1. Home
  2. Audi Cars Forum
  3. S4 CV Joint

S4 CV Joint

I have a 2001 Audi S4 6spd with 92600 miles on it.

Here's the situation:

When I drive in the left lane of the highway at about 80mph, the car drifts to the left. When I move to the right lane, it starts to drift to the right. I brought it in to the mechanic and they said that the problem was worn tires. I brought the car into NTB and got new tires put on. Now the problem is worse.

When I'm in the left lane of the highway, the car pulls hard enough to the left that I have to use constant force to hold the wheel straight. To go along with that, while making a right hand turn (on the highway) I can really feel the car trying to pull to the left. I don't get that feeling when making a left hand turn.

I've never experienced this amount of pulling in any other car I've driven. I recently had an alignment done before this issue.

When I brought the car nto NTB to get the new tires put on, they told me I had a bad front right outer CV joint.

Would this be the reason for the pulling to the left?

The steering doesn't feel loose. It responds well when i turn the wheel. When the car pulls to one side, i can definitely feel it in the wheel. Does this mean that the power steering is bad? Or could it be a control arm? I really have no idea. I wouldn't know what to look for. I appreciate any advice you can give me.

Thanks a lot,

Joe

Reply to
josephsamuels
Loading thread data ...

It's useless to say anything without an alignment check.

Ronald

Reply to
reply

Update:

I got the car re-alligned and replaced the front right outer cv boot.

The pulling to the left has stopped, but I'm still experiencing an issue.

I have to grip the steering wheel tightly in order for the car to stay straight. If let go of the wheel while driving on the highway, the car will drift to either side, depending on the pitch of the road and which lane I'm in. (Left lane = drift left, Right lane = drift right).

I've driven other cars where i could lightly hold the wheel with one hand and the car would drive straight, but this one does not.

What could this mean?

Thanks,

Joe

Reply to
josephsamuels

Reply to
Tony

I was just going to say "tires" and Tony jumped in first! OK, I'll second it--for some reason Audi/VW front ends seem very sensitive to tires. First try rotating them (cross rotate, left rear to right front, right rear to left front) check tire pressure. You may end up getting new tires.

How many miles on the tires, and on the car?

Reply to
PeterD

I just recently bought 4 tires with approx 1000 miles on them. They are practically brand new. They are Michellin Pilot Alpin PA2 size

225/45HR17.

I had NTB mount them, then i had the car realligned afterwards.

The car has 92000 miles on it.

The highways in Massachusetts are crowned in the middle, I guess for drainage purposes, so the left lane is slanted down to the left and the right lane is slanted down and to the right. I told the mechanic about how when i drive in the left lane, the car drifts left and vice-versa. He's convinced that "This is just the way the car drives."

This doesn't seem right to me. I've never experienced this in any other car I have ever driven. If you guys think that this is definitely a tire problem, I'll leave it at that. But, assuming the tires are fine, what else could this be? What does toe out mean?

Thanks a lot for your advice, I really appreciate it,

Joe

Reply to
josephsamuels

Toe out means that the tires are pointing outward and therefore tend to pull the car to one side or the other. Most cars specify a few degrees of toe in to handle correctly. This would be caused by your previous alignment job not being done to the specifications for your car. It can also be due to worn or loose suspension components which need to be corrected before an alignment is done.

Reply to
Tony

Well, on the other hand, the driver may simply be experiencing the "tram-lining" behavior of wide low profile omni directional tires?

I live in MA as well, and most of the roadways - highways or bi ways - are not only crowned across the road surface, each lane is double-track troughed from wear. I find myself hugging the left edge of the left lanes and right edge of the right lanes to minimize the effect...

/daytripper '00 s4 6spd

Reply to
daytripper

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.