Front end problem diagnosis

[76L82]

I just got to a stop light and the guy next to me rolls his window down and tells me that my front left wheel was "wobbling all over the place" as I was driving.

I hadn't felt anything leading up to the stop light but as I sat there I turned the wheel to the right...nothing....I put the wheel straight in the "neutral' position and started to turn the wheel to the left..instantly I heard a "clunk'. Pulled the tension off the wheel and applied tension to the left.."clunk"..same sound evry time.

My guess is that it is combination of worn inner, outer tie rods and the wheel bearing. I would suspect that these haven't been changed in a long, long time.

Any thoughts?

 

[wishuwerehere82]

Lug nuts, wheel bearings, tie rod ends, ball joints-upper and lower, all can be a sorce of looseness. Start with the lug nuts and wheel bearigs first. Jack up the frame to get the weight off the wheel, and it should be fairly easy to see where it's loose.

 

[76L82]

Any horror stories replacing these components? I took a GOOD look under there and said to myself..."self...you're getting too old for this". To be honest, I'd rather replace just about everything there so I don't have to play around with this piece by piece to figure out what the problem is.

 

[wishuwerehere82]

Horror stories?

When I got my 82 the steering box was loose, the wheel bearings were loose, the steering assist cylinder bracket was loose and the bushings were rotted even though the cylinder had just been replaced at a dealership. The steering wheel had 2" of slop in it, and the car liked to jump out of it's own lane if I hit a bump.

A little adjustment of the steering box and bearings, some new $2.00 bushings and tightening up some bolts made it drive like new. No big deal.

If you can't even feel the looseness and needed someone else to tell you that your wheel was wobbling, it's probably a wheel bearing or something fairly minor. Wheel bearings are easy to replace or adjust, but can be very loose before you notice them. Have someone else move the steering wheel while you watch the steering under the car. you should able to hear and see where the clunk is coming from.

Why do the whole thing if only one thing is wrong? If it ain't broken, don't fix it!

 

[fl_rider]

Just rebuilt my front suspension...

My 78 would pick it's own line in the middle of a right hand corner. Had to be on the ball to catch it.
The culprits were the control arm bushings.
The upper left was the worst. It would move more than 1/2 inch.
Replaced them all and did the ball joints and tie rod ends for good measure.
It drives like a new car now.
The rubber had literaly dried out and fell out of the bushings.

Chris B

 

[brusso]

Any horror stories replacing these components? I took a GOOD look under there and said to myself..."self...you're getting too old for this". To be honest, I'd rather replace just about everything there so I don't have to play around with this piece by piece to figure out what the problem is.

If you have the "means", then thats the best way to go. Especially if you suspect that it is all original equipment.