Loose Front Suspension!!

brianp-cali

Registered User
So I'm driving my 95 SC through my town, and the roads are littered with potholes. Today, I notice a lot of clunking coming from the front suspension, especially the left side. This thing sounds like something is broken. Jacked up the car, and wiggled the front wheel. What I think is the upper ball joint is moving around quite a bit and banging a stopping point when I push the top of the wheel toward the engine. Since the right side does not move at all, I think this is bad... Anyone know how that wishbone shaped thing up top comes out, and how much they cost? What am I in for here?
Thanks, Brian
 
brianp-cali said:
So I'm driving my 95 SC through my town, and the roads are littered with potholes. Today, I notice a lot of clunking coming from the front suspension, especially the left side. This thing sounds like something is broken. Jacked up the car, and wiggled the front wheel. What I think is the upper ball joint is moving around quite a bit and banging a stopping point when I push the top of the wheel toward the engine. Since the right side does not move at all, I think this is bad... Anyone know how that wishbone shaped thing up top comes out, and how much they cost? What am I in for here?
Thanks, Brian

Ok, I think I payed about $70 for it, and there are two bolts that hold it on. The nuts are inside the engine bay, that there is a third nut and bolt inside the wheel well. You'll need some large, long metric wrenches to get the bolts out. It takes some artistic twisting and turning, but you should be able to get the nuts off. The whole process should take less than an hour. I don't think I'm forgetting anything.
 
To prevent bushing windup, tighten the bolts/nuts with the suspension at normal height. You can do this by placing a jack under the lower control arm and raising it until the car starts to lift off the jackstand.
 
Strut Rod Bushings

You may want to check your strut rod bushings as well.
These are prone to become loose and mushy.
I could move my passenger side wheel front to back around 1/2".
The strut rod to lower control arm bushings were shot.
After I replaced them the front suspension was alot better.
Cheers!
 
blue94sc said:
You may want to check your strut rod bushings as well.
These are prone to become loose and mushy.
I could move my passenger side wheel front to back around 1/2".
The strut rod to lower control arm bushings were shot.
After I replaced them the front suspension was alot better.
Cheers!
Do you know if that would cause the inner side of the tires to wear out before the outer (because of wrong toe-in)? I had metal on metal contact between the strut rods and the lower control arms before I replaced the control arms.
 
J.D. said:
Do you know if that would cause the inner side of the tires to wear out before the outer (because of wrong toe-in)? I had metal on metal contact between the strut rods and the lower control arms before I replaced the control arms.

Most likely. If the strut rod bushings are shot you will notice uneven wear on the tires. The toe in and caster will shift out of specs while driving.
Plus the car will tend to pull when the tires ride on patch lines, cracks, and ruts in the road. You will notice a real pull when you brake as well.
 
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