'90 CQ steering help needed

[quk@sievers.com (Phil Payne)]

In message <c=US%a=_%p=CHARTER%l=FREEDOM-961027013939Z-518@freedom.charter.com> "Duff, Ian" writes:

> My 1990 Coupe quattro is slowly developing a strange and unsettling
> steering tendency: it has quite a bit of free play in the steering, like
> maybe 3/4"-1" either side of dead ahead before the car turns, along with
> what I have heard called "tramlining", where the car feels like it has
> crossed a tram line, on the slightest camber change in the road. It also
> clunks sometimes when I'm turning sharply at low speeds, like pulling
> out of a parallel parking spot.

> Any other ideas?

On my ur-quattro, these would be separate issues.  The wandering about is often 
caused by bad _rear_ wheel alignment - the tie rods at the back are rigidly 
anchored to the body at one end and a severe jolt will put the suspension out 
of alignment.  The sam jolt to a front wheel will dissipate through the 
steering.
 
The symptoms of bad rear alignment are most easily felt on a road with a steep 
camber - moving gently to the crown of the road and back to the centre of the 
lane produces wierd movements that you don't feel entirely in control of.
 
The clunk could be _anything_.  Check my fore/aft trick with gentle braking to 
see if it's a carrier bolt.

--
 Phil Payne
 phil@sievers.com
 Committee Member, UK Audi [ur-]quattro Owners Club