Tracking/awful handling in the wet.

[Dougie_91 8v GTi]

I may have solution to this already, and the answer may be the cheap tyres (indonesian) that the previous owner fitted; however there is a handling/tracking/wobble issue.  When I bought the car several months ago I did not particularly notice the problem, but it got worse, bad vibration at speed, slight wheel vibration under braking and whilst rolling to a standstill, slight pull to the right - not that bad.  The car has been to 'kwikfit' three times, (for povety reasons) firstly to get the tracking checked which they screwed up - steering wheel now reads 12.05 whilst driving straight, and the pull to the right is far worse than to begin with. It went back for the second time yesterday for the tracking and although the wheels 'now' have 0 at front and 8 at the rear (instead of each one unique after their first atempt), the problem still exists.  The second and major difference was after the wheels (front only) were balanced, the massive vibration went, but there is still a judder I can feel through the steering wheel/feet under slow braking.  The discs are not warped, the front wheels are balanced correctly, and they say the tracking is as good as they can get it?

What is the juddering?  Why do I have slight play on the wheel as I increase speed/nervous handling going across uneven surfaces? Why does it slide so badly in the wet on corners/roundabouts (- although this could be greasy roads and rubbish tyres)

What should I check or replace - other than this the car is wonderful, and finally red after hours, and hours and hours of cleaning! (steam cleaning the interior makes a world of difference!)

[herbster]

Hi, do you know what condition all your bushes and top mounts are in?  Worth checking the ball joints too along with the all the suspension bolts, in the past vw have fitted eccentric bolts on the strut to hub mount if yours has these then maybe your camber could be out. Have you tried the rear wheels on the front, maybe more worn but maybe better for grip?? 
Hope you sort it  soon. 

[kittie]

Bah, everytime I take my car for tracking it comes back with the steering wheel at 12:10 GRRRRRR 

I have similar problems but have been assuring tracking, camber, bushes etc are all fine 

No idea what else to suggest!

[Fraiser]

Apart from all the above - id get the car up on a ramp and see if anything is bent etc - ( if you are close to luton and you want it checking i have some very reliable mechanic friends who will check it out for you)

Have you had the camber/castor checked - there is a place in bedford called STS and they are excellent for tracking cambor and castor.

hth

faiser

[dabill]

i had a slight amount of vibration at the wheel a couple of weeks back (hed been developing over a few weeks) was very worried about it and thought it could be due to worn bushes. was going to get it tracked and balanced etc.

had a problem with the horn not working however so i decided to get this fixed that morning...to my suprise the small allen screws that hold my steering wheel to the boss has worked loose and where causing the slight vibration. so check that... alot cheaper than changing all the bushes first
bit of lock-tit on the threads and hey presto, no more vibrating!

rob

[rowlers]

I too have a similar issue...
steering is very light and twitcy in a straight line at speed, the steering is just too light???

camber, tracking has just been set up, I seen the readings in the screen and they were OK.

All new wishbones, inc bushes and bottom ball joint. New (within last 2 year) top mounts, struts and springs.

I too am stumped, maybe the rack is fooked, or needs adjustment of the gear thingy?

The steering and feedback from the wheels used to be fantastic!!

I'd be intersted in suggestions too

[herbster]

Have you all got power steering?

[rowlers]

I do!

[herbster]

Right, this may sound really technical, but the fact that we got such a poor summer I'm thinking that maybe the oil isn't too happy and creating problems, or maybe the oil needs changing? Can you see where I'm going with this as it appears that you have everything else covered.  The oil performs like brake fluid and deteriates over time so if you've not changed it within a couple of years give it a go, other than that 

[8vRicey]

start with the tyres mate.
had a precautionary on my last mot for rear beam bushes, and recently it's been feeling a bit twitchy on the rear.
tyres needed replacing, so after having them changed, 90% of it has gone.