Car creaks when turning wheel

AbrahamLincoln

AbrahamLincoln

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Ok, i did my homework on this one - definelty not driving my car! From what I read in the search, it would be my lower ball joints or control arms etc are definetly bad, and that the wheel could possibly fall off and its happened to people.

I called the dealer they want 547 to replace both lower ball joints... just as a point of reference.

Now, last time I had my car in the shop, they said I had play in my L/F ball joint or control arm, i forget exactly and that my front stabilizer bar wasnt connected... To fix it all up it would be 650 plus tax (this is a service center not the dealer) They said they couln't do an alignment without doing that work - car was in on a lift and a tech looked at it.

so from what i can tell I need some front end work for sure... I think i can get away with just getting the ball joints done, but do people on here just do that or go for the control arms - i havnt really got a clear answer on that.
 
You can remove and install new ball joints on the LCA. But if you buy the LCA it is going to have the ball joints already on. So if I were you, just get new LCA and be done w/ it.
 
either lower ball joints or outer tie rod ends.

ball joints are more common on this chassis.
 
yea i understand that the ball joints go on there, but why replace the whole LCA do they go bad? arnt they just metal?
 
i dont hear any clunking of anything like that while im driving, i just hear the creaking, which it does while in park as well turning the wheel from left to right.
 
im gonna try to get it over to this shop just to check to see if its ok to drive on or not, do a "suspension check" twenty bucks...
 
AbrahamLincoln said:
i dont hear any clunking of anything like that while im driving, i just hear the creaking, which it does while in park as well turning the wheel from left to right.
Click to expand...

Mine was doing this last week. We pushed a new lower ball joint in and everything was all better.
 
Dmaup said:
Mine was doing this last week. We pushed a new lower ball joint in and everything was all better.
Click to expand...

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notice how my passenger side wheel is back further than it should be? its the same side the creaking is coming from now. it was causing rubbing when i made harder right turns when i got new tires.
 
AbrahamLincoln said:
the wheel could possibly fall off and its happened to people...

I called the dealer they want 547 to replace both lower ball joints...

Now, last time I had my car in the shop, they said I had play in my L/F ball joint or control arm, i forget exactly and that my front stabilizer bar wasnt connected... To fix it all up it would be 650 plus tax.....

so from what i can tell I need some front end work for sure... I think i can get away with just getting the ball joints done, but do people on here just do that or go for the control arms....
Click to expand...

Ok, first off....the wheel could definitely fall off. If not it could at least make for a very bad day/accident/totalled car etc. The 97 I just bought last week had that happen to it. That's why the car only cost me $900. I had to replace the passenger side lower ball joint, so I just replaced the whole lower control arm.

Please don't even think of giving the dealership over $500 to replace the ball joints! It really isn't that hard to do yourself. Another thing....the ball joint costs $38 at Advance Auto Parts (TRW brand only), but the whole lower control arm, including ball joint is only $55 (again, TRW). I just did these on both of my cars in the last 2 weeks, and they're really not that hard to do. Sometimes it requires a little patience, but is really very straightforward.

YOU REALLY NEED TO HAVE THAT STABILIZER BAR (I think it's actually called a stut rod) RECONNECTED, AT THE VERY LEAST!!! It is really not safe to drive around like that, and is probably causing even more stress on your ball joints. The hardware for that shouldn't be much more than $30. You'll probably need a new "lower control arm strut rod bushing" and the nut that goes on the end of it.

If you have tools and can do this yourself or have a knowledgable friend that can help, I highly recommend doing it yourself. I think the only thing that could give you some trouble is the bolt that holds the bottom of the air strut to the lower control arm. It's usually frozen in place pretty well.

Also, don't forget to get an alignment as soon as possible when it's done. If you need any more specific instructions, feel free to ask. If you need me to, I'll take pictures of everything that needs to be done.

If you lived close to me, I'd do it for a very reasonable price, but I don't think you do.
Good luck!!
 
i got my car at a steal price from a friend because he hit a curb with it. So stuff got bent. The shop that I had it looked at said that it might need a new engine cradle (k frame???) but they wernt sure. I had another shop say that it was bent but they thought they could repair it without having to replace the subframe.... so where my cars at they dont want to do it because they figure once they start repairing stuff and it doesnt go right they dont want to be liable....

they told me to take to a body shop to have it done, but at that point it becomes probably too expensive ya know. Take a look at the picture wit my passenger side wheel, its back about an inch or two from where it should be...

they initial place told me that the car was not "totalled" it is fixable - so I have to look on the bright side. But when it comes down to it, i think getting my car fixed at a shop is going to be more money then im willing to spend. and considering the parts prices are not astronomical... i agree with you that I should do it myself or with the help of someone more experienced.
 
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Can you jack it up, take tire off and get some pics? How hard did he hit the curb? This is just my opinion, but if your going to replace lower bj/ca you should do uppers at the same time. Do buy the complete lca, this way you get all new bushings as well.

If you pm me your e-mail I can send instructions on lca r&r.
 
AbrahamLincoln said:
what tools do you need to replace control arm? Whats the process?
Click to expand...

You need a socket set up to 18 mm, and a pickel fork to pound that ball joint out.

It's not a hard job, sometimes a nut might give you a pain but you will win in the end.

Make sure you have some good jack stands.

Shouldn't take more than an hour.

My daughter had a ball joint fall out. Did the job on the side of the street.

Lucky she was driving slow at the time and close to home.
 
well i wasnt driving. Im going to assume it hit pretty hard because ive been told the k frame is bent like two inches or something. I will get pictures up sometime in the future because today im going to the philadelphia auto show yay!

take a look at he picture above teh passenger side wheel is back like two inches from where it should be.

is it an easier job to replace the control arms then to replace the ball joint itself? Its my passenger front ball joint thats making the noise, when i press down on the car it squeaks. They were saying that ball joint is shot to :q:q:q:q, im guessing this job is going to be a bigger than usual undertaking to fix it due to the damage - if someone knows a good place to get that front strut/stabilizer bar, both lower and upper control arms at a fair price i should be good to go. worse comes to worse a new subframe, unfortunelty that souds like would be a much harder job - does anyone knwo if the engine has to come out for that?
 
thanks guys i really appreciate the info... when i fix my control arms and strut bar, will that fix my passengers side front wheel being back further than it should be (in the pic above) what would have to be adjusted to fix that?
 
Okay dude... check it out:

The shop told you that your K-member is bent...

Replacing your LCA will not repair you K-member.


Do this... Replace both LCA's, reconnect your sway bar. Find a good K-member from the junk yard; either install it yourself or take it in to have it installed. Then take the car to a good alignment shop.

Your ball joints are a seperate problem from your K-member... so both need to be addressed. Sorry man, but this is your only option. Just pray that the unibody isn't tweaked! (How you bend the K-member from a curb... I don't know...)
 
well they didnt say k-member... they said "engine cradle" so im guessing they mean the subframe. I had my car looked at by another shop way before the creaking noise came into play. They said yea its damaged, however they said my ball joint lca had "play in it" and that it would be 650 to repair the ball joint lca and strut bar. i wish i had some sort of schematic diagram of how all this goes together, im going to go to the public library and try to find a shop manual.... but if anyone has any ideas on here ide love to see hear.

they really didnt want to comment on fixing it because it was bent, but i think he was trying to tell me without telling me that it can be done but they wouldn't do it obviously with the repercussions of a law suit cuz its bent ya know sooooo im most likely going to take it back to the shop that quoted me the 650 to make all the problems go away.... because then i get a warranty and all that even though the job can probably be done on the side for way less money - it would be nice to have it on paper.
 
Okay, but you're still left with the problem of a bent/damaged engine cradle/subframe. Your wheel being pushed back like that, it's HIGHLY unlikely to be as a result of your ball joints. Earlier you said the $650 would get your suspension components replaced; nothing of the subframe.

Both of those problems are pretty serious and must be addressed for the car to be safe.
 
does the wheel get closer to the front/center of the wheel well when breaking in reverse, possibly the strut rod bushings are gone and allowing alot of front to back movement
 
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