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A few days ago, I posted this in the suspension area:
I thought my problem was with my rear end.
Yesterday I put each end of my car up and checked everything. The back axle beam and bearings were fine. Nothing loose.
Up front, the left BJ grease seal looked "smooth," or "stretched out" compared with the right one. It seemed tight enough.
Three years ago when I did my engine swap, I put in new control arm/ball joints, and both had been the same brand. They should have looked the same.
I took a mallet to the bottom of the BJ and some thin grease splattered onto my hand. The top of the grease seal was wide open. I then realized the BJ was pulling out of the control arm!
I have no idea how this grease seal got opened up and ruined, but it did. I'll be replacing it with a new control arm this morning.
My car had gotten worse yesterday morning and felt really flighty on fast right turns and over freeway bumps on turns. It felt VERY loose and unsafe.
If you ever get the feeling something is loose in your suspension, check those ball joints!! The symptoms this time were different from when my BJs were bad in my '89L years ago. That time I could feel "extra steering inputs" on high speed turns. This time it felt like the rear axle was the problem.
After I get the new control arm on and an alignment, I'll confirm all this, but I'm pretty sure this is the problem.
I would not have guessed a LCA/BJ would go bad in just three years, but that's what it seems to be.
WHEN IN DOUBT, CHECK THEM OUT!! Nasty dangerous things can happen if you don't.
Karl
I thought my problem was with my rear end.
Yesterday I put each end of my car up and checked everything. The back axle beam and bearings were fine. Nothing loose.
Up front, the left BJ grease seal looked "smooth," or "stretched out" compared with the right one. It seemed tight enough.
Three years ago when I did my engine swap, I put in new control arm/ball joints, and both had been the same brand. They should have looked the same.
I took a mallet to the bottom of the BJ and some thin grease splattered onto my hand. The top of the grease seal was wide open. I then realized the BJ was pulling out of the control arm!
I have no idea how this grease seal got opened up and ruined, but it did. I'll be replacing it with a new control arm this morning.
My car had gotten worse yesterday morning and felt really flighty on fast right turns and over freeway bumps on turns. It felt VERY loose and unsafe.
If you ever get the feeling something is loose in your suspension, check those ball joints!! The symptoms this time were different from when my BJs were bad in my '89L years ago. That time I could feel "extra steering inputs" on high speed turns. This time it felt like the rear axle was the problem.
After I get the new control arm on and an alignment, I'll confirm all this, but I'm pretty sure this is the problem.
I would not have guessed a LCA/BJ would go bad in just three years, but that's what it seems to be.
WHEN IN DOUBT, CHECK THEM OUT!! Nasty dangerous things can happen if you don't.
Karl
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