RE: Front-end shimmy-dance when I brake 5KCSTQ

[mmueller@es.com]

In the last 15 years I have gradually worked my way through 2 5ks and
one 4kq, about 600,000 miles between the three. Now I am enjoying the
miles in a '91 200q which shimmies like yours. It changes too. Back when
I had a wife, she occasionally drove the car. She liked driving fast and
stopping fast; it seemed to me that she frequently changed the
personality of the rotors - once badly enough that Audi replaced them
under warrantee.

I name dropped all of the cars above because I spent a lot of time
replacing bushings and bearings on these machines and will shortly be
doing the same on the 200 (anyone know of a good source for more durable
control arm bushings?). I have attributed this wear partially to off
pavement driving and accepted it as a fact of life. The 4kq really
impressed me with very few mechanical problems for its 250,000 miles
(and still doing well), except bearings and bushings. The 200 seems to
have gone a step further - the bearings are rock solid after 125,000.

The bearings I have replaced were based on noticeable easy movement
while tugging the wheel when the car was jacked up with the wheel on and
no brake applied, or just wiggling at the hub with a strong grip. I run
this check twice a year when I convert to the tire de season. In one
case the noise drove me to it first.

The bushings have always been noticeably bad. Obvious play with tugging,
lousy control and steering rattle over bumps like rail road tracks were
good indicators.

Mark
'91 200q