Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Suspension this ain't good...

i've been experiencing some moderate vibes under varying driving conditions coming from the front end.

some of it was attributable to a warped disc, which has been changed (brake overhaul all around), but some vibage still remains.

noticing some slop in my steering, i shifted my focus to tie rods. after replacing the outers, i still have vibes - and slop.

this weekend, i'll try to rule out the tires/wheels as the source of the vibes by doing a rotation, but there's something else quite noteworthy that i fear is going to cost me a lot of dough.

with the front end jacked so the tires clear the concrete, grabbing hold of the wheel (driver or pass side) at 9 and 3 o'clock and yanking vigorously from side to side, i hear a single, mechanical *thud* or *clunk* coming from the rack area with each yank. as i yank from side to side, i can see play - it's not much, but i can see it.

lord - tell me my rack's not shot.

could this just be inner tie rods?

what year do you have, I would make sure you check the lower control arm bushings and when they are shot you will get soem front end vibration

also my 95 has had this slight clunking noise when you move the wheel slightly when not moving, never found the sorce of the noise ...

oh yeah, sorry apple, i often forget to include the particulars:

98 v6 auto, 112k.

bushings, eh? i suppose after this many years and miles, everything starts to go...

definately check the bushing if you have the 4 bolt arms as they are going to be shot, I had bad vibration braking at highway speed, new brakes got some of it but the rest was all the lower control arms, I replaced those and with some new shock the car feels new again ...

thanks, apple. i'll definitely have a look at this.

if anyone has any other ideas, pipe up!

UPDATE!!!

Originally posted by BrApple:

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definately check the bushing if you have the 4 bolt arms as they are going to be shot...

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well, I'm pleased to report that your diagnosis was correct, apple. the forward bushings on both control arms had so much lateral play in them, you wouldn't believe it. i certainly didn't.

i purchased new arms and hardware and did the job yesterday. i spent about 4 hours on them, taking my time. for those interested, i spent $310 for both arms and hardware, shipped, from steve at tousley. not bad.

also, i've noticed quite a bit of debate lately regarding the best approach for replacing these bad boys. for what it's worth, here's what i was able to do (4-bolt type):

passenger side:

each bolt has easy access for removal and installation, except one - the sucker under the shaft bootie. i sawed the head off this one to remove it, but was able to muscle the new one in the correct way (bolt head on top) without damaging the bootie.

it helped significantly here to have a second person pushing the knuckle assembly rearward to gain another few fractions of an inch of clearance on the bolt hole.

driver side:

basically the same story. i've heard some folks sawing the bolt(s) under the tranny, but this wasn't necessary for me. a nice sized prybar did the trick here. pry the tranny out of the way just enough to slip the bolt(s) out. this worked for both forward bushing bolts.

again, i sawed the sucker under the shaft bootie. on this side, however, i gained just enough clearance on the bolt hole for installation by having a second person shove the knuckle assembly FORWARD. the bolt will rub against the bootie quite a bit on the way in, but it's possible to do without damaging the bootie.

so all bolts were able to be installed correctly. thanks to everyone for all the good background info on this topic. helped me tremendously, as these forums always do.

Hmmm when I did mine for the ones with the CV in the way, I had the bottom ball popped, and took the tie rod off, loosen top strut holder under hood on strut tower some for play and moved it over, pressed the boot in, and cleared it.