• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Vibration

A

akaschneider

CEG'er
Joined
Feb 15, 2008
Messages
331
Location
Pulaski, VA
I rotated my tires the a few weeks ago and noticed the driver side was worn on the inside edge. Now when youdrive it gets a shutter to it. And the driver side is starting to wear like before. Looked uder her and checked the half axles and inspected the boots. But all was good and tight. Any suggestions?? Thank you...
 
i'm having an issue just like this. it's my wheel bearing. maybe you should check that too.
 
When I bought my car, I had to do a lot of front suspension work. I think I replaced almost everything (and spent a significant amount of money doing so). Wheel bearing would cause a hum. Had that replaced and it puked out a couple months later. Inside wear could also be indicative of a Lower Control Arm (I had mine done last year on the drivers side due to clunking and premature inside wear). Check the bushings to see if they are worn and anywhere near the frame that it bolts into. Goodyear charged me about $500 for the drivers side because if taken to a shop, they require the subframe to be lowered. I know there is a way of flipping the bolt and nut and shaving the nut down if you wanted to do it yourself. I just kind of shun on doing that with a part that is ultimately attached to the tire. I guess it all depends which tire had the wear, front or rear. I have found this car to be extremely sensitive in the front end even if something is slightly off (like tire wear or a part that is going or is gone).

If it is the LCA, make sure you get a replacement bolt. The shop used the same bolt for my replacement causing me to go back twice because it loosened each time.
 
I noticed in the book just on the left side do youave to lower the subframe. Now on the right side it seems simple and straight to the point.
 
Easiest would of course be trimming the bolt and installing it backwards. After that would be loosening things up on that side and seeing how much room you can get by jacking up the transmission little by little.
 
I'll be back in a sec I am gonna go look at that and see what I think. I think though I would just buy a whole new control arm. Are the factory control arms blue?
 
You'll probably buy a whole new arm anyway rather than messing with bushing and balljoint replacement. And no the factory pieces are just regular black metal.
 
Hmmmm yeah not a whole lot of clearance, ok well no clearace. It looks like you could get a dremel in there and cut the bolt right under the head. Then pull the bottom half off, remove arm and try to munipulate the head out with what little would remain. The bushings seem to be pretty dry rotted, cracked all up. It is almost cheaper to buy the whole arm which like you said includes the new bushings and ball joint. Think the arm comes with a new set of bolts? And then should you do both sides and then get a front end alingment. Of course I am gonna jack it up and test the wheel bearings.
 
The arms do not usually come with new bolts so if you cut it you'll either be replacing it or installing it backwards and loctiting it together with another nut on top for good measure.
 
Couldn't you jus take the other side's bolt to a parts store and buy a new one. Heck buy 2 new ones not like they could be that much. If not go to the jy before hand and pull one off from a car. And continueto install it upside down. Wh didn't ford do it that way in the first place? It would have made alot more sense.
 
Nothing makes sense on the assembly line. Those arms were bolted in before the powertrain so it didnt matter to them. Look at the front sway back bracket that is blocked as well. And yes you could always buy new bolts and some people will say thats the way to go since your old ones have years of vibration age.
 
Thanks for all the help on this man. I am trying to plan out my steps to get this problem resolved. I know my profile doesn't say it but I have a 99 se which I am in the process of installing a bunch of svt parts. One of those work in progress. This biggest problem I have had is finding the bumpers and side skirts. Though I do have one in th jy I am stripping out. Found it by accident hidden in a cluster of cars.
 
check your wheel bearings. i had a vibration i could feel in the steering wheel, replaced the wheel bearings today and its gone. i didnt get a hum from the bearing either, it was just loose and allowed the wheel to move slightly, especially at highway speeds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top