wheels about to fall off

SPSully

SPSully

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So I havent had a chance to look at it too much. But my car (ball joints have been on the way out for a little while but not too bad yet) started screaming for help today. The drivers front wheel seems like its going to pop off. The sound it is making is as if there is something in the axle swinging around and hitting the underside of the car. There are too many possibilities in there for me to guess at it and just start replaceing stuff. First step is change the ball joints....but I think this might be a tierod. I need help diagnosing this one guys. Lets see what everyone narrows it down to and then when I have it towed home, I'll start looking there.

its not over bumps.... the sound is timed with the spin of the axle. It also goes away while the brakes are applied. Thats why I was thinking tierod. and the noise has a loud clicking noise from outside the car.... you can hear me coming for sure!


its hard to diagnose without hearing it..... but hopefully someone might be good at taking an online description and translating it to wtf is wrong. LOL
 
Sounds like a wheel bearing. does the clicking slow down and speed up according to your speed?
 
yes it does.... but wouldnt the wheel bearing sound more like a wabble than than a thud? When the wheel bearings went out on my last car, it seemed like I had thrown a weight and my tire was off balance
 
Cracked rim maybe? :D

Sorry man.

I can give you a hand next week, Sully, if it can wait that long. My saturday is definitely used up with a trip to UNH to leave #2 son in his dorm. I can scrape and see what else is available after saturday. Where is the car now?
 
Car is at work (broke on the way here) and getting towed home tonight. I assume that I will be in the driveway all weekend with parts and tools in hand. I have a parts hook up so maybe the ball joints, wheel bearings, and tie rods will get changed. Feel free to come on over and throw a few back. It seems that cars as much of a PITA as these go back to gether better with beers! LOL
 
haha yeah:Beer


Glad to hear it didn't actually fall off. That would have sucked dude.

So anyway with all things aside how have things been going for you at the track?


I take it you have been put back a few times now since the big one.

Sorry to hear, that does suck.
 
i used to get vibration or rumble during right hand turns only. i also had the clicking you're talking about. i had already replaced the tie rod ends and the ball joints were fine so i knew it wasnt any of those. i replaced the bearing and the rumble sound went away, but the click crunch sound came back shortly after. i think its my break calipers now as the sound happens when its HOT out and i brake a lot. it sounds like a crunching snap. I will reinspect when i put my shocks in to make sure everything else is okay. but at least for me, im guessing brake calipers. i should just replace them along with pads and rotors. ford serviced the front brakes at around 60k and im sure they never lubed the slides. i know have 91k on the clock.
 
havent been at the track too much. infact, i havent raced her since the backfire. Too much going on in the rest of my life. I went once, but the CAI wasnt done yet and my attempt to cheat with breather filters didnt work.


I may end up rebuilding my entire front end this weekend, and with the good left over parts, maybe build a second LS hahahahahahaha
 
I'd guess you will already have plans to lift the front end off the ground and give the front wheels the shake side to side/top to bottom test.

I ended up having to replace the pass side control arm, the previous owner drove with the pass side ball joint loose and the threaded stud ended up slotting the hole in the aluminum control arm. I would have thought the engineers could have spec'd 17 cent steel inserts in the control arm mounts, but they probably thought that would have been "over-engineering".

s.
 
yeah when I have the chance the tire movement test will be ther first. I just yanked on the tie rods and they didnt budge.....hmmmmmm :Bang
 
I work in boxoborough mass.... I PM'd you my number a while back. I got my cell turned on today so call me if you have quesitons or ideas
 
NHLSV8 said:
I work in boxoborough mass.... I PM'd you my number a while back. I got my cell turned on today so call me if you have quesitons or ideas
Click to expand...

No problem, I just thought there was a chance that "at work" was nearby in So. NH. I actually live across the river from Nashua...and if work was anywhere near the MHT area, that would be really close for me to flip on over. Carry on. Do you have a tow lined up?
 
working on it..... AAA rules!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA Yeah if you know where the Nashua Police Station is I live about 5 minutes walking from there
 
Does the noise sound like a roaring noise? If it does then that's your wheel bearings going bad. I had mine replaced on the back passenger side earlier this year. When I took it in just to have it looked at the mechanic said I was lucky the wheel hadn't came off. The bearings were gone so bad that the wheel was actually leaning in a little and rubbing the splash plate behind the rotor and making a strange noise.
 
nope.... clicking noise and inside the car ts a thud sound like the axle is swinging into the firewall
 
NHLSV8 said:
working on it..... AAA rules!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA Yeah if you know where the Nashua Police Station is I live about 5 minutes walking from there
Click to expand...

I know that area quite well. Sounds like "westgate" area.

Do you have a replacement hub assembly ready to go? It could also be a rotor issue -- depending on what type you have fitted.
 
you are correct sir no axles up front.... but it descirbes the sound the best.




here is the low down


Lower ball joints both sides
wheel bearing drivers side
inner tie rod passenger side



the fix

new knuckles, hub assy's and inner tierod.


I might end up switching the shocks out too since its about that time and I'm already gonna have it appart. But no work has been done on the fixing side of the house only diagnoses.








Westgate is further down the road. I live by Christophers subs and pizza, Dunkin donuts, and 7-11
 
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