Hey all,

Last weekend I installed some PowerFlex LCA bushings, Cravenspeed strut tower defenders and new axles because I was getting a sudden knock and jerk in the steering wheel at various speeds - seemed to happen when I would let off the accelerator.

Side note: I'm currently running Tein springs on factory struts with Sparco 15x6 wheels (less than a month old - new tires also).

This morning on my way to work after about 50 miles of driving I got some intense wobble from the front right of the car. It stopped about as quick as it started. Then about a mile later it started again and this time start to pull the car to right under braking. I pulled over and inspected what I could at 5AM with my phone light all the hardware was intact. I gave it the tire a kick from front to rear and rear to front and there is no play. I tried pushing the top of the sidewall towards the engine bay and there was no play. I tried to turn the wheel by pushing on the sidewalls towards the front and rear of the tire back and forth - very little play, if any.

At this point I wasn't far from work so I decided to take it slow there. I accelerated and braked normally which didn't seem to instigate the problem. At random it started to wobble again but this time I decide to give it a little gas to see how it would respond and it actually stopped the wobble. I'm leaning towards the tie rods (both sides) but I am also considering inner ball joints.

Any thoughts? Anyone have this issue before - searching came up with one similarity but nothing exactly like this. I'm thinking it could be a combination of problems with the tie rods and inner ball joints. Hoping not the outer ball joint because those are definitely seized in the hub assembly.

EDIT: 03 MCS with 140k miles - well maintained.

Thanks
Tom

 

Time to get it up on stands, take the wheel off and poke around down there...

I would think if your outer ball joint is the culprit, you'd see some level of play whilst jiggling things around.
I'd also recheck all the fasteners you previously worked with for proper torque.

Did you touch the tie rods at all during your previous work?
Might be time to bring the car to an alignment shop for a further look.

 

Yea, that's going to happen today or tomorrow... I unbolted them from the hub assembly but didn't do anything more than that. I ordered both side tie rod ends - should be here tomorrow. Then I'll have it aligned - might have to get one of those 1 year alignments to just in case I need to come back... lol

I agree ab the outer ball joint, and I feel like I would have been able to see some play while kicking the tire around, plus I wasn't even able to remove them during the LCA bushing install so I just left them in place.

The whole reason I think its a tie rod is because of the pulling.... The wheel starts to wobble and get progressively worse in conjunction with a knocking sound ( again leads me to believe a tie rod or ball joint is worn) and pulling to the right.

I'll probably end up changing the inner ball joints this weekend but I'm doing a process of elimination just to pinpoint the cause.

 

Might want to do the complete tie-rod, inner and outer.
The inner ball could also be worn to the point of introducing excessive play.

Good plan. You're going to have to at least pull the axles to get to the bolts on the inner ball joints. If you're digging that far into things, I'd get the whole ball joint thing taken care of, grit your teeth and get those outer ball joints done too. They probably need to be replaced anyway. Use a little heat with an air hammer to jar things loose if need be.

 

Yeaaaa, I was thinking about it a while after I ordered it... The car is probably going to be on stands for a couple days so I might as well. Thanks for the tips ab the outer ball joint - I was at a loss with it when doing the LCAs...

At this point I think I need stock options with ECS. I'll post back one step 1 is done.

 

So oddly enough, on the drive home I had no issues... I was nice to the car but still... No wobble no pulling no vibration.