Steering Wheel Shimmy

[Gary Anderson]

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My son's Audi 4kq gets a vibration in the steering wheel at about 60 mph, n=
ot at 50 mph or lower.
Feel is like when a tire is our of balance, but the tires are running ok, n=
o bounce of either front fender.
Car has new tires, newer 15" wheels, new lower A-arms for new bushings & ba=
ll joint, sport springs and new shocks all around w/ new 4-way alignment.
Not much changed when any of the suspension mods were installed, or new whe=
els, or new tires on same wheels.
This weekend, we looked at the steering ball joints, seem to be ok, but whi=
le looking in there,  I wondered about the rack can contribute to a speed r=
elated "harmonic" vibration.  So, I reached in and pulled up and pushed dow=
n on the left steering rod, and observed the connecting bracket (where the =
left and right sides bolt-up) would move up and down (i.e. rotating relativ=
e to the rack).  Not much movement, maybe a 1/16" or so.  With the steering=
 full left or right, there was no movement up or down by comparison.
Tried the same examination on my 200, rack is solid in its straight ahead p=
osition.
Anyone have any BTDT where a rack was "loose" in the middle (straight ahead=
) and contributing to a nuisance?
Not much else to change parts wise, cause we changed those above to make th=
e handling better, etc.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or BTDT.  (Apologies for the little 2=
00 content....)
Gary Anderson in Sammamish, WA

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