MK4 Golf - Complete lack of grip from time to time

[nburgess]

Hi guys,

I'm posting this as had a scary moment the other day.
Going round a roundabout (not overly quick & on a dry day) when the back end suddenly swung right out. After a couple of turns of opposite lock I was ok & was able to drive on, but never had a car suddenly lose it like that for no reason.
Usually I'd put it down to a patch of oil or whatever on the road, but I have experienced this before - although nowhere near as bad as that.
My question is, could it be down to anything to do with the suspension, Anti Roll Bar, bushes etc ?
Tyres are fine.

Would really appreicate your help.

[RickT]

Sounds a strange one,

What PSI are you running the rear tyres at?

How fast was you going?

Could be the rear anti roll bar maybe, but that wont cause the car to lose the back end as such, just give you loads of body roll.


Rick

[Eshrules]

I have to admit, the mk4 isn't renowned for it's rear grip. mine was quite loose, scarily so in the wet.

lowering the car and fitting a wider profile tyre may assist.

[nburgess]

The first thing I did was to stop off at the next garage & check the pressure (which was ok).
I must have been doing 30mph I guess, maybe a bit more - but definitely not fast enough that I would normally lose control.

If you guys are saying you doubt it's anything to do with the suspension I guess I'll have to put the previous occasions down to the conditions & assume I must have hit a patch on the road this time.

Just thought I'd check - as, as I previously said - I've had a few instances where the grip seems to go at fairly low speeds, but nowt as bad as this.

[lanciamug]

This once happened to a pal of mine and he asked me to take a look. The car sounded fine but drove as if on ice! The culprit was a collapsed wheel bearing (you could rock the car by pushing the top of the wheel with your foot), it had failed without making any unusual sound at all!