Question: Original or Reproduction Ball Joints/Outer Tie Rods?

[CulverC4]

Hey everyone,
My 1989 convertible has begun to lose that tight steering we all love, problems include wandering/tracking pavement irregularities (sometimes it feels like I'm fighting to keep her straight on bad roads). The car also tends to slightly veer to the left, nothing sudden, but if steering wheel is left hands off she will begin to drift to the left. I also find myself having to turn the steering wheel to the right when coming to a quick stop to prevent the car from wandering left. To make matters worse my front boyd coddington wheels are slightly out of round, making the steering wheel vibrate above 55-60 mph.
The problem, of course, is that the car doesn't feel all that stable at anything above 45 mph anymore with the steering wheel shaking while trying to keep the ruts in the road from flinging me into the next lane.

One alignment shop mentioned I needed to replace the front lower ball joints and realign the front end, the other mentioned worn outer tie rods and alignment. Funny thing is, neither one shop mentioned that both tie rods and ball joints needed replacement in conjunction. Considering that I'm a full time student, I can't afford to fix the outer tie rods, lower ball joints, recondition wheels and align the car all at once. I plan on getting the wheels fixed and taking care of either the ball joints or outer tie rods this week, then taking care of the pending (ball joint or tie rod) suspension issue and realigning the car the following week. What do you guys recommend i get done first, ball joints or tie rods? Also, what do you guys think of the front suspension parts offered by Mid America Motorworks? The savings are substantial compared to Moog or OEM, but I am concerned about quality at such low prices. Anyone heard of any problems?

Thanks in advance,
Jose

 

[muddywaters]

Hi, I don't know about the others, but it has always been Moog for me.......

 

[gmjunkie]

Hi, I don't know about the others, but it has always been Moog for me.......

10-4 on That!!!!!!!

 

[G Winter]

On some parts the right non OEM are better than the OEM.
Suspension parts is one of them. Moog is very good. This link will give you a little insight on the subject.

http://www.bestsourceautoparts.com/resources/car_OEM_vs_Aftermarket_Auto_Parts.asp

Glenn


BTW Welcome to the site. Also when it comes to mechanics, when Junk speaks pay attention.

 

[muddywaters]

I'll second that!!!

 

[Ezmunie]

I believe I would have all of the front end work done at the same time and then have the wheels taken care of after that. It would probably be cheaper to have a shop do it all at one time, then do some and then more later. As far as mfg., I would recommend Moog or OEM. There is a reason for the big difference in price..i.e., you get what you pay for.

 

[jsinga]

Here's what to look at....
Lower ball joints are not worn out unless they have never had any grease in them or the boots are blown an water and dirt got in them and ruined them. I replaced the ones on my 87 with 200k miles and they were not worn out. The 87 lower ball joints have a ridge at the grease fitting, shop manual says replace them when the ridge sinks below the edge of the control arm. Easy to check. I didn't believe it so I changed them. When I got them out they were OK. Upper ball joints see even less stress, mine are orginal.
Outer tierod end on the passenger side is the first to go. Get what ever kind you want. Look at RockAuto.com they have the best deal around on prices you can go from there if you have it done.
Now the bad news. A 89 is more than likely looking for some wheel bearings. If they are loose it will be all over the road just like you are talking about.
THE ONLY WAY TO CHECK WHEEL BEARINGS IS WITH A DIAL INDICATOR!!!
The shake test won't get it done. They should have way less than .01" play, I think max is .006" look in a manual.
Wheel bearings are high. $100 each is a deal. I put on made in USA Chicago Rawhide and they have lasted longer than the orginals. All I read GM reboxes bearings so AC Delco just costs more.
The rear wheel bearings will have a big effect on the jitters too.
Last but not least the inner tierods in the steering rack can go south. Then it's a rebuilt rack. From what I've seen I would look for a local shop that would fix my rack. The big box discount parts places all sell Cardone rebuilt racks. All I have seen of these are cheap rebuilds with only the minimum parts replaced.
Also make sure you don't have slack in your steering column.
I've had my vette over 10 years and put over 100kmiles on it so I have replaced all the wheel bearings, lower ball joints that were good, outer tierod ends, steering rack, seal blew out, and halfshaft u-joints twice, took out the driveshaft and replaced perfectly good u-joints in it.
Once you get the alignment right it will stay. I wore out a set of Firestone SZ50's with a check when they went on with no adjustments and they wore even on front and back, didn't eat up the edges at all.
If you have vibration you can't figure out look at the half shaft u-joints.
Don't get in a hurry or you will just make someones boat payment. All the work done on my vette was done in the backyard.

JS

 

[moondoggie]

RE: Ball Joint Mfg

10-4 on That!!!!!!!

Hi Junk,

I saw a post warning us off of NAPA branded joints, too large possibly. Is there any concern here for me as I have NAPA parts for my project.

Moondoggie