nocking while turning

[smithtaka4n1]

I have a knocking noise while cornering. I was thinking of changing ball joints when someone else told me CV joint was more likely cause. So here comes my obvious lack of mechanical knowledge. What is the CV joint? How complicated is it to change both CV and ball joints?
Also the car is very rough riding alot of bouncing and what not in the front s i was thinking (in order to keep things cheap) can i g to the junkyard and pull struts from aspire (much easier t find then festiva) and bolt them in? Also never done struts before but it looks like spring and everything is all one unit.

[GenevaDirt]

It is most likely the cv joints....not hard to replace , unless you get one that sticks in....has happened to a couple here. Bouncing is most likely the front struts....also not really hard to replace...but the Aspire ones are a little taller and would throw things off in the front end if you use them. You can pick them up fairly cheap new. Spring is seperate from the strut. Has to be taken apart and put back together. You can rent a spring compressor and get all your money back when returned from Auto Zone.

[jglutz]

Your knock is most likely a CV Joint.

A CV (Constant Velocity) joint acts like a univeral joint. The difference has to do with angular velocity. With a universal, the rotational velocity of the secondary shaft is not constant thru one turn. To over come this a universal drive requires two joints offset ay equal angles to compensate for each other. With a CV joint this problem does not exist.

On the Festiva...the CV joint is located inside the rubber boot where the axle enters the front wheel....at the other end of the axle where it enters the tranny...the device inside the boot is called a Tripod (that's a GM term, forget what Ford calls it).

ADVISORY: When working on suspension/drive/brakes...if one side goes bad...change both sides.

The CV joint is best changed by purchasing a complete axle with boots and all....I believe you can purchase a complete axle for +/-.$75

Changing is pretty simple....the Haynes manual is cook book for doing this...the proceedure is:

1) Loosen the spindle nuts
2) Lift and support the front end of the car.
3) Remove the wheels.
4) Remove the Spindle Nuts.
5) Drain the tranny fluid.
6) Completely remove the front Sway Bar
7) Drop the Lower Control Rod at the knuckle (this is the ball joint)
8) Disconnect the Tie Rods from the knuckle.
9) Grabbing the brake rotor...pull the rotor away from the car so that the splined shaft in the center becomes disengaged and slide the rotor to the side.
10) Grab the axle on the shaft, while hold it straight in line with the tranny, with a swift yank, pull it out of the tanny.

Install the new axle and reverse the proceedure. When placing the new axle into the tranny..it will require some switf action again or maybe some light taps on from the splined end to get it to engage.

Struts....good to do at this time...advice on doing the job is best left to someone else with more experience in that area than I.

[smithtaka4n1]

http://www.oreillyauto.com/EW3/ProductDetail.do?next=true

is this what i would need? 1 left one right?
What kind of symptoms would bad ball joints create? Im thinking it may be a good time to change them as well?

[GenevaDirt]

link does not work for me.

[smithtaka4n1]

yeah kind of new to computer things. Not sure how to make it work.

[worfdog]

i just replaced both axles on my 1989. $49.99 each with a core, at o'reillys with a limited lifetime warranty.

[smithtaka4n1]

If you would be so kind go to Oreillyauto.com search part # 60-2016

[GenevaDirt]

is your car auto or stick?

[smithtaka4n1]

It is a 5 speed

[GenevaDirt]

#60-2016 left(driver)side
#60-2018 right(passenger)side

[smithtaka4n1]

Perfect thank you very much. Now I just need to convince someone whos done these to help out for some beer. lol

[GenevaDirt]

actually they are very easy. Make sure you pick up some new seals too....since you will have the axel out...only a few bucks.
Take off the spindle nut..loosen the bolt holding the sway bar and pop the it out from under the strut. You should be able to swing everything out of the way to free the axle...then hopefully all you need to do is give it a good tug and it comes out. If not then a pry bar behind the inner joint between it and the tranny and it should pop out. If you are not able to swing it out...then you may have to pop the ball joint out of place also.

[worfdog]

the nut on the end of the axle,if it's original nut will be 29 mm or a 1 1/8 inch socket will work.

[scitzz]

actually they are very easy. Make sure you pick up some new seals too....since you will have the axel out...only a few bucks.
Take off the spindle nut..loosen the bolt holding the sway bar and pop the it out from under the strut. You should be able to swing everything out of the way to free the axle...then hopefully all you need to do is give it a good tug and it comes out. If not then a pry bar behind the inner joint between it and the tranny and it should pop out. If you are not able to swing it out...then you may have to pop the ball joint out of place also.

You have to remove the inner tie rod end, autozone has two different tools, "borrow" the one that is like a gear puller. You can either pop the ball joint off, which I do not like, or, disconnect the 2 knuckle to strut bolts, and then the whole knuckle will swing away.....
A pretty easy job, the hardest part being the spindle nut, get a breaker bar, jack her on up, have a friend apply the brakes, and grunt!