Suspension / Steering problem

Peterk

Peterk

Active LVC Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2013
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Location
Massachusetts
My steering wheel wobbles a lot (but not always) when I'm going over 55mph. on the highway and after I hit a bump in the road. When I brake, it gets worse. note : I live in Massachusetts where, when they repaved rt. 128/95 this summer, they did not repave the top of the underpasses which remain pot-holed and very rough so when you're cruising on a nice new road, all of a sudden you hit this unpaved area.. I can't figure out the thinking on that one. I tried checking the suspension components on the rt. side and everything seemed tight, yet the covering on the ball joints are trash. The problem reminded me of years ago when I had a bad Idler arm and more recently, a bad tie rod end on my wife's car. The current tie rods look to be a replacement as they have grease fittings and there wasn't any play in them when I jacked up that side to check. Besides taking the car to a shop ( $$$$$), is there anything else or a different procedure for checking these components ? The service manual says to have the car on a lift with the LCA supported to do these checks. This type of suspension is new to me ... and I don't wan't a major malfunction that could kill me! If I had the money right now I would just go for a total replacement of the front suspension. By the way, labor rates here are 80 to 100 bucks an hour .. Sorry for the long post.... but any info on where to look next would be appreciated. Perhaps a badly warped rotor ?
 
Sounds like the sway bar end links are bad.More than likely though you need to replace the components that have not been replaced such as UCA, LCA, strut rod bushings etc. which are totally worn out by the 80K-100K mark on these cars. There are plenty of threads here where people have shown the entire process.
 
My car's steering is also very shaky if that's what you're trying to say. Over bumps it will move up and down. Mine i'm guessing for my car is the steering rack bushings which are rarely ever suggested to replace. I also think that is the source of my clunking also. Just other sources to look out for when you check.
 
bad lower ball joints will cause movement over bumps and under braking. yours are suspect because of the blown boot.
if you can't remember the last time, or don't know the last time it was done, you probably need a front end rebuild.

steering rack bushings aren't suggested cuz i've never seen a bad set on these cars. yet anyway.

sway bar end links will not cause a pull. the sway bar does not do steering, and even "loose" end links account for a very small amount of vertical movement. its an annoying clunk more than anything.

could possibly be strut rod bushings, but i had a set blow out completely and do nothing more than clunk. it didn't pull on me or anything else.

and above all, the Mark VIII is VERY sensitive to out of balance tires. much more so than other platforms.
get your tires road force balanced.
 
Chris is on the money with bad lower ball joints and out of balance tires, most likely causing all of your issues.
 
I am about to jack up the car and pull the wheels to see exactly what's going on. All I did previous was to try and move the tire/wheel side to side and up and down. Funny thing is I get no bangs or clunks when I hit a bump. The steering wheel vibrates back and forth kind of like when I get a flat tire. Wheel balancing ( all new tires a year ago when I bought it) will get done this week. Thanks for all the input .. it's a lousy time of year to have to deal with this . Sad that my trusted mechanic closed shop and retired this year .. I fear I am going to be charged big $$ from my local "Service" station ! Thanks again .. now off to search the database here for more info.
 
Forgot to mention .. this is a 96 with 78k miles on it ... so it is about time for suspension work ..
 
Found the problem to be a bad left wheel bearing ..found one local and will replace when the rain stops ! First time I ever had a bad wheel bearing .. in the "olden days" I used to pull them and repack them annually .. not so with these. I'll catch up to the 21st. Century eventually !
 
Just buy the whole hub assembly so all you have to do is remove the center nut, pop off the old hub and pop on a new one. Timken front hub assemblies are only about $50.
 
Thanks, I did get the assembly .. only a duralast .. all that was available locally. The bearing got so hot, the wheel and hub were fused to the rotor. The bearing never made any noise so don't let that be the only indicator of a bad one.
 
I have to laugh .. The " Dura-last" didn't "last" one day ! making noise from the left front on a right turn .. some vibration in the steering wheel .. and a overheated rim .. so... off to order the Timkin from Amazon ( Thanks soduka ! ) .. and start over. Easy enough to do but not in the cold .. I guess the 8 year old in China forgot the grease ..
 
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