tuononero

Hi all,
i own a 1991 V6 Firebird.
The other day while i was driving i haven't noticed a small curb on the side of the street and ran over it with my front passenger side wheel.
Since then i cannot keep my lane anymore because car keeps going left and right by itself (not so widely, but it happens).
And what's more, when i turn my steering wheel all the way out (in both directions) and move the car backward or forward the wheel (front-right) slips from the ground making a strong noise "TOC TOC TOC".
Another thing i noticed is that if i brake on highways the car shakes.

What you do you think may have happened to my car?
Actually i can drive it with no problem at low speed, but it is a problem on highways.

Thanks in advance

camaronewbie

Probably need an alignment at the least. Might need new ball joints and tie rod ends - if you've never done them you need to anyway, along with idler arm and centerlink). May have busted a sway bar end link (you need to replace those as well if never done). Probably bent the rim as well if you hit hard enough to mess up alignment.

You're going to have to get under there and look - we can't see it from here!

But if you've not done any front suspension, it's way way past time, because I guarantee no one before you did it either.

tuononero

Didn't want you to make me a long distance diagnosis... i just wanted to get some idea of what to look underneath there.
Honestly i did this 20 minutes after i purchased it so i have no clue if they have ever replaced the tie rods or anything else.
The seller only told me he just replaced the shocks.

My fear is that the metal piece between the two arms (don't know its name, it has a sort of V shape) has been bent.
That would be a problem for me to get a replacement.
Other that that it should be not such a big deal, right?

TREK

Jack up the right front and see if there is any play in the wheel. if there is look for damaged parts if not take it to get aligned they should be able to find the cause of the problem.

tuononero

That's what i did today. We pulled and pushed every single part
There's a "more than normal" play in the sway bar extension (the piece between the sway bar and the arm) but i can't tell if it is normal or not.
No strange noises while inspecting. But i can hear everynow and then a metallic CLACK noise when i turn all the way right.
Probably i should align the car as you said and see if they find out what the problem is.
What if they don't?
I swear to you that everything looks perfect down there. Nothing bent. Must be some ball joint!!! I feel it.

tuononero

Ok little annoying update.

My mechanic said nothing is bent underneath the car, so i brought it to the shop to get it aligned and the guy said "the car is perfect, i got nothing to do here".

So far... nothing is bent.

Could it be the knuckle which got damaged?

They keep me saying i have to replace my tires (they are right, they are almost gone) but i'm sure the problem is not the wheel because i inverted it with the rear one and got the same result.
Seems there's nothing else left, knockle or bearings.

What do you think???

Grumbles

I think if it drives and you aren't gonna die you're golden. But that's just me

tuononero

yeah but it ain't nice tho...

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

this may not be logical at all, but if its when you turn and its nothing in the front end, check you power steering pump and upwards to see if anything looks tgo be out of place there

grad

Could be a crack in the front subframe, could be a bent rotor. could be a tire out of balance, could be a lot of things. Might be a broken bushing in the a-arm.

IROC343

Take it somewhere and get it aligned, if it pulls or wanders it obviously needs done. A good alignment mechanic will soon see what's wrong.

tuononero

But that's what i did.
I am almost sure it is the spindle. I'm trying to find it new but seems i can only find it used...

tuononero

A crack in the subframe would be noticed during the alignment reading because the guy turned the steering more than once... i thought about the rotor because it shakes when i brake (coming from high speed) but it can't be because rotors and pads have been replaced recently, and since i hit the curb without braking i doubt it can be bent... can't be tire out of balance because the steering would shake with high speed (i ran pretty fast and there was no shaking).
A broken bushing would cause the wheel to move if forced manually (as we already tried), we even pulled it with a pry bar but wheel acted normally so i supposed every bushing and every balljoint is ok.

gotabekidding

When exactly is this cracking or popping noise happening?

This only happened after you hit the curb?

I worked at a shop as a service writer, we had this Cadillac come in with a complaint over front end noise. 2 different mechanics looked at it - 2 different recomendations.
I had a 3rd mechanic look at it and his diagnosis was right on spot. It wasn't anything the other two recommended.

What did your alignment shop check for?
Did they give you a print out of the alignment?
What were the results?

Most alignment shops, in my experience, check for the toe adjustment.
On most newer cars that is the only adjustment that you can make anymore.
Camber and Caster are built into the frame/strut.

When the car shakes, is it felt more in the steering wheel or in the body?
When you let go of the wheel at speed and hit the brake, does the steering wheel wobble or does the car itself start to shake?

When was the last time you checked the wheel bearings?
It is unlikely that the spindle is bad. When the spindle bends - it usually cracks or breaks (cast parts)

Can you see all of the steering parts, without grease/dirt covering any area?
Maybe there is a crack that cn not be seen?

Have you had the balance of the rim alone, without tire, checked?
That would determine a bent rim.

tuononero

The noise (and vibrations, like if i was driving on stones) comes everytime i turn the wheel all the way (left or right is the same), for instance when i park it in a parking lot. (low speed).

The guy put the car on and there was a computer which had all the correct info for that car.
So he put Manufacturer, Make, Year and all the "normal" values came out.
Then i put those things on the wheels and computer checked 6 different values. Don't ask me which one.

What i can tell you for sure is that the alignment is perfect (and when i tell you perfect i mean it), camber is perfect and i asked the guy to tell me how the crossmember was. He told me "it is ok as well".
So far nothing is bent.

I can feel it more in the steering. And everyone i talked to seems to be sure it is a rotor problem... but that will be solved after found the other problem (if it is different).

I never did because in my experience when a bearing is gone you can hear it while driving, the faster you go the louder you hear it...

Well, there's dirt but not grease. I can see everything clearly tho.
If there was any crack i should notice an abnormal move of the wheel using the pry bar, don't you agree? But as i told the wheel looks steady.

I havent checked the balance of that wheel (not yet because i'm planning on replace the rims.
Anyway it should be useless because i already inverted that wheel with the rear one and i didn't solve the problem, and so it can't be that.

99xtreme

Check the wheel bearing, I had a 89 c1500 that wondered all over the road. I replaced every bushing and steering piece on that truck, and it still wondered around. So I figured if it going to wonder all over, it might as well stop good. I put brakes on in and in the process was going to repack the bearings. I got dark on me just before i pulled the driver side rotor off, and I didn't see that the inside race on the outer bearing, stayed on the spindle. I got a nasty gash in my hand that should have gotten stitches from that bearing.
Next day, I put the truck back together, and it drove like a brand new truck.

Just check the bearings, 30mins and $3 worth of grease, or $15 bucks for new bearings, grease, and the seal.

Good luck!

xX89RSXx

iTrader: (1)

I slammed a curd at low speed due to a spin out on another car I had, and the knuckle and rim were bent.

tuononero

Theorically i agree with gotabekidding because if the spindle got bent i should feel any shake even during normal driving.

99xtreme that's exactly what i did yesterday, i ordered new bearings (both sides). I found on google other people with the same problem but their car were fwd so they were complaining about cv joint bearings gone bad.

And that's exactly what my car does, can't drive steady, rattling when turning and shaking when braking at mid-hi speed.

Hope it's just one or more bearings.
I'll let you know anyway.

Thank you all for getting into my problem!!!