'lo, The other week I went over a stone in my MK2 1.8 Driver which knackered the tyre. The offside wheel (standard steelie) was bent slightly where the stone met it. I had a new tyre fitted. The bit where the wheel was bent (along the outside edge where it meets the tyre) was knocked back into shape for me. I found that the tracking was out by miles and so I had the tracking put right. To go straight now the steering wheel has to be at 1 o'clock (obviously I'll take it off and straighten it when I can be bothered). The car still feels rough above 60 mph however, as at 60 and above the steering wheel feels like it is really knocking and juddering. I am aware that there is a bit of play on the steering rack and I will get a replacement one at some point. But realistically, could a tired steering rack cause the above problem? Is it quite easy to bend a steel wheel out of shape completely such that it could cause this problem? Anything else that might have been damaged during the incident? I am wondering if camber could be out but most garages seem to say 'oh we don't adjust that'. Problem seems to be a bit worse when steering towards the left. Thanks in advance. Trev Edited by: Trev16v
Sounds like the bent wheel is causing the problem with vibration, you'll have to get it properly balanced but there is no guarantee that will really sort it - bent wheels are hard to balance properly. As for the steering wheel being at 1 o'clock, take the horn cover off, undo the centre bolt and move the steering wheel round on the splines until its centre. Easy! Not sure how long a rack would take, something i've never fitted.
Thanks mate. Fortunately I have already needed to take the steering wheel off my GTI once so I'm okay doing that. I get the impression that these wheels aren't that difficult to bend out of shape. Fortunately I have a spare I can try on. Cheers Trev
get the camber and tracking set after you get a new steering rack, what does it do during braking? Edited by: Dave
Try sw*pping the front wheels with the back wheels. I did this with my steelies and it stopped a lot of steering judder. If you got a spare full size steel wheel you could try sw*ppiing it with the dented one.
