Wobbly steering under load... sometimes

[8v-of-fury]

I believe one of my Outer CV's might be failing but it is temper-mental and not always apparent.

Took the 81 on vacay this weekend, 250km each way. Nbd. Or so i thought.

Trip there was fine, power happy little 1.6 had no troubles on the ups and downs of Canadian Shield back country with a fully loaded car Anyway so the trip there was fine as well as day tripping yesterday. The ride home today was sketchy at best, it was pissing down rain and we had two extra people on board and some of there stuff.

About 100kms on the way back, i start to hear a sound that was consistent and changed with speed and felt a slight wiggle in the steering wheel. Being 7:30 this morning I was probably over paranoid, but i thought some of the lug nuts have come loose! Pull over check it all out, all tight.. give the wheels a good kick.. everything is fine. Get back in and we start off with a good wobble in the wheel now like easily 4-5 inches either way.. it didn't do it with the clutch in or even when in gear but off the pedal coasting.. So it is torque dependent. hmm

Did it a couple more times on the way, but backing off the pedal or clutching made it go away..

New Axles? I've had this before on the 84, and its end result was a completely blown apart outer passenger CV.

[macka]

I believe one of my Outer CV's might be failing but it is temper-mental and not always apparent.

Took the 81 on vacay this weekend, 250km each way. Nbd. Or so i thought.

Trip there was fine, power happy little 1.6 had no troubles on the ups and downs of Canadian Shield back country with a fully loaded car Anyway so the trip there was fine as well as day tripping yesterday. The ride home today was sketchy at best, it was pissing down rain and we had two extra people on board and some of there stuff.

About 100kms on the way back, i start to hear a sound that was consistent and changed with speed and felt a slight wiggle in the steering wheel. Being 7:30 this morning I was probably over paranoid, but i thought some of the lug nuts have come loose! Pull over check it all out, all tight.. give the wheels a good kick.. everything is fine. Get back in and we start off with a good wobble in the wheel now like easily 4-5 inches either way.. it didn't do it with the clutch in or even when in gear but off the pedal coasting.. So it is torque dependent. hmm

Did it a couple more times on the way, but backing off the pedal or clutching made it go away..

New Axles? I've had this before on the 84, and its end result was a completely blown apart outer passenger CV.

tire balance? steering box issues? ball joints?

[clbanman]

When you say "wiggle" in the steering wheel, is it pulling one way, then when you correct, pulling the other direction?   If so, jack it up and check your lower ball joints.  The Bently says you should have max .100" play in a vertical direction on the joint.   I recently had an issue with this on mine that started like you describe and then rapidly got worse.  When I checked the ball joint play it was over .250" and I swear it would have come apart within a few more miles.

If it's a "back and forth" wobble that just vibrates your steering wheel without changing vehicle direction, check your tire pressures.   One front being low will do that as well.

[8v-of-fury]

When i say wiggle I mean the steering wheel moving on its own back and forth 4-5 inches. It doesn't vibrate the steering wheel, it moves it. Also it stops as soon as i let off the gas, or put clutch in.

It didn't do it again the last 50kms or all today to and from work. Dunno whats goin on here.. still think its CV's

[8v-of-fury]

This is kind of a disheartening problem, I am fairly confident it is not a bearing or tie rod as the seem fine. However tomorrow I will rip both front tires off as I am going to be changing out the front and back engine mounts.. and give things a look see.

I give this car so much love, and what does it give me? A PITA.

 

[theman53]

I have a cv going bad and hanging brakes that make the car shake. The brake is a combination of the cv grease causing them to stick and the sliders locking up sometimes. Certain speeds are not really bearable.

I vote CVs too. good luck.