Tire wear and sloppy stearing...balljoints?
04-12-2009, 08:19 PM
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Tire wear and sloppy stearing...balljoints?
OK, I'm having the outside edge of my froint driver's side tire wearing out. The tierods, center link, and idler arm are all 2 years old and aren't loose. I've been playing with the alignment all weekend, and the toe keeps changing. Yes, I've been using a measuring tape. I haven't had a wear issue in the 1 and 1/2 years of using this method until now.
I finaly sat in the car with my head out the window and the car running and shifted between reverse and drive repeatedly. The steering wheel didn't turn A BIT, but the front wheels (or the driver's wheel that I could see) did, enough for it to cause the toe difference that is occuring. Each time I check it after moving the car in the driveway.
The A-arm bushings seem to be OK.
The ball joints have never been replaced, but the boots have been torn for a few months (i've just been keeping them full of grease for now; Michigan winters are no place for this driveway mechanic). I tend to be leaning toward the bushings, but I want to be fairly certain before doing anything (College kid on a budget, and i just had to pay dad's mechanic last month to do the intake manifold gaskets
).
I was wondering specifically how I would check if the ball joints are loose, since I can't figure out a way to take the tension off of the ball joint to check. Also, what else I could check that could be causing the problem?
Right now, i'm only trying to keep the tires from wearing anymore. Thanks for any help you can give me.
I finaly sat in the car with my head out the window and the car running and shifted between reverse and drive repeatedly. The steering wheel didn't turn A BIT, but the front wheels (or the driver's wheel that I could see) did, enough for it to cause the toe difference that is occuring. Each time I check it after moving the car in the driveway.
The A-arm bushings seem to be OK.
The ball joints have never been replaced, but the boots have been torn for a few months (i've just been keeping them full of grease for now; Michigan winters are no place for this driveway mechanic). I tend to be leaning toward the bushings, but I want to be fairly certain before doing anything (College kid on a budget, and i just had to pay dad's mechanic last month to do the intake manifold gaskets
).I was wondering specifically how I would check if the ball joints are loose, since I can't figure out a way to take the tension off of the ball joint to check. Also, what else I could check that could be causing the problem?
Right now, i'm only trying to keep the tires from wearing anymore. Thanks for any help you can give me.
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