Ok..Front end specialists click here

Danzajax

Registered User
Ok, Ive never had to do serious front end work before. I have the following problems.

1. At high speeds (65<) while braking there is a quite noticible shaking if i apply any kind of break preassure.

2. Ive noticed that if im a standing stop, and i turn the wheel from straight on, theres a clunk.

I am about 80% certian the wobble is caused by a warped brake rotor. (ive only had the car a couple weeks before i left for college and didnt have time to change them out) As far as the clunk im lost. I dont have any lag in the steering or gaps of controll. I took the car up in the air and visually inspected it, No problems i can see. (missing bolts, broken linkages..etc) So i tested the wheel play, There No abnormal wheel play up and down (just by yanking on it w/ and w/o weight on the wheels...nothing scientific), however there is quite considerable left n right play on the drivers wheel (enough so i could move it about an 1/4 inch with weight on the wheel, with a slight clunk.) What does this mean? Do i need to get a whole new rack? Or is it just time for new outer/inner controll arm ends? I was trying to hold out till next summer when i was going to pull the front end components and rebuild it. But it looks like shes pushing for this winter.

any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
well, i'm no techy or anything, but i would say u need an alignment and maybe some steering wheel adjustments, also i have a 96 t-bird LX (3.8) an i had all kinds of clunkies and squeaks so i went to my mech an to make a long story short i hadda get all new front balljoint assembly. a thought just came to mind, when u're going on the highway, hehe or side streets, r u turning or the wheels r straight your springs could be silly, but i would bet that u need a new front ball joint assembly, my friend has a POS grand marque an it has that "clunk" when he turns the wheel. again see if u need a new FBA, since ford is gay and they don't make greaseable ball joint u're prolly gonna be out for about $650.
 
well, i'm no techy or anything, but i would say u need an alignment and maybe some steering wheel adjustments, also i have a 96 t-bird LX (3.8) an i had all kinds of clunkies and squeaks so i went to my mech an to make a long story short i hadda get all new front balljoint assembly. a thought just came to mind, when u're going on the highway, hehe or side streets, r u turning or the wheels r straight your springs could be silly, but i would bet that u need a new front ball joint assembly, my friend has a POS grand marque an it has that "clunk" when he turns the wheel. again see if u need a new FBA, since ford is gay and they don't make greaseable ball joint u're prolly gonna be out for about $650.
 
Ok here it goes. Have your brake rotors checked out for the shake while braking. My experience with our cars is to just replace the rotors. Usually not worth cutting them down on a lathe. As for your play in the steering, it is most likely your outer tie rods. Typically they go bad on our cars before the inners. You say that you have no play in the ball joints and that is a good sign. I would take a close look at the strut rod bushings at the control arm side. After installing tie rods on your car and you still hear a clunking i would also look closely at the sway bar end links. Tough to spot a bad on on our cars and they will make a racquet. Best to grab them and pull them back and forth and up/down. There should be no play at all. darn things are expensive too, almost as much as upper control arms.
 
i seem to have too much play in my wheel too.i looked under there and there is a steering "knuckle" on the steering collumn just before the rack.the parts store calls it a rag joint.mine seems to be worn, i can twist it a little bit by hand. i'm sure when i drive it moves more than i can twist it. there is no clunk sound though, i don't know if this is a problem for you but you may want to check it out as far as the play in your wheel goes. these guys could be right though,if your hearing a clunk it probably is a tie rod or maybe a rack bushing?
good luck.
joe
 
hmm

Well.. its kinda along the lines i was thinking....outer tie rod ends, and possibly bushings. Like i said theres no play in the steering...the rag joints are all fresh i know that much. (The engine was rebuilt from the ground up not too long ago and those were done while it was out. The Cars got 140K on it and i woudlnt be supprised if the ourter tie rod ends are out of wack. Its a good thing i work at a parts store and get a heafty discount.

Thanks for all the help, if anyone else comes up with some more info post away.
 
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