Hi all, my 1.3 Doblo has developed a weird steering fault and was hoping someone here may have seen the problem before.
Basically when i am driving around the 40mph mark and accelerate hard the car pulls to the right and when i back off the throttle the car then pulls back to the left. The car is also very unstable on the motorway, i think the best way to explain it is very similar feeling as when a hgv lorry goes past you at speed on the motorway and the car gets moved off course.
There also appears to be a knocking noise/feeling coming through the steering when going over very slight bumps or uneven road.
I hope someone can point me in the right direction.
As always any help/advice greatfully received.

Regards
Barry

I had identical problem, mine was the bottom swivel joints, that would also account for the noise, you can either replace the lower arms or just the swivel joints

Hi thanks for the heads up on that, by swivel joints do you mean the bottom ball joint? Any ideas how much this is likley to cost me at the garage or can it be done diy?
Do you know if there are any posts on how to replace these?

Thanks again for your advice.

Barry

Hi, yes the bottom ball joints, I get through these almost every Mot, if you are going for the arms then jack up the car and support it with stands, remove the road wheel, part the ball joint, you will also need to remove the bolts holding the antiroll bar, you then remove the bolts-2 off that hold the lower arm and it comes off, for me its very straight forward but I have done this before,

the last pair of lower arms that I bought were around £50 for 2 from my local motorfactors, a pair of ball joints are about £20

Hi,from symptoms its the front lower wishbone front bushs worn/split,allows the arm to move forward and back when accelerate/decelerate,common fault,can be lower ball joints worn but these usually produce knocking noise on uneven ground,rather than steering fault. I've had these wishbones cracked through on rear mounting as well, so I would get it checked/repaired urgently. Wishbones are available as pattern parts and if just ball joints can be got seperately as well. I would check thoroughly,as if there is perishing/splitting or wear in bushs,false economy to only replace ball joints and takes about the same time.Hope this helps,regards John.

Many thanks to you both for your helpful replies. I have changed the arms both sides and the problem appers to be resolved, just need to get the tracking sorted now and all should be ok.

Regards
Barry

All, looks like i have spoke to soon, i changed the arms and had 2 new front tyres tacked and balanced, the problem with the car pulling to right has stopped but the knocking noise has come back. Can anyone suggest a possible cause?
I was maybe thinking it could be the ARB bushes, but canot seem to source them from anywhere.
When i changed the arms the track rod ends seemed to be fine with no play in them.

Thanks in advance

Moremeba

It's now 2023 and I have the same problem with a 2004 Doblo 1.9Jtd !! It wanders like being blown about and has sometimes an offside front clunk when going over a manhole or sleeping policeman. Both front lower arms, tyres and shock absorbers replaced for MoT, and the wandering is still there.... any solution?
Not my main car, but this hi top is used to carry somebody in a wheelchair, so repair is urgent.
Ever hopeful

Calvadosian said:

It's now 2023 and I have the same problem with a 2004 Doblo 1.9Jtd !! It wanders like being blown about and has sometimes an offside front clunk when going over a manhole or sleeping policeman. Both front lower arms, tyres and shock absorbers replaced for MoT, and the wandering is still there.... any solution?
Not my main car, but this hi top is used to carry somebody in a wheelchair, so repair is urgent.
Ever hopeful

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Have a look at the suspension bushes as those will cause the issue you are describing, I had my entire front suspension bushes replaced and the car feels planted only issue i have is the steering rack started leaking and when going over bumps the steering wheel moves a bit but the car continues going in a straight line. have those looked at,

Calvadosian said:

It's now 2023 and I have the same problem with a 2004 Doblo 1.9Jtd !! It wanders like being blown about and has sometimes an offside front clunk when going over a manhole or sleeping policeman. Both front lower arms, tyres and shock absorbers replaced for MoT, and the wandering is still there.... any solution?
Not my main car, but this hi top is used to carry somebody in a wheelchair, so repair is urgent.
Ever hopeful

Click to expand...

If the work you had done has stopped the clunk, then I would have your steering realigned, if front wheels "toe out" that can cause wandering, making it hard to keep a straight line and make the car more sensitive to road camber etc.

Thanks to you both, DreadedHomie and Bugsymike, for the responses.
At 72 I am sadly struggling with work on cars, so I must give in and take it to a local "risk of rip-off centre"!
...but at least I can make some suggestions.

Calvadosian said:

Thanks to you both, DreadedHomie and Bugsymike, for the responses.
At 72 I am sadly struggling with work on cars, so I must give in and take it to a local "risk of rip-off centre"!
...but at least I can make some suggestions.

Click to expand...

I am only two years behind you, so I wait for a sunny day to work on my cars.
Re what I said about the steering, if "toeing out" it causes feathering across the tyre tread and increased tyre wear on the inside edge nearer to the engine.