HELP - Front End Suspension Problems Driving Me NUTS!

[petrified.rabbit]

The wobble occurs at about 25 to 40mph. You can see the steering wheel move back an forth at this speed. At about 40-45mph, the wobble becomes a vibration - you can feel the whole car shake at times. At about 70mph, there is a vibration, but it isn't as bad - you can see very slight movement back and forth in the steering wheel. My guess is that the wobble is faster at higher speeds and has turned into a vibration.

is the wobble limited to the steering wheel and as speed increases the car shakes, then it levels back to a shake in the wheel?

aside from speed, does acceleration / deceleration affect it? have you checked the inner tie rods for play?

[whitefish]

is the wobble limited to the steering wheel and as speed increases the car shakes, then it levels back to a shake in the wheel?

I'm converting kilometers per hour to mph, so forgive me if I keep changing the values. Yup - the wobble occurs at lower speed (between 18 mph to 30mph). The wobble diminishes and then the shake occurs between 30 and 45mph. The shake/vibration is enough that my 9 year old son notices it. As I speed up beyond 45mph both the shake and wobble diminish (more the wobble than shake), but they are still there. You can feel it in the steering wheel at 70mph, but not some much in the interior.

aside from speed, does acceleration / deceleration affect it? have you checked the inner tie rods for play?

Definitely not on deceleration - its still there. On acceleration, it goes away slightly. The outer tie rods are good. No play at all. The inner tie rod on the passenger side has some play. In terms of deflection at the tire/wheel, I would say that its about 1/4 of an inch due to this tie rod. Not sure if that is enough to cause my problems.

Question - if it was tie rod ends, why would the wobble and shake go away completely when I got new tires and come back after a new alignment?

[whitefish]

Ok, I finally got around to working on the front end again and I'm posting a few pictures related to my previous posts in this thread.

I found that the rotor on the drivers side was corroded excessively and was wearing into the caliper, so I fixed this thinking this may have been the problem:

Problem rotor:




Caliper and brake pad showing wear from the rotor:




Tested the car after removing the rust from the rotor - no change

I then tested the front wheel bearing by prying under each hub to watch for play:





No visible play was observed.

I checked all of the bolts on the control arm and hub and made sure they were tight. I found the drivers side ball joint nut (at the spindle) could be tightened more, but it wasn't exactly loose. I then rotated the back tires to the front. I'm taking the car for a 60 mile drive today, so I'll let you guys know how it went.

[petrified.rabbit]

if your rotor was able to make contact with the back side of the carrier (caliper) like that, then your spindle or bearings are shot.. the rotor is at its largest when new, so wear should have just increased clearance to that spot.

since the bearings are "ok" how did the new brakes line up?

a 1/4 inch of movement at the tire is a lot, so the inner tie rod is definitely not helping, tie rod can "lock" into place when the wheel is under load, (acceleration) however, it is more free to wobble, and shake the rest of the time. over small bumps, etc that you would normally not feel.

if the whole car is shaking, i would suggest also checking the rear axle bushings just to be safe.

[whitefish]

if your rotor was able to make contact with the back side of the carrier (caliper) like that, then your spindle or bearings are shot.. the rotor is at its largest when new, so wear should have just increased clearance to that spot.

That's what I thought too, but the bearing would need to move alot to have the rotor make contact. The bearing wouldn't budge at all on either side when tested.

since the bearings are "ok" how did the new brakes line up?

Haven't installed new brakes and rotors yet. I ground the rust off the rotor that was touching the caliper - there's clearance now.

a 1/4 inch of movement at the tire is a lot, so the inner tie rod is definitely not helping, tie rod can "lock" into place when the wheel is under load, (acceleration) however, it is more free to wobble, and shake the rest of the time. over small bumps, etc that you would normally not feel.

Agree - I'll try to post a video showing the wobble

if the whole car is shaking, i would suggest also checking the rear axle bushings just to be safe.

Sounds like a plan - how do you test these?

After a 60+ mile test today, the low speed wobble is gone but there is still abit of a high speed vibration - again after snugging up the ball joint and rotating the tires front to back.

[whitefish]

Here is a video of showing the inner tie rod on the passenger side. I can't really show the movement, but you can hear the "knock":



I also discovered another potential problem. This a video showing the drive shaft at the CV joint at the transmission. I tried to show the play in the drive axle - you can hear it right at the end of the video:



Same drive shaft now from the front of the car looking back. This video is a better representation of the movement of the drive shaft. Is this amount of play normal?

[petrified.rabbit]

I hate to say it but for the design that play looks about normal. (if it was a vw it would be shot and leaking).

its hard to tell the movement on the tie rod, but the steering wheel is not moving? if not, i would say thats an issue.

the rear bushing you inspect the rubber for cracks, and use that pry bar to try to move it out of alignment.

[whitefish]

ok - good to know that the drive axle isn't shot

its hard to tell the movement on the tie rod, but the steering wheel is not moving? if not, i would say thats an issue.

The steering wheel is moving when I move it that much. I really tried to turn the tire back and forth to pick up the noise (clunk) of the inner tie rod (there is no noise at all on the other side). I can't really tell how much play there is - just enough to feel it.

Thanks again.