Hi all, some time ago I started having issues with steering/handling of my car. Basically what it does is that I can strongly feel every bump in the road through the steering wheel. The car sometimes just wants to steer on its own to left/right, depending on the road hole. For instance, when the road surface in my lane is smooth, it drives fine, but when, let's say, right wheel drives over some uneven surface (cracks in the road or potholes) the car just wants to steer to the right. I have to keep fighting with the steering wheel to make the car drive straight.

When I went to the garage, they found out that bushings in lower control arms are worn, so they replaced both sides. Expensive repair which did not make any difference at all.

Wheel alignment done right after the control arm replacement.
They also found out:
Steering rack bushigs are good,
Tie rod and other "obvious" parts are also good
Shocks are still fine
Road tested with two different tyre brand and different tyre pressures- problem still the same
According to the steering&suspension specialist it is unlikely that bad steering rack would be causing this.
Also I think my car is very sensitive to road camber, but it has always been like that since I got it.

I would really apprecite any ideas what could be causing it as I am getting desperate and don't want to spend thousanda of $ in the search for diagnosis and random parts replacement..

I made this video to demonstrate steering wheel behavior on unsealed road:


Thanks

I assume you had a 4 wheel alignment done. I had a Mazda which was a bit sensitive which turned out to be a problem with the rear wheels. A full alignment back to factory settings and it drove like it was on rails. Had to change the rear tyres as well as the misalignment had caused uneven wear. FL2 Metropolis, Loire Blue, ebony/ivory

Mine does the same on uneven potholed roads but it has always done it and I just assumed that was what steering feedback was. Being warned by an LR instructor to never put your thumbs over the wheel as the it can jerk about on bad tracks and can break your thumbs made me sure it was normal. Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

Kris - Your OP implies to me that the problem occurred sometime after you bought the car. Did it have a bump or some event to cause a change in behaviour ?
Out of interest, How many miles on the car and how many have you done in it ?
Did it have a full 4 wheel alignment?
Have you driven other FL2s to make a comparison ? Jules

Here's a video of mine

https://youtu.be/t0zRtxbGyFk

Note I only pulled the wheel to the left twice so I didn't hit anything

And I'm listening to the radio. That's not my music choice :-/ Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

Thanks for replies.

It started doing it about a year or so ago, but only very rarely, so I thought it is caused by old tires as they were a bit worn (Cooper Discoverer AT3). This made me decide to buy a new set of tires Pirelli Scorpion ATR, but the issue was still exactly the same. Then I took it to the garage (specializing in LR) and they confirmed this issue, and diagnosed bad bushings in lower control arms (as per my OP), however, replacing these with brand new, genuine LR parts did not help at all. After that, they told me they will need the car for a few days to go deeper in diagnosis, and maybe take it to specialized suspension & steering shop for inspection. Before I proceed, I would like to collect some opinions or similar experiences if possible.

The car has 88000 kms, I bought it when it had about 42000. I do not recall any harder bumps (and I am pretty much the only person driving the car), I occasionally do light off road, but nothing serious. It basically started doing it on its own.
4 wheel alignment done three times in total since I had the car.

And no, I have never driven another FL2, so I can't really compare. But my mechanic told me that when he had my car in, he drove another FL2 to compare the steering feedback and he confirmed that the other FL2 was not doing it at all.

It is a very weird behavior.

Last edited by kris-p on 28th Nov 2017 10:57 am. Edited 1 time in total

Chuckalicious wrote:

Here's a video of mine

https://youtu.be/t0zRtxbGyFk

Note I only pulled the wheel to the left twice so I didn't hit anything

And I'm listening to the radio. That's not my music choice :-/

Kris - you seem to have done everything I can think of to do. Im afraid I dont have anything to offer except it appears that you are not alone.

FWIW - I had a Mk1 Audi TT 4WD years back and swapping rear tyres with the front ones solved a steering issue - yet the tyres didnt seems that different in appearance to me. Maybe worth worth a go. Jules

Thanks, I might give it a go, however, as I mentioned in my previous post, the mechanic put front wheels from the other FL2 which had steering good, with no change on mine.
It is very mysterious.

Kris, I certainly feel the texture and layout of the road through the wheel and I ever surfaces certainly try and edge the car in a direction other than straight. I have checked it on the flattest and smoothest road I can find and taking my hand off the wheel doesn't cause any issues so I've never been concerned.

I swap my wheels between summer and winter ones and don't mark which corner each came from so mine have been swapped round and it makes no difference.

Had the track rod ends replaced a couple of weeks ago as there was excess play and it made no difference. Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

Just an update:
My mechanic did further diagnosis and said that the steering rack is actig a bit weird in comparison to other cars, and recommended rack replacement including steering fluid reservoir and filter (which is in same housing) replaced too. Fortunately the rack and labor is covered under extended warranty.
Car is booked in for after Christmas. I will report back once it's done, hopefully the issue will go away finally.

Both my present Metro FL2 (16k - 20k miles) and my initial XS FL2 (19k - 80k miles) had a tendency to 'tramline' on motorway lorry depressions. (the tracks that lorries wear in the slow lane) Otherwise I no problems.
I have put this down to the fact that the 19inch wheels have quite a short stiff sidewall.

This is based on my own experiences in the way in which cross-ply tyres, with stiff sidewalls, used to perform, when compared with radial tyres, with more pliable sidewalls. The worst place used to be where they planed the road prior to resurfacing.

The effect was so severe on my wife's Vauxhall Chevette that we went out and bought new radials to replace the supplied crossply tyres. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 76k+ miles) (MY2015)

I find when off road on gravelly type tracks the car has a tendancy to steer itself, almost like a bump steer. only seems to do it off road but I quite like it as most of the time it means I have to steer less when the wheel is bouncing left and right!

Have you got a print out of the wheel alignment check ?

I would check the condition of the front suspension stabiliser anti roll link bars as the ball joints fail causing your described issue they cost around £9.00 each