D3 twitchy steering

[Disco-tastic]

Hi All,

I recently fitted new front struts which I purchased from TRS (who have been great) and since fitting the car does not ride as nice, the steering is twitchy over rough roads and they generally don't feel as nice as the old worn (and leaky) struts. The new ones are Dunlop branded, and were the only option available from TRS. As TRS have a good reputation I was comfortable to trust their judgement.

About 2 weeks before i fitted the new shocks I had a new rack end installed, and the steering felt sharp and the suspension smooth - it felt great!

I am after some advice as to what may have caused the change in ride and steering quality. My obvious conclusion is that the struts valving is bad, however the rep from TRS identified that it could be upper and lower suspension bushings among other things. (He also offered to send out a new set of struts at no charge - I said I won't make him do that unless I rule out other things).

Can anyone shed some light as to why the steering would go from silky smooth to twitchy, if not for the strut valving?

I should add the new struts are possibly D4 struts - they feel much firmer in general.

All comments and opinions welcome.

Cheers

Dan

[Tombie]

Done your alignment yet?
Hows your suspension height calibration?

Bushes may be a culprit, although unlikely if it was ok pre-strut fitment.

[Disco-tastic]

Done your alignment yet?
Hows your suspension height calibration?

Bushes may be a culprit, although unlikely if it was ok pre-strut fitment.

Alignment was apparently done by the indy who installed the rack end. I had thought of getting it redone at the place I got it done when I got the tyres fitted, to see if it changed.

Bushes are definitely used and could use a refresh, but they weren't noticeable prior to the new struts. I also checked the play in the steering shaft but it seems OK.

[discorevy]

as well as Tombie's comment. Were the lower strut bushes tightened in the standard height position , either on the ground or control arm supported ?
have you gone to LT tyres from P rated ?

[justinc]

Delphi struts are OEM, I had a Dunlop one noisy from new, next one under warranty lasted 6 months, noisy again...
Now ONLY fit Delphi or genuine in LR box...

[Disco-tastic]

Delphi struts are OEM, I had a Dunlop one noisy from new, next one under warranty lasted 6 months, noisy again...
Now ONLY fit Delphi or genuine in LR box...I read on here recently that BWI bought Delphi so some new struts are labelled BWI but are OEM?

I was trying to find Delphi struts but few of the places i looked advertised the brand. I needed struts asap unfortunately.

[Disco-tastic]

as well as Tombie's comment. Were the lower strut bushes tightened in the standard height position , either on the ground or control arm supported ?
have you gone to LT tyres from P rated ?Lower strut bushes were tightened on the ground.

Tyres havent changed. FWIW they are LT

[justinc]

I read on here recently that BWI bought Delphi so some new struts are labelled BWI but are OEM?

I was trying to find Delphi struts but few of the places i looked advertised the brand. I needed struts asap unfortunately.

BWI are Delphi, yes.

[josh.huber]

I just did a full set of struts on my D4 at 225ks . They were completely rooted. I put on BWI from advanced factors. Delivered in less then a week. The change in steering characteristics was huge. I actually clipped the inside of a roundabout on the test drive. After I let some air out of tyres.(didn't check after getting new ones fitted 42psi all round) it's sweet as a nut. Compared to the old struts it's sharp and much more in control. But not twitchy. Dunno if it's helpful or not.

[Disco-tastic]

So i pulled the front wheels off and checked the bushes and the rack and tie rod ends. There is a tiny bit of play in the left front tie rod ball joint, but not enough to worry about. The main thing is the upper arm bushes appear bushed!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191026/77c2877d561de56a70c0393e7470787e.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191026/cf363eec462cd28d1a17da7c6ed9b761.jpg

You can see where they're rubbing against the mount.

I guess ill be replacing these and then seeing how it feels.

What i cant figure out is how the old strut could have disguised this movement so well? I find it hard to believe it is just the upper arms causing the car to feel uneasy through corners...

[ytt105]

"uneasy through corners" Check the REAR suspension. Bushes, shocks, etc. My 3 was fixed by new bushes, my 4 by new shocks. Both had an uneasy feel through the corners, or "woolly" as I described, much to amusement of my wife.