Steering Light / Front End Loose?

[Westy]

I have a 2003 996tt and for as long as I can remember the front end feels very loose / unstable. When you hit a cats eye it throws the front end all over.

At speeds it feels much worse. To the point now where it feels unsafe to drive.

Checked all bushes in the lower control arms and also replaced these with polybushes, also its had full 4wd tracking done.

Car has covered 84k

It is going on the ramp this week to have another check but its been checked a number of times without finding anything worn.

I was wondering if the mountings on the front diff might be worn which is causing movement?

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

Martin

[Sunnyside]

I have a 2003 996tt and for as long as I can remember the front end feels very loose / unstable. When you hit a cats eye it throws the front end all over.

At speeds it feels much worse. To the point now where it feels unsafe to drive.

Checked all bushes in the lower control arms and also replaced these with polybushes, also its had full 4wd tracking done.

Car has covered 84k

It is going on the ramp this week to have another check but its been checked a number of times without finding anything worn.

I was wondering if the mountings on the front diff might be worn which is causing movement?

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

Martin

Hi Martin

If you have checked all the bushes and arms you must start looking at the shock absorbers. If you push down hard on the front corners does the car move down up then stop or does it tend to bounce a little. Don't forget you have strong springs so you wont be able to push it down much. If the car moves up and down more than once with one good shove down then I would suspect a shocker.

Take it to a good Indy who will do a test. Defective shocks can be very dangerous not only for bumps and corners but for braking as well. A worn shocker can cause the wheel to bounce up and down when applying the brakes.

Please post you findings for us all.

Frank

[Dus10R]

Car been lowered? Different size wheels?

[ocdesign70]

Martin, let me know what you find out. I just got the 03 996 TT (55k miles) running 19" wheels and do notice the steering is very light compared to other cars I've owned. Mechanic said everything seems fine, so I'm trying to figure out why. Can't imagine this is normal.

[Stevenorcal]

any update? I have 19's on my car, always felt like car is loose in front but have no frame of reference as I never have owned a AWD porsche. I just posted a question regarding shocks and questions on how to diagnose if shocks are done and if there is a mount or braket that would be worn and cause a knocking noise in rear over moderate bumps.

[996CabMan]

When I have had the loose feeling in the past, it has been attributed to tires that required replacing. Once I replaced tires, stability improved and problem went away.