Front end feels loose

My front end has been feeling really loose lately. Steering isn’t as tight as it used to be, it feels like the car tries to walk to the side (lack of a better term) in turns. Even the DSG seems to be a bit sloppy.
The only thing I can think of is that I loosened the passenger side engine mounts a month ago to replace the upper timing cover gasket. I tightened them back to spec though. Could it be a loose subframe that just happened to coincidentally show itself after my repair work? I have no clunking sounds.

Maybe the lower control arm bushings? The big ones have large gaps from the factory, these are what people replace with superpro or whiteline bushings.

zrickety said:

Maybe the lower control arm bushings? The big ones have large gaps from the factory, these are what people replace with superpro or whiteline bushings.

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I'll look into that, thanks. It's a long list of things I need to look into. It seems like once I crossed 50k miles a switch went off in the car that activated it's slow demise.

Sounds like bumpsteer. My car had some pretty nasty bumpsteer when the control arm bushings were shot. I replaced them with TT bushings and the bumpsteer went away.

Short Bus said:

Sounds like bumpsteer. My car had some pretty nasty bumpsteer when the control arm bushings were shot. I replaced them with TT bushings and the bumpsteer went away.

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I have the TT bushings now (for the front control arm rear mounts)! They look like the OEM mounts, probably the same material, but doesn't look like Swiss cheese. They don't feel too much different from stock, but I haven't done my alignment yet.

I did have the Superpro bushings (poly and added caster/anti-lift depending on how you press them in) and they did feel same stock before I got the alignment. After the alignment...wow they really help settle things down on the highway.

A little bit off-topic but if you ever do suspension work, replacing the shock mounts will do wonders on all the little groans and creaks. I'm on a stiffer system now, but replacing the front and rear mounts was well worth it. No more creaks going up driveways (and I don't even have any of those Unibrace chassis braces).

Yep was going to suggest lower control arm bushings as well. Powerflex makes the nicest kit also adds 8 degrees of caster which is awesome. You can choose the density of the bushing with them.

jay745 said:

Yep was going to suggest lower control arm bushings as well. Powerflex makes the nicest kit also adds 8 degrees of caster which is awesome. You can choose the density of the bushing with them.

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I think the total comes out to 8 degrees. I think the stock is maybe 3-5?
More positive caster is definitely welcome news for me (or if VW could reduce the power assist a little bit..this is a hot hatch!).

The WALK with the TTRS bushings would be an interesting proposition, as the WALK uses the housing shape rather than the off-center bushings to achieve the same goals.

somerset9 said:

I think the total comes out to 8 degrees. I think the stock is maybe 3-5?
More positive caster is definitely welcome news for me (or if VW could reduce the power assist a little bit..this is a hot hatch!).

The WALK with the TTRS bushings would be an interesting proposition, as the WALK uses the housing shape rather than the off-center bushings to achieve the same goals.

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That's the main reason I went with powerflex, same concept of using the housing vs offsetting the hole in the bushing.