I hit a huge pot hole on the way to work this morning and now something in my suspension is acting up. The steering wheel will jerk to the left usually when braking or if i just let off the gas, most of the time while im on the gas its fine. I took off the wheel and checked everything out. Nothing was broke, bent, or loose at all that i could tell, so i put on a different rim to see if that might be it. Well it seemed alright, but when the car got up to temp it started doing it again. Any ideas on what the problem might be? Im lowered about 1.5 inches on tokico hp shocks and springs.

I didn't think of this before but could the steering rack be damaged by hitting a pot hole?

Take it for an alignment.

Originally posted by DytDSM
I didn't think of this before but could the steering rack be damaged by hitting a pot hole?

steering endlinks possibly
but an alignment shop should be able to tell real quick what it is once they get it on the rack

ya go get an alignment. My car did that when i let off the gas and coasted too. Alignment fixed it.

Ok I got an alignment done, and still have the problem. It only happens when im in gear and not giving it gas. When coasting in neutral or while giving it gas its fine. Theres also a popping sound i can hear but only while coasting in gear. The only thing i can think of is possibly an axle problem?

Long shut, but check your drivers side wheel bearing.

Popping sounds can be caused by wheel bearings or ball joints.

Did you jack the side up and try moving the wheel side to side or up and down? Do you have any play in either of those directions?

Well i took it around the block to show a friend what it was doing to see what he thought and the axle broke, so im guessing thats what it was lol. I dont understand how a pot hole could cause this though? I put in a new axle and its fine now, it rides just a little more shaky than it used to but feels about normal.

Originally posted by DytDSM
Well i took it around the block to show a friend what it was doing to see what he thought and the axle broke, so im guessing thats what it was lol. I dont understand how a pot hole could cause this though? I put in a new axle and its fine now, it rides just a little more shaky than it used to but feels about normal.

Um, where was it broke?

I would demand your money back from whoever did you alignment dude. How the fuck do you align a car with a broken axle? Thats shitty service. EVERY time a vehicle comes in for an alignment at our shop, we ALWAYS ALWAYS check the steering/suspension, tires, and anything else that can throw off the alignment for being loose, broken or worn.

Wow.

Glad to see you got it resolved though!

If its still more shaky than it used to, you probably want to get that wheel on that side balanced.

It broke at the joint on the wheel side.

Originally posted by teklein
If its still more shaky than it used to, you probably want to get that wheel on that side balanced.

the bad axle probably caused the tire to scrub funny and wore it out of balance. Like Tim said, rebalance the wheel.

sorry to hear