rxseven07

hey guys everytime i back out of my driveway and the left front wheel goes into the street, i hear a clang sound, like 2 peices of aluminum/metal are hitting each other. ther other day when i went to work i kicked the tire and it moved like 2 mm or so. and i could shake it around a litle bit. its back and fourth motion, not side to side. the other side doesnt do it. could it be a bearing or something??

rxseven07

yes its a bump

web777

Probably your lower control arms. The bushings are probably worn.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

have you checked the tie rods?

wae

I've had a very similar experience on other cars when I performed some work and took the car for a shakedown drive around the block, forgetting to get the lug nuts torqued down all the way. That's the easy and cheap one to check & fix. 70 foot lpbounds should be the setting on your torque wrench when you you're putting those on.

More likely than not, though, you've probably got something loose behind the wheel. Get the front end off the ground, unlock the steering wheel, grab the suspect wheel and turn it left and right. (Turning as in steering, not turning as in revolutions of the wheel) Both wheels should turn together, smoothly, and the steering wheel should spin around. There shouldn't be any slack between the movement of one wheel and the other, although if your steering box is weak there might be a little bit of slack before the steering wheel picks up. If that moves nice and smoothly, your tie rods are probably okay. While you're under there though, make sure their boots are in good shape. If they have grease fittings under the little ball joints, hit it with some grease.

It's probably not the tie rods. Mainly because they're relatively cheap and easy to replace, and it's always the most expensive and difficult component that breaks. I'd be suspicsious of the ball joint or the control arm bushing. The part that puzzles me is that you can move the wheel with the weight of the car on it. Check all those bushings under there, as well as the strut tower's bushings up in the engine compartment.

In the meantime, I'd be awfully wary of driving the car.

LongDuck

Some good suggestions, above. All that I can add to this is to perform the following checks for wheel bearings and for the idler arm assembly.

Go to the driver's side front wheel/tire, and jack the car up so that the wheel is free-standing off the ground. Grab the tire at 9 O'clock and 3 O'clock positions and turn it back and forth - like you're trying to turn the car left and right. If you can feel it jiggle, your wheel bearings are either needing replacement, or are loose and just need adjustment. Second test; still with hands at 9 and 3, push away and pull toward you - if you hear a thump your bearings need to be tightened and/or replaced. Parts are cheap; inner bearing, outter bearing and grease seal - new cotter pin for the castllated nut and you're done. Check the FSM for torque specs and rotor turning tension.

Check the other side, too - since the bearings are all the same age and if one side is bad, the other is likely going.

If the above checks out, open the hood and jack up the right side of the car. While looking at the idle arm assembly (mounted to the passenger frame rail, right by the exhaust), perform step 1 test, above. If you see the idler arm move back and forth (and clack), and not turn smoothly, then you need 2 new idler arm bushings ($5 each at your local parts house).

With it's placement so close to the exhaust system, those rubber bushings don't last too long when they've been cooked everytime you take your car for a drive. Be sure to fill the cavity with good lithium grease on installation, and you should be good to go. HTH,

web777

LongDuck,

You should write a book, all your posts are like a novel!!

LongDuck

Is that good or bad? (shortest post ever, right there!)

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

HTH, it is a good thing, man. a lot of people here (me included) respect your vast amount of knowledge and appreciate the fact that you bring it to the table here. thanks man.