Help - tracking/sliding problem
#1
01-22-2011, 02:00 PM
Help - tracking/sliding problem
Hey…new to the forum here / new owner of a 1996 A4 Quattro manual w/ 130,000 miles. I have a severe tracking problem here in Iowa whenever there is any sort of slippery contaminant on the roadway. More to follow.
To set the stage: All 4 tires have decent tread, are of the winter-type and equal size, the entire front end has just been rebuilt (control arms, tie rods, ball joints, etc) then aligned (all numbers were in the “green” when finished) No broken springs, no leaking struts. Car tracks true on dry pavement.
Now the issue: When driving over 40mph, and the road has any sort of snow or ice on it, the car is all over the road…as if I am driving on butter. No…it’s not the contaminant; I have all sorts of other vehicles passing me like 2wd cars and semis – as I fight to keep the vehicle on the road.
The rear likes to slide to the right whenever things start getting slippery. When I go from wet pavement to black ice (underneath overpasses where the sun does not shine) the car immediately starts to slide to the right once the front tires make contact, and when the rear tires hit the ice, a sharp slide to the right occurs…like the olden days with my rear wheel drive vehicle did with posi-traction. Even when I hit slippery metal expansion plates on overpasses, the vehicle abruptly want to slide. The most recent oddity was yesterday when there was a slight dusting of snow on the surface, but the tar cracks that go across the road were wet. As the front wheels passed over the cracks – nothing. But as the rear wheels passed over the tar cracks, a pronounced thud was radiated to the cabin area…and if I used my imagination, I could almost sense the backend was trying to slide for that very brief moment.
I also pushed in the clutch to see if that made a difference. It did not – it still was all over the road. To confirm it wasn’t the tires, I jerked the steering wheel hard left and right, and it responded promptly, so it’s not the tires.
I had the Audi Dealership give it a thorough one over, and they too drove it to confirm the issue at hand … so I’m not nuts. They decided it needed rear springs and struts. I guess I could see that, but my gut feeling is it has to do with the 4wd system. To me…it’s as if the front and rear wheels are fighting each other for traction, and when the rear wheels get a chance to “slip” they do in a big way!
Is there anything in the 4wd system that could be causing this? I do not want to throw money at something that isn’t going to fix the problem.
HELP!
To set the stage: All 4 tires have decent tread, are of the winter-type and equal size, the entire front end has just been rebuilt (control arms, tie rods, ball joints, etc) then aligned (all numbers were in the “green” when finished) No broken springs, no leaking struts. Car tracks true on dry pavement.
Now the issue: When driving over 40mph, and the road has any sort of snow or ice on it, the car is all over the road…as if I am driving on butter. No…it’s not the contaminant; I have all sorts of other vehicles passing me like 2wd cars and semis – as I fight to keep the vehicle on the road.
The rear likes to slide to the right whenever things start getting slippery. When I go from wet pavement to black ice (underneath overpasses where the sun does not shine) the car immediately starts to slide to the right once the front tires make contact, and when the rear tires hit the ice, a sharp slide to the right occurs…like the olden days with my rear wheel drive vehicle did with posi-traction. Even when I hit slippery metal expansion plates on overpasses, the vehicle abruptly want to slide. The most recent oddity was yesterday when there was a slight dusting of snow on the surface, but the tar cracks that go across the road were wet. As the front wheels passed over the cracks – nothing. But as the rear wheels passed over the tar cracks, a pronounced thud was radiated to the cabin area…and if I used my imagination, I could almost sense the backend was trying to slide for that very brief moment.
I also pushed in the clutch to see if that made a difference. It did not – it still was all over the road. To confirm it wasn’t the tires, I jerked the steering wheel hard left and right, and it responded promptly, so it’s not the tires.
I had the Audi Dealership give it a thorough one over, and they too drove it to confirm the issue at hand … so I’m not nuts. They decided it needed rear springs and struts. I guess I could see that, but my gut feeling is it has to do with the 4wd system. To me…it’s as if the front and rear wheels are fighting each other for traction, and when the rear wheels get a chance to “slip” they do in a big way!
Is there anything in the 4wd system that could be causing this? I do not want to throw money at something that isn’t going to fix the problem.
HELP!
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