[s-cars] PSA on Steering Rack - was <braces inbox for flood> '02 //S6 - Bueller?

[jtoms493 at comcast.net]

Teddy, did replace right front lower control arm earlier this year because of bad ball joint. That's it.
J.T. 

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: Theodore Chen <tedebearp at yahoo.com> 

> i don't have any clunks. just some tramlining and general instability, 
> which i attributed to worn suspension/steering components. however, 
> i'll check the steering rack mounts for cracks. thanks. did you replace 
> control arms and tie rod ends on either of your cars? 
> 
> -teddy 
> 
> --- jtoms493 at comcast.net wrote: 
> 
> > Teddy, have replaced the steering damper on a couple of S4's. One at 160K and 
> > current vehicle at 115K. 
> > I can't say that I felt or noticed a difference in handling, but I can tell 
> > you that both of these dampers were shot! Also, if you have an OE Audi damper 
> > (431 425 021A) there is a date of manufacture (week #/year) on it. 
> > The only way I could the view the date with the damper on the car was with a 
> > mirror placed behind and below the damper. (Bought current damper from 
> > Autohaus AZ - Boge version.) 
> > After replacing the damper on my current S4 I was still having issues with 
> > what I felt was the front suspension. Had a clunk when I turned either right 
> > or left and taking corners aggressively was not as solid as I thought it 
> > should be. Steering wheel wandered from tdc a few weeks after alignment. 
> > Found that both sides of the steering rack needed to be repaired. Bought the 
> > reinforcement bracket (443 809 489) for the driver side and had a metal brace 
> > fabricated for the passenger side. Both the driver's side and the passenger 
> > side had tears in the metal near the rack securing points. Even the driver's 
> > side bracket was torn in numerous places. Once the cracks were welded and 
> > brackets put in place steering is great. The bracket that attaches the 
> > steering rack to the firewall was fine. 
> > 
> > So S-heads as has been mentioned recently, go out and check the connecting 
> > points on both sides of your steering rack for tears in the metal, as well as 
> > the condition of the driver's side rack reinforcing bracket. Also check the 
> > securing bracket on the firewall. This may be the answer to your suspect 
> > steering or your mystery "clunks". 
> > John Tomlinson 
> > 93 S4 
>