Front end problem

[Matt_in_a_95 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Matt_in_a_95]

Hey guys,

While driving my car I have noticed a couple of issues which is starting to creep up more and more below is the list.

- When braking heavily my steering wheel pulls hard left, this only happens going forward.
- when driving over 100km a slight wobble left to right happens, I have taken it to get it wheel balanced and the problem still remains
- Also when driving over 90km the steering wheel feels very loose and then gets quite tight sometimes a very inconsistent feeling.

I have jacked up the car to see if theres any play in the ball joints at most 2mm but nothing crazy, I also see a clear "new" wear in to the outside lip of the front left tyre just past the tread.

any help is appreciated.

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

My suggestions without seeing it would be a rack end ball joint, tie rod ball joints and or a bush or bushes wearing. No doubt it’ll get worse as time goes on. It sounds like you’ve had noticeable symptoms for some time as these things tend to slowly creep in. May want to get a mechanic to have a look as it sounds like it needs attention. Unless you’re capable yourself of replacing those items. DIY wouldn’t cost the earth.

When it gets to a stage where your car will dart left or right suddenly/sharply under brakes your rack end ball joint is usually worn down enough that it’s not far off popping out of the housing. Scary thought. The tie rods wouldn’t be far behind. If it is your ball joints, then the uppers & lowers will need to be seen to in the not too distant future as they’ll be the next to go.

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

2mm play is quite a bit if you think about it. Go around a curve on the highway and you don’t turn your wheels much further than that those speeds. I’d also suggest checking out your rack ends which have a ball and cup swivel plus the tie rod end ball joints.

while you’re at it, get the calipers checked out and see if one is not grabbing as well as it should, in particular, whichever side the car pulls towards under brakes... get the opposite side checked.

I’m in the middle of virtually rebuilding the entire front end of mine right now, as much as a pain in the arse that it is, it’s also one of the easiest vehicles I’ve ever done.

[Matt_in_a_95 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Matt_in_a_95]

I looked into the car more,

The car has clear flat spotting in the tyres this is what I think is creating the shimmy. the tyres are also very narrow so an upgrade on those would do a world of difference.

The car is in much need for a wheel alignment as well.

I also think you're right RanJ when it comes to the brake caliper problem. The pull left only happens when its basically crawling,


While taking it to the mechanic he said that my suspension and shockies are on its way out and so are my brake pads.

SO I don't think its a ball joint problem.

[Matt_in_a_95 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Matt_in_a_95]

I have ordered a lift kit so that fix's the old shock and suspensions problem, now all I gotta do is get the brakes checked.

I had a serious look at the front end and all the bushes and ball joints are fine, the only problem I see is a clear split in the rubber housing on the upper ball joint. I don't think this is creating the problem. Only time will tell!

[Pauls 95 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pauls 95]

My BJ boots are split too but everything is going to get replaced anyway. I'm going to throw a 35mm lift kit in it too.

[Matt_in_a_95 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Matt_in_a_95]

Pauls 95

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Pauls 95 how does it drive with the split boots?

[Pauls 95 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pauls 95]

Pauls 95

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Pauls 95 how does it drive with the split boots?

No different to how it would without the splits. Everything has a little slop in it then it compounds into 1 larger problem ie, bit in the ball joints, bit in the bushes, bit in the tie rod ends, bit in the rack all adds up to wandering all over the road....

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

bit in the ball joints, bit in the bushes, bit in the tie rod ends, bit in the rack all adds up to wandering all over the road....

Absolutely, that’s what I’m dealing with at the moment. Most of my BJs are fine just split boots. So I’m just replacing the boots on some. But I’ve just finished replacing EVERY damn Bush in the front end. Upper and lower control arms, strut bushes... then there is the rack ends and drive shaft boots. Oi vey. Haha

[Matt_in_a_95 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Matt_in_a_95]

Absolutely, that’s what I’m dealing with at the moment. Most of my BJs are fine just split boots. So I’m just replacing the boots on some. But I’ve just finished replacing EVERY damn Bush in the front end. Upper and lower control arms, strut bushes... then there is the rack ends and drive shaft boots. Oi vey. Haha

I took my car to the mechanic, he said that my front left shock is cooked. Which is perfect, as i wanted to get a lift anyway. The reason why I have the wobble is that my front tyres have really bad flat spotting too. SO all good news.

Also a question do I have to get extended CV's for my 2 inch lift!!

Cheers guys.

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

Not too bad!

No, your driveshafts are perfectly fine with a 2” lift! Hell, a lot of people don’t even change their struts and shocks when doing a 2” lift. Just their springs. Not recommended but completely doable.

[Pauls 95 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pauls 95]

It appears after the crash it had we lost page 2...?

[Matt_in_a_95 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Matt_in_a_95]

yes thats annoying