Steering issue (is this normal?)

[Jimmy Brooks]

I posted a form about this a couple of months ago but no one really had any idea about what I was talking about so I have come back with a video.

Is this normal under hard acceleration? You can see in the video that the steering wheel pulls hard to the right and then goes straight then proceeds to turn right again, also pulling the vehicle to the right right rather then straight. The alignment has been done and the car steers straight when the wheel is pointed straight. I’ve noticed under any type of acceleration (on flat surfaces) the steering wheel like to turn right a little bit which pulls the car to the right. I’ve also noticed that when you let go and let the steering wheel go back into place naturally it won’t go back into place fully, nor as easily when turned right. It will do it just fine when turning left but for some odd reason it will stay crooked to the right no matter how fast you are going. Anyone have any ideas? I don’t remember the car always being like this and The independent shop that I take my car to, that likes to sell me on every little tingly thing wrong with my car, hasn’t noticed anything and has investigated the front end on different occasions. Let me know if any of you have had, or have heard of this.

Thanks

 

[f1racer328]

Definitely not normal if you ask me. My steering wheel doesn't move a bit when I punch it from a stop.

 

[ktm525]

Check both front cv joints/axles? I'll try a hands off acceleration and see what happens later today.

 

[Jimmy Brooks]

Crap... didn’t think about the CV joints. How would I check if one went bad?

Check both front cv joints/axles? I'll try a hands off acceleration and see what happens later today.

 

[ktm525]

What it looks like is you have torque steer. Torque steer manifests as a tugging of the steering wheel under throttle (esp from stop). due to uneven axle shaft lengths and transaxle geometry. Equal length axle shafts are ideal but many designs have then unequal. I am thinking that if this steering wheel behavior is not normal in your LR4 then perhaps torque is going through one side and not the other. Perhaps you have a broken CV joint or broken axle shaft and power is only be applied to one wheel.

An easy way to check would be to jack up both front tires and spin one of them. If the other tire spins the opposite direction then likely everything is ok. No movement? Then something may be broken (CV joint, axle shaft, something internal inside your front differential)

 

[Jimmy Brooks]

What it looks like is you have torque steer. Torque steer manifests as a tugging of the steering wheel under throttle (esp from stop). due to uneven axle shaft lengths and transaxle geometry. Equal length axle shafts are ideal but many designs have then unequal. I am thinking that if this steering wheel behavior is not normal in your LR4 then perhaps torque is going through one side and not the other. Perhaps you have a broken CV joint or broken axle shaft and power is only be applied to one wheel.

An easy way to check would be to jack up both front tires and spin one of them. If the other tire spins the opposite direction then likely everything is ok. No movement? Then something may be broken (CV joint, axle shaft, something internal inside your front differential)

I jacked the car up a couple of weeks ago to check for a wheel bearing issue and I did spin the wheel and there’s some play before the wheel catches and won’t spin because all the others are on the ground. However, I think the CV axle is a really good bet just because of the way the car pulls to the right on the free way and won’t go back into place like it will when I turn left. I also get a creaking noise coming from the right wheel when turning left, the right wheel which supposedly isn’t spinning as fast as the left, is on the The outside causing stress on the differential. This creak/squeak/ cracking noise is present when going into driveways with the right wheel going up it first. I can also feel these little vibration in the steering wheel when the creak is present.

 

[Jimmy Brooks]

Also, could this be front differential related? Really don’t want to take a bite on a new front differential.

 

[ktm525]

ok my steering wheel does not move on acceleration. I guess it could b a wonky wheel speed sensor and one side is getting some brake input? I still vote for something driveline related.

 

[Jimmy Brooks]

I have a gap tool, would I be getting faults if it was a wheel speed sensor? How can I diagnose a wheel speed sensor? Also you think that is is more likely to be the cv joints and axle rather then the actual front differential right?

ok my steering wheel does not move on acceleration. I guess it could b a wonky wheel speed sensor and one side is getting some brake input? I still vote for something driveline related.

 

[DaytonaRS7]

a bad wheel speed sensor would normally throw ABS, traction control and a few other errors.