Rep Power: 318

ok, here's a little history. maybe 6 months ago i had an alignment done on my car. my steering was amazing, car went straight all the time. then maybe a month after, i went over a bad pothole. first thing i checked was my alignment. it was fine.. steering wheel stayed straight, and my car kept going straight.

well, later on i discover that as i drive on an uneven surface, my steering wheel veers harshly to the right. sometime even to the left. it feels like someone is turning the steering wheel for me and i'm having to grip it tightly to prevent it. even at low speeds, any uneven surface will quickly make my wheels turn usually to the right.

i found out the shock was blown from that incident (i'm guesing). i sent it back under warranty to b+g. since that pothole incident, i have replaced the strut body and purchased new rims/tires.

my diagnosis is a bent tie rod on the drivers side from ther pothole.

if anyone has experienced/fixed anything like this, please leave a message.

 
Rep Power: 310

I believe this is called bump steer. Its when your driving over a bump and the car wants to steer itself. You should be able to tell if the tie-rod is bent by looking at it, unless its only bent a tiny amount it might be hard to tell. Inspect the LCA bushings, LCA ball joint and tie rod bushing for abnormal wear or ripping.

 
Rep Power: 811

My old car did this. Even on good road, I would let the wheel go and it would slowly turn to the left or right by itself. Turned out to be a CV joint that was busted. Big $$$ to fix that and other probs made me sell the car. That was an 87 Jetta.

 
Rep Power: 374

****, my car does this...i just assumed it was because of the bad alignment

 
Rep Power: 318

i dunno if it would be a cv joint. I mean I let go of my wheel a lot and it always goes straight. it's only when I go over uneven surfaces, bumps, etc that it forces itself typically to the right.

 
Rep Power: 327

Going over bumps can cause a car to vere off one way or the other depending on speed, size of bump, if both tires hit the same bump exzactly,alignement, air pressure, brakes, power steering........................ hell just about every factor in the world could cause it. No car will drive perfectly straight down the road after hitting bumps. But if its jirking the steering wheel out of your hand. I would suggest taking it to a good alignment tech to try to diagnoss it. Not being able to drive something like what your desrcibing is kinda hard to figure out with out being behind the wheel

 
Rep Power: 318

well, i did inspect the tie rod on the drivers side. after trying to adjust it, i discovered the lock nut for the tie rod end will not turn without excessive force, even after it has been loosened. the passenger side tie rod adjusts fine, no problems there. so, i'm assuming because the lock nut on the driver side is hard to turn, the tie rod is bent somehow. I was looking over how to remove/replace the tie rod and it looks like a tight spot to be working in. i think i might just order the new tie rod and bring it to a shop to be repaired. on the other hand, I would like to learn how to do this...