LoL

 

How did you get my in-laws to stand together like that?

Tools;
Sawzall
Ball joint separator, not the pickle fork
2) 16mm wrenches, sockets a ratchet wrench is nice (5/8 works well to once your broken free)
2) 18mm wrenches
1) 13mm wrench
1) 3' prybar
1) hammer
1) small pair of vise grips
1) small punch, to push bolts out



This is the bolt that gave me trouble. Spray it and spin it before cutting it. Bob Martin mentioned that the bolts on the cars that see road salt are a PITA to remove. So be sure to use antisieze on reassembly!!!

It is the forward upper. The bolt slides forward but hits the wheel well making it impossible to remove with out removing the strut.I cut the head off with a sawzall. be sure you place a small vise grip on the bolt head side your cutting so the blade does not hit the perch. To reinstall take a long prybar 3' push it through the spring so you catch both sides and lift. It will **** the spring so you have enough room to push it in.
I was sitting on a stool and put the bar on my shoulder and slid the bolt in.

Before


After, note bolt is in opposite direction


Here is where I found the worst bushing. This is the rear lower mount where it is attached to the sub frame. When I was moving the housing around I could hear it creaking.
I was able to move the bushing by hand.


The uppers were not in good shape either. They did not have any play but the bushings were cracked.
You can see a crack here


This is the ball joint remover I bought from harbor freight
Pretty nice for $20, I needed to widen the opening a little with a wizzer. You tighten it and smack the end of the bolt with a hammer as you go, like a puller. Then Bang out she pops.


I did the best I could on the Tie rod ends, The shop is about 5 miles away so I'll be OK. Otherwise try to measure with the wheels straight just get them as even as possible for the journey to the alignment rack. I measured the old ones from the jam nut to the center of the ball joint housing and replicated that on the new ones.


BOB, this is all I have to do to get my bolts out. I place a wrench behind the head and push while turning. I deserve at least that much though this car is effin killing me. If my bolts were corroded on top of the problems I set it a blaze for sure.


I tightened everything down then backed off a few turns so it was loose again. Then I used a rubber wheel chock on top of a floor jack to lift the suspension until it just picked up off of the jack stands. Then I tightened everything.
The rubber mounts will only move so far so if you tighten them in the hanging position the won't be in the correct position later.


So I still have to replace the front lowers which are really not that bad, they were the best of all. They gave me the wrong ones. I'll report back after the alignment.

 

I'm the guy with the "pulses" that posted on the other forum (AW). To clarify, my steering wheel wasn't wobbling at all. What was happening is under acceleration, everything felt fine, but when I let off the pedal, there was a pulsation feeling like the 2 front wheels were being driven at different speeds or something, feels like pulsating. Not sure how to better describe it. I got no lights from ABS on the dash. this problem followed replacement of all control arms, outer CV joints, shocks & struts and rotors and pads. Essentially everything but the kitchen sink was replaced over the course of 2 weekends. I did some research and had a feeling it might be related to the ABS system and the way it controls torque to the wheels, which of course starts with the sensors. I pulled the sensors and they were both dirty (strange because I had pulled and cleaned them when I did the brakes and or outer CV joints), cleaned them really well and looked through the opening in the upright it plugs into to see if it was dirty. It looked clean (it was brand new CV joint, so it should have been), but for kicks I put a rag over a wide straight tip screwdriver and gently applied pressure to wipe the ring while i turned the rotor. When I oulled it out it was black on the rag. i did this several times until clean. I put the ABS sensors back in and made sure they were fully seated. Road tested the car and the problem was solved. I'm not sure how these sensors work (magnetic? Other?) or how you know when they need to be replaced. For the time being they seem to be ok, but something to watch.

BTW, I ended up buying the Ocap kit from Blau per their reccomendation. Everything looked like very good quality, fit was perfect and complete with all hardware. So far no squeaks, but am into the fall in New England. I will be pissed if they moan next summer. But so far Blau has not steered me wrong.

Lastly, I'll bet your rear lower control are was the root cause of your wobble. The bushings need to be tight and should not move in your hand like that. Replacing bushings only is a waste of time since the ball joints can't be replaced and are also prone to fail. My car has 90k, so time to replace the normal wear items anyway. Feels and rides like a new car again! Good luck with yours.

 

I pulled my sensors to check but they were squeeky clean.
Good to hear the Ocaps are working, I was just about to get those when someone mentioned the moan. Instead I got the wrong front lowers... Can't win.

I think it was a combination of the rear lower and the uppers. The rubber was just really weak. I think I experience some different problems do to the constant heat than if I was up north. Seems like all of my rubber parts have failed. On the up side my bolts come right out.

 

Why didn't you just unbolt the strut from the fenderwell? You can just take out those three bolts, loosen the 18mm lower strut bolt and swing the assembly towards you without actually taking out the strut. Looks like you made it really hard on yourself.

 

Nope I used a sawzall, took a few seconds and the bolt slid right out. But it didn't look as easy as your saying to move that strut mount.I did look at that though. Oh Well, Next time, There's always a next time...

Especially with my lemon. You know I'm making a lot of lemon aid over here! A lot of lemon aid!

 

Jack-

You may have the correct front lower control arms. The newer designs have a larger ball joint housing than the originals, so if your problem was not being able to get the ball joint stud in the steering knuckle without it hitting the driveshaft, I ran into the same problem. You have to jockey the steering around until you find the sweet spot and then tap on the ball joint housing with a hammer to get it into the steering knuckle. Both of mine only took one small tap with a hammer to get them past the driveshaft, I just don't know how they will come out next time!

 

Vibration is caused by your brakes.

 

It's been 2 days and the wobble is GONE!

Safe to say it is a control arm issue. If you are repairing this issue I would suggest replacing all of the arms and tie rod ends. If your on a budget I would start with the rear lowers, the bushing in those was the most played out. Then the uppers. I haven't done the front lowers yet because I'm waiting for the correct ones, so it wasn't them.

This car is extremely tight now feels like I'm on rails! Makes me want to zoom in and out of the lane reflectors

 

After 3 sets of wheels/tires, numerous balances/alignments and a steering shake that continues to linger I finally found a thread on here thats sheds some hope of fixing this problem.

What was the total cost of Tie rod and control arm replacement? Where can I find the good parts?