[s-cars] Strange steering response

[Ivan Demkovitch]

Well. I guess it's over. It's nice to know that I'm not that stupid.
All front end was practically new. Control arms, tie rod ends, revalved bilsteins, new springs.

I got a call from the shop and they admitted that younger tecnician screwed up alignment and they fixed it and put new tires for me.

Thats it.

----- Original Message ----
From: Tom Green <trgreen at comcast.net>
To: Ivan Demkovitch <idemkovitch at yahoo.com>
Cc: s-car-list at audifans.com
Sent: Thursday, January 4, 2007 9:39:49 PM
Subject: Re: [s-cars] Strange steering response


Both issues may be related, Ivan.  It is possible that a premature  
failure of some part--strut bearing, mount, fastener, or the like--  
is binding the strut  movement
or steering gear itself and allowing the alignment to vary, or  
something was left loose during alignment.  Certainly seems to call  
for a through inspection of all
front end parts.

Tom

On Jan 4, 2007, at 1:43 PM, Ivan Demkovitch wrote:

> I think we had 1-2 thousand miles on it during this month.
> What about Igor camber plates? I had it done exactly as in drawings  
> and they go in 1 way only, so I can't screw up that one.
>
> And even after I had tie rod ends replaced and all suspension  
> revisited (before alignment) it did center back nicely also were  
> pulling to the side..
>
> I also think toe is a culprit here, but will see what they say. It  
> took me 10k miles to kill previous set of front tires on broken  
> H&Rs with stock camber plates. So, I tend to think it's not my fault.
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Fred Munro <munrof at sympatico.ca>
> To: Ivan Demkovitch <idemkovitch at yahoo.com>; Tom Green  
> <trgreen at comcast.net>; s-car-list at audifans.com
> Sent: Thursday, January 4, 2007 12:34:04 PM
> Subject: RE: [s-cars] Strange steering response
>
>
> Ivan;
>
> If the alignment is half-decent, two issues will cause the steering  
> to not
> return to centre:
> 1. The rack preload is too tight. You should adjust this per the  
> Bentley
> procedure to rule it out.
> 2. The caster is way off specification. If the caster is less than  
> +0.25 or,
> heaven forbid, is negative, you are going to have a problem with  
> tracking
> and steering self-centering. There is no adjustment for caster  
> (unless you
> have 2B camber plates). You have to move the subframe and the sway bar
> bushing mounts to get it back in spec. The caster should ideally be  
> +1.0.
>
> If the insides of the tires have worn out very quickly, I'd suspect  
> toe
> rather than camber. Negative camber usually takes a few thousand  
> miles to
> wear inside edges, but toe-out can scrub rubber off in a hurry.  
> Reducing
> ride height affects all the alignment settings, particularly  
> camber, and
> since camber and toe work together the shop may not have gotten  
> everything
> right.
>
> Fred Munro
> '94 S4
> '97 S6
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
> [mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com]On Behalf Of Ivan Demkovitch
> Sent: January 3, 2007 9:35 PM
> To: Tom Green; s-car-list at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Strange steering response
>
>
> Ok.. Bad news. Just checked tires - they gone. Front tires gone on  
> inside
> completely.
>
> It looks like camber, but here is a question..
> 1. I did "Igor plates" modification. There is no difference between  
> right
> and left and they go only 1 way. So, I can't screw up that one.
> 2. On alignment "sheet" all numbers good.
>
> Car rides on freshly re-valved bilsteins and new H&R's. Tires is  
> not wide by
> any means. This is my winter all-season 15 inch rims...
>
> I'm taking car back to that shop tonight. I'm soooo mad. It was $250
> alignment in "one of the best" places. *&)(*
>
> Ivan.
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Tom Green <trgreen at comcast.net>
> To: s-car-list at audifans.com; idemkovitch at yahoo.com
> Sent: Wednesday, January 3, 2007 7:48:26 PM
> Subject: Re:[s-cars] Strange steering response
>
>
> Hi Ivan,
>
> It may be they adjusted your rack when doing the alignment.  Check
> Scott's write-up on his web site for removing
> the "play" in the steering.  You may need to adjust yours the other
> way.  I haven't done this on my cars, but the
> write-up is here:
>
> http://www.sjmautotechnik.com/trouble_shooting/susp.html#steerplay
>
> Tom
>
>> Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2007 16:07:21 -0800 (PST)
>> From: Ivan Demkovitch <idemkovitch at yahoo.com>
>> Subject: [s-cars] Strange steering response
>> To: s-car-list at audifans.com
>> Message-ID: <20070104000721.6590.qmail at web56814.mail.re3.yahoo.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ascii
>>
>> List,
>>
>> Don't know how to explain, but steering wheel doesn't "roll back"
>>
>> Driving at 30 miles per hour - I can turn wheel like 30 degrees and
>> it will stay there.
>>
>> Is that alignment or what else can be?
>>
>> I had suspension overhaul and did alignment. It was kind of
>> "sticky" after alignment, but drives straight when straight.
>> Now it seem to be progressing.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Ivan
>>
>> 93' S4
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