Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Suspension A lot of troubles!

So I finally figured out what's the matter with my car. Here's the basic story of what happened.

About a month or two ago, it suddenly came to my attention that the inside of both front tires was horribly worn, right down to the steel cords. I hadn't noticed this before because the rest of the tire was wearing fairly normally. So, since I didn't want to have to buy new tires, I had a full set of Blizzak snow tires on different rims already, and winter is nearly here, I just put those on. We attributed the horrible wear on my previous set of tires to low tire pressure - I had been keeping it at 28-30 psi, though the spec said 32 psi, because even at 28 psi they appeared to be wearing slightly more in the center than the edge - and of course, at that time I had only looked at the outside edge.

Now, I figured after putting the snow tires on that they were out of alignment, but I really couldn't afford to get them aligned, and I figured that they were only minimally out of alignment and I could wait for two weeks until Thanksgiving break, when I would have the time and money to go get them aligned. So today it was noticed that the back tires were wearing terribly. The right rear tire had worn nearly down to the steel cords. Now, the tires I put on the rear wheels were already fairly worn, but they still had enough tread to last through one more winter when they were put on. So we went to Sears to get an alignment and new tires. It turned out that the problem was more serious than just that, though. After my car was put on the lift, the mechanic noticed that my rear lateral arm on the rear right tire (the one that was wearing so much) was bent pretty badly, causing the wheel to turn outwards.

And it only got worse. They also determined that the bushings on the front lower control arms were bad. So now I need several replacement parts, two new snow tires, and two new low-profile tires for my normal rims. Plus a full alignment after we put on the new parts. And I'm already very short on cash. It's a shame that I went through 2 sets of tires before realizing what the real problem was.

Worst of all, I had planned to go visit my girlfriend this weekend and I was her ride back home from college for break. Now that's not going to happen, and instead I'm stuck at home trying to figure out how I'm going to afford all this. What a fall break!

There's no differene in the lateral arms of a SVT versus the other Contour models, is there? I'm thinking there's not, since the major difference that I can remember is the sway bar, and if not I may be able to find the rear lateral arm I need from a junkyard and save some money.

No difference in the a-arms or rear lateral arms. Sucks man. Give Bill Jenkins a holla.

The rear arms are cheap, I think 25-28 dollars. I replaced all 4 rear for around 100. And they are very easy to do.

JD

I figured you guys would enjoy this as much as I did. Here are pictures of my bent rear lateral arm after it was taken off the car and replaced.





For anyone who doesn't know, that thing is supposed to be straight! No wonder my wheels had been so far forced out of alignment! It's riding a lot better now, though I still have to replace the bushings on the front lower control arms.

God! What rust!

I have an almost 7 year old car and there isn't a spec of rust! I didn't even have any worn out bushings though I just changed out the LCAs for good measure and improved stiffness.
I couldn't stand watching my car reduced to Iron Oxide in a couple of seasons! Fricking snow and salt!

Yeah, damn snow and salt! Lucky you, your undercarriage probably looks good because you're down south.

The replacement lateral arm, which was straight as a rail like it should be, was actually more rusty than the one above that was taken off since it came from a local junkyard. But it was cleaned up and smothered in Rustoleum (sp?) before it was put back in place.

Yep, most of the time in Arizona no less. Cars look like new there for years if you keep them out of the Sun.

My undercarriage looks like it rolled off the assembly line last year.