With a serious clonk when shaking the steering wheel, the owner of this 2006 Subaru Impreza 2.0 WRX, asked me to have a look and remedy the issue.

Getting in and giving the steering a quick shake, I could certainly feel the problem he was complaining of. Play in the steering could be felt, along with a clonk as the steering moved from side to side. Checking the play at the wheels, I found quite a bit of movement at the track rod ends and at first, thought this was the problem.

I didn’t jump to conclusions, when I found the wear in the track rod ends, and continued to check out the rest of the steering. This proved to be a good move, as further checks revealed that the inner track rod joints were also worn.

The difference to the steering after the joints were replaced and the tracking re-set was quite dramatic, and the owner was impressed with the improvement of the steering. I would imagine the tyres will also wear at a less dramatic rate now.

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