I recently put my 8 in to have the steering checked as I'm getting severe steering wheel movement everytime there's a minor dip or bump in the road, the dealer said they checked it all out and found no faults, however they said my anti roll bars were worn and needed replacing, is this normal on the 8? It was serviced 2 months ago and they have now found this and a few other minor bits to bump my bill up, am just a bit miffed with them and still have the steering problem, having a constant battle stopping the car going to the left all the time

 

Worn out anti-roll bar !?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? !?!?!?!

 

Sorry, I just read the dealer's report again, its worn out anti roll bar links!

 

seems a bit fishy to me, and how many miles are on the car... bushings on the suspension wears out way before anything else does, also the swaybar links.... but very weird they claim that... pulling to the left on braking can be alignment or tire wear due to the alignment being out.

This is just a guess, but some things that should be checked before just replacing things.

 

worn out anti roll bar end links u mean.

They could *break*, but I mean, a new set is cheap, and those are something that you can replace it yourself with just hand tools.

 

Thanks i'll check it out, there's only 42k on the car, and the steering doesn't pull when I break, its just when i'm trying to go in a straight line, there only has to be a slight camber in the road and the steering wheel is almost ripped out of my hands, but always and only to the left hand side!

 

The steering only pulls when I hit a slight, and I mean slight uneven dip in the road, the wheel is almost ripped out of my hands, and always to the left, never the right. Any ideas?

 

what yr is your 8 ?

if its within warranty, go tell them fix it.

 

Its out of warranty, i've only got the worthless 12 month warranty from the dealership, which seems to cover nothing! Would it be worth taking it to a local tyre place and getting the steering/tracking checked out?

 

Its an 2004 by the way..........

 

So you're out of warranty by time? Was your in service date before 12/20/03? If not you are still in warranty. If you don't know get someone to do a Carfax for you or call a different dealer and give them your VIN.

 

Thanx savedsol, as far as I know it hit the road in april 2004, and I think we Brits only get a 3 yr warranty, so its out by time!

 

Well, your end links CAN be really worn out. Mine are worn out pretty bad...

Notice the bend?
It does effect handling a bit but nothing major. I didn't feel any changes as for steering response though... I'm replacing the end links after I get my RB Sways though.

If you track and/or drive your car really hard then you guys should check your end links.

 

Gotcha. Put your location on your profile so we can offer local assistance too.

 

if you're really out of warranty, buy the end links and replace it yourself.

Like I said, all you need are basic hand tools.

End link is cheap, tools are .... cheap.

 

Still sounds fishy. I would have them point it out to you on the lift. I think it's an alignment issue.

 

See if the lower ball joints were checked pursuant to the TSB that deals with problematic ball joints. The symptoms you describe sound like a bad driver's side lower ball joint. This would be a warranty item in this case.

 

how long have you owned the car? original tyres? which brand? have you previously owned /driven a sports car with wide lowprofile tyres?

 

Had the car since August 07, it has the original tyres which seem to be wearing ok. Never had a car with wide low profiles before, so am wondering if its just me? Having said that, it sure doesn't feel right when the wheel spins to the left! The dealership took it for a test drive and found no fault, also plugged it into the diagnostic and found nothing! Do I believe them? I dont know anything about mechanics so am really looking for info and help so I can go back to them armed with some knowledge!

 

research "tramlining" one link to info on tirerack.com http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=47

 

check the tread wear to see if its time for new tires and get a GOOD alignment. the factory alignment specs are very loose. its possible that the previous owner has never had it alligned properly and since it changes over time it can contribute to the tramlining effect. the alignment shop will check bushings , end links etc for you.

there will always be some tramlining effect but these things will help lessen the effect.

 

Thanks Zoom, nice thread. I think i'll take it in to a non Mazda place for the checks, as i really dont trust the dealer, and the guy is such an arrogant **** Merry Xmas from the UK...

 

another good one here http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_879/article.html

Merry Christmas and say hello for me to any http://www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk/forum/ members you meet. Im friendly with a bunch of them (they started here mostly )

not pushing you off mind you- stick around /check back in when you can.

 

Since you don't seem to realize, this is not 'WORN OUT" - rather YOU PUT YOUR SWAY BAR ON UPSIDE DOWN!!

Classic bent end link symptom, and the ONLY repeat ONLY way this happens. Would recommend you get some new endlinks for the back and remove and replace your rear sway bar correctly!

 

Sways are correctly placed. As you can see, it's not resting on anything. I'm getting new endlinks along with RB Sways for x-mas.

EDIT: Also, the sways and endlinks were never removed before.