it the air in California, the food, the weather, or what? Just look at the worn tires before doing the job and ask: " What would cause this damage?". Duh! Duh! Duh!

 

I suspect they want the quick buck. Get you in and out and on to the next job. To have your car taking up room in their shop while they order parts and dick around with a car they are unfamiliar with is not worth it to them. Likley scares them.

 

Double check the under carriage, you may have a 911 you raced over stuck still stuck underneath.

 

That would be one explanation if the shop was unfamiliar with 928s. It isn't.

 

Like food stuck in your teeth.

 

Thanks for all the feedback on this, it seems a lot of others have experienced this problem...and unfortunately no one seems to have found the magic bullet.
Before I start the route of getting a mechanic to start changing parts in a process of elimination, I have a challenging question for you folks:
1. Since my steering is not loose, and my tires are wearing evenly, and at any speed the car does not wander, then Im inclined to believe it is NOT alignment problem, nor is it ball-joints or bushings.

2. However, since the front wheels seem to be pulled easily by roughness in the road, might it therefore be a "weak" power steering system? In other words, if the power steering was working normally, it would not succumb to getting pulled by grooves or a rough road?

To this point, how do I check if my power steering is working up to spec? There is enough fluid in the reservoir, and the steering wheel turns easily enough at a stop, although it seems a little heavy, but perhaps normal heavy.

Any thoughts?

 

Change the tires to another brand or rotate them. If the problem goes away, it was in those tires. I once had some cheap tires from some discount store on another car and it tramlined and wandered at the slightest imperfection in the road surface. I bought some Michelin tires and it disappeared, after advice that the belts in the cheap tires were simply wandering around loose in the body of the tires. Could I prove that? No, but the problem went away, so I don’t care if it was menehunes in there screwing up the tires. I no longer buy from discount suppliers.

 

I just changed the tires and most of mine went away. The tire noise is 95% gone. It is amazing the difference. I am still going to have Greg look it over at the next oil change because it doesn't feel as tight as it once did.

 

I never take my shark to SF, they apply pavement patches around the big long holes between the sidewalks! Last time I came out of SF, 3 out of 4 wheels were out of alignment! I have all new parts on the front and rear too.

If you get over to the east bay look us up!

Cheers,
Andre