evansaero

The PPI would have or should have picked that up.

I'd be on the phone with the PPI shop if I thought it was anything to do with the suspension

JimB

I would hope so but it's really not that easy to tell that a suspension part is worn by just inspecting it. The forces generated on the road are far greater than you can duplicate with the car on a lift.

Having said that, if it were me I'd have the alignment checked first. It's easy and cheap.

itorque

Dont you mean camber?

AndyK

I would think that if the alignment was off, it would cause a consistant condition, pulling to the left, or right, etc. This is more of an inconsistant loose condition, where when cruising in 6th gear, the car wants to break left, you correct, then it stays straight--then it goes right, so you correct again. Driving with one hand is not an option!

I have to check the lug nuts. I'm hoping someone forgot to torque the front wheels on. If not, I'll get an alignment. But if it's a worn part, the alignment will be a complete waste.

JimB

I'm thinking toe. If for some reason the car has no toe or just screwy toe like a bunch of toe out at one end or the other it's going to move around as described.

JimB

Andy, jack the car up and see if you have more play on one side than the other. On the rear tires grab the tire on the front and the back and see if you can "turn it". It won't move much. You'll just have to compare one side to the other. If one side moves slightly, you likely have a bad rear tie rod. This is a very common problem with 996s that are tracked. Usually it results in the car pulling to one side when you lift though. Check the tires for play. I'd focus more on the back than the front but check both.

Put the car on a jack stand, remove each tire and grab each suspension part and check for play. You can also put a wrench on the various bolts and check for tightness. If you are not comfortable doing this an independent shop can go through the process in very quickly. Proabably less than an hour.

Good luck,
Jim

rcg412

I drove the car last night... thinking more about it, it could be alignment - cant hut to get it done.

Let me try to describe the issue in more detail.

Car pulls straight as an arrow, but if you turn the wheel slightly to the left, it seems the steering "hops" and pulls hard to the left... almost like a massive amount of torque steer (but it is not torque steer).

The problem I can most relate it to was an old saab that had broken teeth on the rack/pinion steering... it was fine, but when you hit the broken teeth on the rack it would jump.

I am not saying it is the rack/pinion system, but thats what it felt like. Agreed - would not drive the car >100mph with this issue.

Other than that - car is in beautiful condition... Really nice 00 coupe (actually felt good to be back in a 3.4L)

evansaero

That is not always true. I had the exact same problem. Car would dart on it's own and would have to correct and hold pressure. Then 5 seconds later it drove straight. Then it would go the other way. I have been where you are. Had suspension check had all four tires replaced and then alignment. The only thing that help at all and corrected the problem was the alignment

Think of you car walking on its tippy toes. Try doing that all day and see how stable you are compaired to both feet planted.

Let us know what you come up with

Later
Aaron

AndyK

I gotta go with alignment as the possible cause. Aaron was in the same situation, and an alignment fixed his problem - sounds like a no brainer at this point. I'll go to STS this weekend, and report back! Thanks for all the help, and thanks for insisting Aaron!!

AndyK

I got the alignment. The toe was off, especially in the rear (.76 difference from spec). STS aligned the car. Took it out on the highway, and it STILL doesn't feel in control. Still have to jiggle the wheel back and fourth to keep the car from veering.

To add insult to injury, the alignment machine mauled my near-mint rims. I'm convinced as soon as you have work done to your car, it wont stay in mint condition.

Plan B is to bring it in to my indy mechanic, to see if he can spot a broken or loose part in the suspension.

And, my radio is worse, with the interfearance coming on right away. No cell phone near the car, engine off. Must be a ground issue, right? How do you get this head unit out of the dash? Another thread, I guess!?

evansaero

What do you mean by jiggle?

Does the car still dart hard?

Does it feel better or worse after the alignment?

Sorry about the rims. Are they going to have them fixed for you?

AndyK

Here's an update. I went back to STS, to get the front wheels balanced (thinking maybe they were out of balance, causing my problems). When they took the wheel off, the inside half of both tires is almost bald !Very worn, I need new tires.

Would that be causing my problems?

evansaero

Was it like that when you had the PPI?

That was what my rears looked like on the out side before I had my alignment, but it took 2500 miles to really notice.

wrljet

Alignment is off. Probably toe-out which also causes darty steering, espescially when braking.

AndyK

Just had the alignment set perfectly. So now I will buy new Potenza RE050's all around. That should fix me up good, no?