How can I tell if my tie rod, both inner and outter are bad?
Ryan1
Play in the steering wheel, also grab a hold of the tie rod, up and down or side to side movement means they are shot.
Outers are easy to change, GM pays like 1.3 hours, hell do it in 30 minutes tops.
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
i have some play in my steering wheel and it makes some clunking noise but when i pull on the tie rod there is no movement? When driving at high speeds it seems that the car vibrates quite a bit sort of feels like a tire is out of balance......i'm not sure if that is tie rod related
Ryan1
Jonathan shumacker wrote:alignment?
How can an alignment cause a viberation and knocking sound? I think you need to quit drawing guesses out of a hat and sit back before uses your bad advice and waste money fixing something that isnt broke.
Anyways a viberation only at high speeds is normally tire balance.
Viberation at all speeds, suspension related is like ball joints, tie rods, and knocking sound, I'm really thinking tie rods.
You may need to use some muscle when moving the, take a pry bar and see if it moves when you pry against it, it shouldnt move.
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
Even better, jack up the front of the car, grab the tire at the 9 and 3 o'clock position and try to move that back and forth.
"The Blue Bullet"
or in my case just look at them and make sure the boot isnt split in half
Rob S wrote:Jonathan shumacker wrote:alignment?
How can an alignment cause a viberation and knocking sound? I think you need to quit drawing guesses out of a hat and sit back before uses your bad advice and waste money fixing something that isnt broke.
Anyways a viberation only at high speeds is normally tire balance.
Viberation at all speeds, suspension related is like ball joints, tie rods, and knocking sound, I'm really thinking tie rods.
You may need to use some muscle when moving the, take a pry bar and see if it moves when you pry against it, it shouldnt move.
tie rods? ok
inner you will barely ever change
ive drove on some pretty bad tie rods (ends)
if your wheels are not perfectly aligned how will it NOT vibrate
if one wheel is off and one is straight and the car is trying to go foward=vibration
you should get an alignment every so often anyway and balance tires..\
alignment-t
ie rod ends (maybe) just bought a set on ebay 2 for 35.00 shipped
or tire balance
either way if you replace your tie rods youll need an alignment look at the boots if there broken replace them
other wise no movement in tie rods and no broken boots = alignment and wheels balance and you should be good to go
Jonathan shumacker wrote:Rob S wrote:Jonathan shumacker wrote:alignment?
How can an alignment cause a viberation and knocking sound? I think you need to quit drawing guesses out of a hat and sit back before uses your bad advice and waste money fixing something that isnt broke.
Anyways a viberation only at high speeds is normally tire balance.
Viberation at all speeds, suspension related is like ball joints, tie rods, and knocking sound, I'm really thinking tie rods.
You may need to use some muscle when moving the, take a pry bar and see if it moves when you pry against it, it shouldnt move.
tie rods? ok
inner you will barely ever change
ive drove on some pretty bad tie rods (ends)
if your wheels are not perfectly aligned how will it NOT vibrate
if one wheel is off and one is straight and the car is trying to go foward=vibration
you should get an alignment every so often anyway and balance tires..\
alignment-t
ie rod ends (maybe) just bought a set on ebay 2 for 35.00 shipped
or tire balance
either way if you replace your tie rods youll need an alignment look at the boots if there broken replace them
other wise no movement in tie rods and no broken boots = alignment and wheels balance and you should be good to go
But an alignment out of adjustment by itself will NOT cause a viberation. It will simply pull to the side with the least positive camber.
If he does have bad tie rods than, he does need an alignment after getting new ones. Or he can count the threads on them, and just do it that way to.
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
I think i'm going to get the tires checked for proper balance first, and then jack the car up and check out any movement on the tie rod or bearings and balljoints. I plan to do the front struts, soon so i know i will need an alignment after that, i'm trying to get everything done and diagnosed before that day comes so i won't have to do it again for a while.
Thanks for the reply's so far...
Ryan1
first off alignment is never going to cause a vibration....
bad alignment=tire wear
out of balance tires and worn ball joints=vibration
all in all it sounds nothing at all like a suspension related problem? if you heard a clunk while pulling or pushing on the tie rod sounds more like maybe rack and pinion problems?
LiTTle fOOt wrote:first off alignment is never going to cause a vibration....
bad alignment=tire wear
out of balance tires and worn ball joints=vibration
all in all it sounds nothing at all like a suspension related problem? if you heard a clunk while pulling or pushing on the tie rod sounds more like maybe rack and pinion problems?
I don't feel any movement when pulling or pushing on the tie rod bar. I ojnly hear a clunk when i am moving the steering wheel back and forth. I tested this same motion on my g/fs 2004 sunfire and her's has no play, no noise and is quiet. Now I'm wondering what my problem is and the clunk noise i hear?
Any ideas?
Could it be a worn steering gear in the racK?
Ryan1
my diagnosis by the info you provided, sounds like if theres no play in the tie rod, a
rack and pinion problem because of the play in the steering you said you had(which i think there was a recall on the rack and pinion on my car if i'm not mistakin) or from the clunking noise when turning that sounds like a bad
strut mount definately
-so i'm thinkin you might have a couple problems?
LiTTle fOOt wrote:my diagnosis by the info you provided, sounds like if theres no play in the tie rod, a rack and pinion problem because of the play in the steering you said you had(which i think there was a recall on the rack and pinion on my car if i'm not mistakin) or from the clunking noise when turning that sounds like a bad strut mount definately
-so i'm thinkin you might have a couple problems?
I do remember the rack and pinion recall and my car was taken to the GM dealer for repair. Either they didnt do the repair properly or they did some temporary fix.
I do recall that there was something related to the steering gear and adding a grease pack to it becasue of not enough lube in the shaft or something. I have been trying to find that actual bulletin but i haven't come across it yet.
About a year or so ago I replaced both front and rear suspension with all new mounts. I'll have to think hard on this one, but I am almost certain that the car still clunked around even after that repair.....
I can drive over the roughest roads and near no clunks but out of teh blue it just happens...
At that same time i did the suspension I also replaced both outter tie rod ends.
To me the only thing left is the ball joints, inner tie rods, possible mounts again...
Ryan1
Does it happen to pop when shifting from reverse to drive or visa versa or just turning
Just turning,
I actually got the front tires balanced this morning and it cleared the problem up with the high speed vibration.
While that was done i told my mechanic about the issues relating to the clunking. He checked the Rack and said the rack is bad. He told me it's common on J bodies. He checked the tie rods, axels, ball joints and bearings. All were perfect.
He advised me that when i change the front struts to go ahead and replace the mounts aswell as the mounts don't last long on Jbodies based on his experience.
Ryan1
