sharp turning problems

[bobbo]

first off im no suspension wiz at all thats why this baffles me but when i turn sharp it seems to feel like my wheel is loose or somethin but it isnt. when i go straight or dont turn real sharp its fine i just realized it last nite i was turnin a sharp right and it felt like my wheel was comin off or something. ive changed some little things like the draglink, endlinks, and a tie rod but thats about it for the front. anyone know whats up with it.

[lyger1983]

might be wheel bearing gone bad/going bad

[bobbo]

ill have to check it this weekend

[HawkZ28]

Check your control arm bushings, and bj's too........

With an entirely rebuilt front end, 16" Iroc rims w/ fresh tires, and a fresh alignment, mine would 'stick' in sharp turns.....you could feel it and sometimes here the tires catch and release.....it has to do with the geometry at the extreme end of the turning radius.

[bobbo]

is there anygood way to check em or just look to see if the bushing is messed up

[HawkZ28]

Bushings- do a visual, and you can move the LCA through the motions using your jack...you will have to remove the LCA from the mounts to actually see it, though....long as you don't have a ton of play, you should be fine.

BJ's- good ol' crowbar between the knuckle and the LCA.....check for any slop. Be careful, as stamped steel (the LCA) will flex w/ enough force.

[bobbo]

thanks man

[HawkZ28]

Anytime man- I gotchyo back!

[iroc287]

had a similar problem when hard right at low speed (getting in'out of parking spaces) ...was a bad Ball-joint on the lower-control arm (A-arm).

[bobbo]

yea i took it to the shop and they called it out they were gonna charge out the ass for a new outer tie rod, lower balljoint and alignment was gonna be about 330 bucks so i bought the parts and got the new tierod on in about 30 minutes and about to change the lower balljoint in a minute but gotta readup on how to do it cuz iv never changed one before but ive only spent about 45 bucks so far so if i get this in i just gotta pay about 70 for alignment

[iroc287]

Just did mine a couple of weeks back. Since I figured it was a job I wouldn't be doing often I bought a $30 Press from Harbour Freight instead of one the $100 + Pro models offered elsewhere. Tried to save time by not disconnecting the Strut but after several frustrating attempts I found it near impossible to align properly to press-in. That left two choices, either go ahead and disconnect Strut to move it out of the way or remove the A-Arm from the car. Feels like a new car now.

[Etown_RS]

Press in? I just used a block of wood and a hammer....opps. It's a pretty easy job, though. These cars are so much easier to work on than any other car I've worked on (GSR Integra, Buick 98, Neon, late 90s Malibu. although, it might be just because it's my car
)

[iroc287]

Yep ...they will Hammer-in (if you're careful to keep 'em straight, stay on the edges and not hit center) ...I found best use for the Press was in getting them out ...hammering specifically mentoned in the GM Shop Manual as a NO NO because it can damage the A-Arm then it's a $300 part that needs replacing instead of a $27 one. And, I agree with you ...probably the easiest vehicle I've ever worked on.

[bobbo]

man i had hell replacin it first i was tryin to not dissconnect my strut but got mad so took the whole spindle out and tried hammerin it out with no luck so i rented a press and came out easy but the new one didnt wanna go in strait but after about 6 or 7 tries i finally got it in but saved about 200 bucks doin it myself so thats a plus

[iroc287]

Great ...glad you got it out/in. Yeah because of the A-arm shape around the end it's a real pain to get in ...Press tries to put Ball-joint in on a 90 degree but surface supporting it isn't flat so it keeps wanting to go in at about 15 degrees off. On the bright-side you saved some money for other parts and now you know how to do it if the Left-side goes.