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

> wrote in message
ps.com...
>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
>

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

Ronald

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

It could be due to tire wear, tire inflation, tire brand or alignment. Check
inflation pressure first and note tire wear. If that doesn't correct it get
another alignment. It could be that you have too much toe out.

wrote:
> 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
>

On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 14:11:29 -0500, Tony >
wrote:

>It could be due to tire wear, tire inflation, tire brand or alignment. Check
>inflation pressure first and note tire wear. If that doesn't correct it get
>another alignment. It could be that you have too much toe out.
>

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?

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

wrote:
> 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
>
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.

On Thu, 26 Oct 2006 11:50:14 -0500, Tony > wrote:

>
>
wrote:
>> 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
>>
>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.

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