An A320's nose wheel steering servo failed and caused a WHEEL N/W STEERING FAULT ECAM. When the landing gear was lowered the SHOCK ABSORBER FAULT ECAM alerted so an emergency was declared prior to landing. In flight maintenance technical support was minimal.

Narrative

We declared an emergency with Approach due to a Nose Wheel Steering Fault. We had been working this issue on and off since shortly after rotation. The First Officer was pilot flying and Captain was pilot not flying. Captain did a great job of communicating with all parties concerned. The flight attendants also did a great job of taking care of the passengers' concerns. The emergency occurred because a steering servo broke. Our experience with Maintenance Control during this event was less-than-stellar. We had noticed in both the QRH and in the Non-Normal Supplemental Handbook that with this fault we might also encounter a Shock Absorber Fault upon gear extension. When Maintenance Control was queried about what to expect; they had no idea that this was a possibility and; in fact; told us that the fault would be a non-event. They were quite surprised when we informed them otherwise. We were quite disappointed in the fact that Maintenance Control did not appear to have either reference book lying open in front of them and that they would speak off-the-cuff when advising a crew.