TalkSick

long story short, i had a horrible shimmy in the front end, but it wasnt consistent, came an went. idler was shot to hell, replaced with the mook one mazdatrix sells. also hooked up sway bar in the front as it had been disconnected. still noticing a wobble but less pronounced. no real play on passenger side, a lil play left right on the drivers front. again, its not consistent, it only happens every lil while. its not speed dependent, itll happen at any speed. as such im ruling out a wheel balance issue, thats usually fairly easy to pick a pattern up on. so question is, would a shot wheel bearing cause an intermittent shake? warped brake rotor i imagine would have a pattern as well as be obvious when braking, but no such. ill check the lugnuts in the morning but it seems unlikely.

what is messin me up is it doesnt happen for any specific reason, just comes an goes. i imagine an alignment issue would be consistant, always has been in the past. brakes n wheels as well. thats leavin me with bearings, tie rod ends, or ball joints or steering box.. or something i havent thought of yet. its very similar to the issue i had with the trashed idler arm only less violent, less frequent, and less obvious when the tires wigglin an im lookin at the steering arm.

any thoughts would be appreciated

edit, also is there a spec for tightening the sway bar end links, all i see in the book is a measurement an as i have aftermarket bushings an bolts i dont know that theyll be the same

rxtasy3

iTrader: (2)

mine has that and i know it's because the strut in the left front is bad.

TalkSick

front springs n shocks are less then a year old, which doesnt mean that one cant have failed but it seems unlikely

Kentetsu

You've pretty much named all of the possibilities, now you just have to start inspecting the parts and look for play.

Ball joints are a little tough to see unless you pull the wheel off, then grab the brake rotor and strut housing and yank on it while watching for movement at the ball joint dust boot.

Tie rod ends you can just watch while someone gently turns the steering wheel back and forth, or grab them and move them around by hand.

Also, you might try moving the front wheels to the back of the car to see if things change.

And, you could have saved about 20 bucks on the Moog idler arm at www.rockauto.com




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