Pulls to the left when braking, and suspension clunks?

gearhead291

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hi, im having this problem with my mark vii that i just purchased. it was cheap so i couldn't pass it up. now im going to get it fixed up. it pulls to the left when i brake, and when i let off it SHOOTS back to the right. normally it pulls to the right a little with no braking. heres some pics i have of the suspension in the front. the front bags or something leak a little i can hear it come out.

heres some pics of the right and left side of the front suspension.

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98 Lincoln Mark viii brake issue - YouTube


the pictures will work in a few minutes
 
We really appreciate the very thorough approach you took to the issue you are having, as in the pictures and even the video.

If you werent sure, your upper control arms are shot and your lower ball joints I would bet are shot, due to the dried/cracked boots. My car did the same thing, however it had new Moog upper control arms, a new Moog RH control arm with moog ball joint, new calipers, new sway bar links, and was aligned. My car did the same thing, not as dramatically, but it would move the wheel like that. I finally decided to replace the LH side ball joint but had no reason to replace the whole control arm at the time. Long story short, if you are new here you will learn to ONLY buy MOOG/TRW parts for your front suspension, and that OE brand (ebay junk) is absolute garbage. Well the previous owner of my car had installed OE brand everything and the only thing that remained was that LH control arm. I went to install a new moog ball joint in the lower arm and found that the hole in the control arm was too large and the ball joint would not press in tightly. I went to the junkyard and got a TRW(stock) arm and pressed in my new joint. Once I installed the new arm assembly, the jerking was gone.

SO, I would start off with replacing your upper and lower ball joints, thats your first step in your situation. Another possiblity for your issue is the strut rod bushings are shot. That is the rod on each side of the car that is connected midway on your lower control arms and is attached to the subframe on each side. They adjust your caster and how forward or rearward the wheel sits in the wheelwell. If one of those bushings is worn out, the wheel will move rearward under braking and cause the car to dive to that side. So I would put your car back up and give those a look.
 
For the strut rod bushings, use FORD bushings. I too agree those ball joints do not look good at all. It is extremely likely that the ball joints are causing the clunking you are hearing. That is very common as there is now play in that joint. Now that you have reached this point, it is IMPERATIVE that you get them replaced. You have an impending failure that will occur and it will not be pretty. If the balljoint(s) fail while you are driving this can happen:

Broken Ball Joint While Driving - Bit of a Scary Ride - YouTube

It can be a life threatening issue. I would not drive the car anymore until this is fixed. You're gambling with your life and other drivers on the road. The guy in this video was lucky.
 
are these the arm & bushings your talking about?

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i can put my foot on the passenger side wheel, and push it forward about an inch or so. but the drivers side seems more stiff.

how hard are those to replace? ive done engines and transmissions but i usually shy away from suspension work.
 
It's your strut rod bushings causing the jerk when braking and movement when pushing the wheel. And yes those are part of the arm/bushing in the last set of pictures you took. I would get those uca's and srb's done asap.

My 97 had a bad bj and srb's and it did the same thing. Get the obvious issues dealt with then move from there if the issue remains.
 
"i can put my foot on the passenger side wheel, and push it forward about an inch or so. but the drivers side seems more stiff. "

That is absolutely the strut rod bushings. Ford (OEM) bushings is the only replacement you want for those. I think I see a gap in your bushing at the control arm. But... you still need to do your ball joints.
 
do i have to get these parts at a dealership or can i get them at rock auto or something?

edit. i see them at advance auto
 
I recommend Rock Auto for the uppers and lowers. Do not buy anything other than OEM for strut rod bushings... it has been covered A LOT on how prone to failure aftermarket strut rod bushings are.
 
Ford strut rod bushings.
Moog upper and lower control arms.

been there done that. only use quality parts.
all in all, pretty easy to do.

part numbers:


Strut rod to K Member:
Inner: FORD E9SZ-3B271-A
Outer: FORD F7SZ-3A225-AA

Strut Rod to Lower Control Arm Bushing:
Front: E9SZ3A140A
Rear: E9SZ3A140B

Upper Control Arms:
Left: MOOG K8781
Right: MOOG K8782

Lower Control Arm:
Left: MOOG K80053
Right: MOOG K80055

Ball Joints:
MOOG K8477

Sway Bar Endlinks:
TRW 18128 (two required)

Toe Compensator Link:
MOOG K8594
 
Not to thread-jack, but...

I just bought my 94 Mark 8, and have the same problem... I pulled into a gas station 2 days ago, and it FAILED! The drivers front wheel went up into the wheel well - I barely managed to get it into a handicapped spot.

The ball joint yanked right out of the lower control arm! I have dealt with MN12's for years, and several Mark 8's but this is my first that I have actually owned. When I bought the car, I knew the front end needed to be rebuilt but I thought I would have a little more time before breaking! The car was VERY difficult to control, with the same symptoms you mentioned.

When the tow truck driver came, He jacked up the car, and I stuck a crow bar under the tire to lift it up, and we positioned it so the ball fit back on the lower control arm. Then I backed the car out of the handicapped spot carefully, and got it on the tow truck. This was a VERY stressful 45 mins. because the wheel was pushed so far up in the wheel well towards the bumper, I thought it would break the bumper!

its now on the street, and i am going to repair it so I can at least drive it safely back to my girlfriends house (about 30 miles away) so I can rebuild the entire front end. Luckily for me though, all the air shocks seem to be very very clean and in overall great shape! They were operating perfectly too before this happened.

I just bought the car on 5/11, with 236k on the clock for $1500 - Motor and trans apparently have 60k on them, although I am beginning to think the guy was fabricating that due to these stories I hear about these modular engines being able to last forever!
 

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