Symptoms of Ball Joing problems?

67Continental

67Continental

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I have a shake in my steering wheel at certain speeds, and my car is also out of alignment. I am wondering what some common symptoms of ball joint problems are?
 
Check for sway bar end links going bad as well, when mine were shot it shook like hell between 40-60 mph.
 
Here is a way to check to see if you have bad ball joints or tie rod ends.....

1) Shut off the air ride in the trunk.

2) Jack up the front of the car (jack the entire front up so you can check both sides).

3) Place your hands at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions on the tire/wheel and then push/pull on the tire/wheel to see if there is any movement. A VERY little is fine, but if it is sloppy, or there is alot of play the ball joints are bad. The more play you have in one direction or the other will determine if you have upper/lower ball joint problems.

4) Place your hands at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions and perform the same procedure as above. This will determine the tie rod ends. The only problem with tie rod ends it could be inner or the outer. You will hafta be watching the tie rod ends to determine if it is the inner or the outer. Me personally I replace both the inner/outer at the same time, if either are bad....but that is just me....no reason to hafta do the front end alignment more than once for bad parts.

That is how I check them.
 
Turns out it was the strut bushing. I also have a slightly loose inner tie rod, but it's not really that bad.

Does the mn12 polyeurathane bushing kit have a strut rod bushing with it? They have "rear strut rod" - is that the same thing?


how hard is it to replace a strut rod bushing?
 
If you look a lil closer you will see that it says that they have the 'front strut rod' bushings. The thing is the only part of that kit that is not poly is the rear strut rod bushings....they are factory rubber.

fsk100.jpg
 
thanks ray, don't know how I missed that. How hard is it to replace the strut rod bushings on my own? Assuming I have average mechanical ability. (i installed my own alternator, air compressor, etc).
 
No too difficult actually, but you will need an extra set of hands if you do not have power tools to break the big a$$ed nut off of the front of the strut rod (radius arm). Just make sure that you leave the rear nut on the strut rod when removing it so you can put the bushings back in the same place. At least that is what I did...but I also did the whole front suspension and got it aligned also. :shifty:
 
yeah i'll be getting mine aligned after as well - i was quoted 80 dollars labour to replace the bushing, I figure I could probably do it myself with a friend and save myself the cash.
 
I am not sure....there is no pix there. I have the whole kit from MN12performance....sorry can not totally help.
 
I would just get the whole kit from MN12performance and install it. But if you are only going with the strut rod bushings call Max and order them from him (1-800-866-1520 ext.236)
 
you know, that was a great suggestion and it's exactly what I did, came out to 13 dollars, thanks Ray.
 
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