elclassico

i have heard of numerous coplaints on here about ratling up front. everyone has said cracked or loose sway brackets. after inspection, no cracks, tight as well. but i still hear an anoying rattling. only right front. anyone have any ideas what else it could be. everything looked tight down there when i replaced the sways i thought the problem would go away, but no such luck. i have eibach springs with stock shocks? could that be it? any suggestions would help. thanx to all!

Blanco

iTrader: (8)

I just recently solved my "crunching"mystery. Right before Christmas my right front was making a popping/crunching sound as I would go to stop, and a little bit on acceleration from a stop and some times turns, usually left being worse than right. Took it to shop and had them pull the front wheels off and check brakes....They were fine. Came back a couple of days later rode with mechanic. Just my luck, couldn't reproduce sound with him. At this point I'm noticing that the sound is getting louder and more pronounced. Before I left he put it on the lift and checked the motor mounts. They looked ok. He said car would be safe for holiday trip and wouldn't leave me stranded. On the way back from trip I'm noticing that the steering is now starting to feel a bit "mushy". It's wandering slightly on freeway at speed. Keeping her straight is requiring more attention. BTW, had already checked for any type of leak. There are none. Wife drives it once we get home to go to the store. She says "The steering SUCKS. I wouldn't have bought it if it drove like this before." I hadn't mentioned the steering to her before this so it was nice to get unbiased opinion. Take it in day before New Year's Eve. Same mechanic rides again. He notices right away steering doesn't self center after releasing wheel in turn, but the power assist is still there.

After getting the car on the rack. Mechanic starts sleuthing. He notices the lower ball joints don't look symetrical. The boots aren't compromised, but one is taller than the other. He removes front wheels, and rotor assemblies. Right one is MUCH stiffer than left. He decides a process of elimination is appropriate. Puts new one on. SHAZAM!!!!! Good as new. Noise is gone, and steering is returned to normal. What a relief. Only $170 for parts and labor.

Now for ****s and giggles we decide to disect the old one. He removes the boot, which was never broken. Holy Shnikies!!! Scratched all to hell with lots of metal shavings. Apparently it was defective from birth. Cracked or chipped not sure, but it took about 70000 miles to get bad enough to be noticed.

BOTTOM LINE: If your symptoms sound like mine, I'd check the lower ball joints!!

Sorry for the long rant.

elclassico

that makes sense. so he removed the rotor. but what he replaced was the ball joint? or boot assemble? it wasnt clear? i will inspect and follow up, thanx for the info.

Blanco

iTrader: (8)

He replaced the right side lower ball joint. It's an assmebly of the actual ball/socket joint within a rubber sealed boot, prelubed I would assume. If I remember correctly the upper part (ball side) is bolted to the rotor assembly, the lower part I think is bolted to the lower control arm. I can pm you a diagram of what the part actually looks like if you're interested. Replacing the joint entails the ball, the socket, the boot and that's it I think. Lemme know about the diagram, makes it much easier to understand.

Blanco

Let us know how it turns out.

Blanco

iTrader: (8)

Here's the diagram. The two bolts above the box w/ the number 113. Those two bolts are going through the bottom half of the joint.

Blanco

iTrader: (8)

I stand corrected. The bolts are going thru the TOP half of the joint. I had it upside down.