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Ive been having the same problem and i cant seem to figure it out
ive replaced both ball joints and a cv joint (which was a pain), checked both the inner and outer tie rods and replaced a strut and the problem is still unresolved.

while cornering the car will unexpectantly jerk the direction im turning, hard. the same "jerk" occurs whenever i hit a bump or a dip in the road but not only does the car jerk the steering acts like it "skips a tooth" and will get loose and sloppy till i hit another bump?? it also pops and does the same thing whenever i brake hard or take off fast. im baffled. could it be the rack?
any suggestions or ideas are appreciated
thanks:)

Get an alignment.

Bad toe will jerk you around pretty good over terrain.

bad toe inst going to pop and jerk the way he is describing,

couple of things to check, wheel bearings. Easiest way to check them is to grab the top of the wheel real hard and push and pull it(shaking it). if its clunking you've found your problem.

could be a bad or broken strut, check your struts and upper mounts.

if nothing there i would look at the rack and pinion

Couple other things to look at; your power steering, check your belt tension and fluid levels, if the belt is slipping as your turning it can be jumpy. Also the clunk might be totally unrelated to the issue, check your motor mounts if one is tore then you would get the clunk noise as well. and it could just coincide with the jerk motion.

Hope that helps

You're right, I didn't really read his post thoroughly, its definitely a mechanical issue.

Just do what any garage would do, put it up on jack stands, and start poking and proding around at the suspension/chassis/driveline. Something's bound to be loose or broken...