torque steer from hell -SOLVED!

[Scott Williams <sfwilliams@home.com>]

Long post, folks:..
Guys, a few weeks ago there was a thread about some massive torque steer
that I was getting out of the Warpig. With the worked Audi 2.0l 8v motor
in there I realized that I should be feeling some kind of pull, but
nothing as extensive as I was getting. So, I checked all the obvious
places of front suspension failure - lower ball joints (on a-arms),
upper ball joints (on end of tie-rods), tie-rod assemblies themselves,
steering rack,  a-arm bushings, upper strut bearings, and cv joints.

I found nada to explain the problem. I even went on to check the motor
mounts, figuring that maybe the whole drivetrain was flopping around and
changing the geometry. Nope! The last idea to cross my mind was to check
the floorpan around the a-arm. They were solid... ... ...

... (six weeks later)... ...

At this point I got the car on a lift and went over things again. This
time, however,  the problem lept out at me immediately! The long bolt on
the passenger's side that hold the a-arm in from the front was *very*
loose. Excelent! So, then I wondered how the problem could be missed the
first ten times. I found my answer with a bit of searching!

As most already know, there is a captured nut (hidden in the chassis)
that this bolt threads into. Apparently mine had already been repaired
or checked in the past for upon close examination I could see that there
were torch and weld marks under the undercoating. (In order to replace
the captured nuts, you have to cut out a section of the a-arm mount).
Unfortunately, the mechanic who worked on the car previously forgot to
make sure that the welds held the nut in there securely. However, I did
find evidence that he *attempted* to do it, at least.

The bottom line is that when the nut was completely backed up in the
welded "hole", there was enough material there to keep it from spinning.
Thus, when I would tap the long bolt in place and spin it a little bit,
the nut would find it's place and lock in place. I'd torque the whole
thing down until it felt right and then call it a day. But then, when
I'd go out for a drive, the nut would come forward (with the bolt)
making for all kinds of movement all over again! What I can't figure out
is why it didn't come back up whenever I'd torque it down. Hmm...

ARRGGHH!#@$&&*! I'm done with my theorizing...

So, I've found the problem finally and next week I'll actually get to
fixing it. Wishewww.... (wipes sweat off forehead). :^)

The End
--
Scott F. Williams
NJ Scirocco nut
SCCA ProRally driver
Hotrod Rabbit GTi



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