jdouglas22
LVC Member
Got car jacked up noticed play left and right but not up and down seen both movement at tie rod and ball joint do I need both replaced I know ball joints are a common problem. Ls v6 01 .
Tire moving left and right
- Thread starter jdouglas22
- Start date
jmtiseo
The Peanut Gallery
Well, going to be first to chime in. I just did some work on the front end of my car, not saying I know it all but I know more than I did before. How many miles are on it? To start how did you check each, I don't think you can check the ball joint and tie rod in the same motion, unless it's that bad that you can see it checking one or the other.
The ball joint you take a piece of wood and put it under the tires and pry up, takes a second person to see if there's play. I read this elsewhere but I'm unsure on how to actually do it.
The tie rod ends, inner and outer on each side, might take two people, one on the wheel and one beneath to check for playing going left and right. Then again I thought I had bad tie rod ends because back and forth theres a little clunk that was diagnosed as as the wear and tear of the steering gear in the rack and pinion steering.
If you do it yourself the upper ball joint and tie rods aren't going to break the bank too much and shouldn't take more than a rainy day in the garage. The lower ball joints aren't as bad either but apparently you have to buy it with the steering knuckle so I hope it's your uppers or just your tie rods that are bad.
I see you're from Valpo, I just moved to Warsaw.
Need to work on getting concise here, rabble rabble rabble.
The ball joint you take a piece of wood and put it under the tires and pry up, takes a second person to see if there's play. I read this elsewhere but I'm unsure on how to actually do it.
The tie rod ends, inner and outer on each side, might take two people, one on the wheel and one beneath to check for playing going left and right. Then again I thought I had bad tie rod ends because back and forth theres a little clunk that was diagnosed as as the wear and tear of the steering gear in the rack and pinion steering.
If you do it yourself the upper ball joint and tie rods aren't going to break the bank too much and shouldn't take more than a rainy day in the garage. The lower ball joints aren't as bad either but apparently you have to buy it with the steering knuckle so I hope it's your uppers or just your tie rods that are bad.
I see you're from Valpo, I just moved to Warsaw.
Need to work on getting concise here, rabble rabble rabble.
tripwire1124
Active LVC Member
if its moving left to right, could be the outer tie rod ends. It helps if you get a buddy to move it for you while you put your head underneath and see what is/isnt moving. I just had my outer tie rods done and it was like 300 bucks from a local shop to do it. Normally i would try to tackle these things my self but i didnt want to drive on my car if it was out of line. After you figure everything out you would have to get it aligned. I think if the wheel moved up and down then your would be either looking into a hub or the ball joints.
jolinc01
Dedicated LVC Member
It's fairly easy to replace most of the front suspension and eyeball it close enough to drive to the alignment shop. Saves a load of cash too, which you can use for fun mods!
jmtiseo
The Peanut Gallery
Hint: get it close enough like jolinc01 said. How do you know if it's not close enough, it will drive like a snake on dirt roads and the second you move anywhere on pavement you will be squealing your front tires. turn around and get back to your garage and get it closer.
jdouglas22
LVC Member
Well here is the update looked underneath and the driver side stabilizer link was missing and the passenger side outer tie rod was very loose.changed both of them and presto have a working car. The car had an intermittent vibration at like 70 mph + it was a constant in and out.that is now also gone. ball joint was a little loose but then again the tire was off and it was jacked up. The car has 136000 and the ball joints look fine but they could've been changed before I bought the car at 50000 miles.
oddball
Dedicated LVC Member
Wait, what? The sway bar end link was just gone?
That should have been really obvious when you swerved off the road at the first curve!
That vehicle was a death trap. I would strongly recommend having a mechanic do a full inspection.
That should have been really obvious when you swerved off the road at the first curve!
That vehicle was a death trap. I would strongly recommend having a mechanic do a full inspection.
JMC
Active LVC Member
Sounds to me that you may have bad tie-rods.
cirelle
Active LVC Member
My 00 driver side front was doing that, the tie rod was replaced and aligned... $203, unfortunately the dust shield rivets fell victim and currently rattles. Appointment tomorrow should fix that... $125,,, Correction dust shield reattachment $30 not $125 as originally quoted.
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2002_lincolnLS
Custom User Title
I don't have a driver side sway bar link, It hasn't been there for almost a year, I refuse to pay 50 bucks or a piece of metal . and it handles just fine.
cammerfe
Dedicated LVC Member
Yee-Hah
If you lose a sway-bar link, the result is that you simply have no sway-bar in use. Since it's common for inexpensive cars to not have a sway-bar, you might have something that approaches the handling of the inexpensive car, but you'd have to be driving VERY hard before it'd be dangerous. You'd probably have a greater degree of oversteer, which might get exciting.
KS
If you lose a sway-bar link, the result is that you simply have no sway-bar in use. Since it's common for inexpensive cars to not have a sway-bar, you might have something that approaches the handling of the inexpensive car, but you'd have to be driving VERY hard before it'd be dangerous. You'd probably have a greater degree of oversteer, which might get exciting.
KS
2002_lincolnLS
Custom User Title
I do some very hard driving, but eh I think it's fine
