I have a gs, so no power steering, and about a year ago I replaced the control arms and ball joints and front suspension, and got everything aligned. However, recently I've noticed my car will go in and out of alignment a little bit, and whenever I go around certain turns, I'll hear a really deep popping sound and then the alignment will be different. Also it feels different to steer left than right. It's really heavy to turn left and light and easy to go right. I think it might be the tie rod ends because those were kinda loose when I replaced all that stuff, but the popping sound makes me thing otherwise. What could it be?

 

Did you replace the pitman arm and such?

 

No, I didnt

 

time to get under the car and start pulling on stuff.

popping seems like it would be a ball joint or strut top

 

Ball joints are new though and struts are too

 

Idler arm? I can't imagine how that would make a popping noise, but pull on it anyhow.

 

Yeah, that's what I was getting at, the pitman arm is the one that's splined if I remember correctly, so my bad.

 

Sudden veering during a steady state turn is a symptom of bad ball joints. Even though they are new, they should still be checked. Last year I replace a set, and they only lasted a couple of hundred miles before they were shot. So, there are some bad ones out there.




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It's not that it veers suddenly during a turn, it;s just a lot more responsive turning left than right, which would make the idler arm make more sense because since its on the right side, if it's worn out, the right wheel has a lot more play as opposed to the steering box being right next to and connected almost directly to the left side.

 

you're overthinking it, just go look at the thing. pops are dangerous.

 

Have an assistant gently turn the steering wheel back and forth, just beyond the range of the freeplay. You crawl underneath and look for movement at all of the critical components.

 

Oh god... I just figured out what it is. I was driving and the alignment started to get really bad, so I looked underneath and it turns out one of the ball joints popped out, and I don't doubt the other one is loose too. So I'm just going to get a jack and push them back in and tack them. Should have done that before.

 

Yikes, well its good you caught it!

If you wouldn't mind answering some questions from sheer curiosity...

-How many sets of ball joints have you replaced on the car in its history?
-did you press them out and in?
-what brand are the ball joints?

Just asking because in another thread we were talking about how brand, method of pushing out/in, how many times it's happened could cause the joints to slip out of the control arm. I just wanted to see if there might be any real clout to these theories.

 

I only replaced them once, about 2000 miles ago. Yes I did press them out and in, and they were the ones you buy from black dragon. EVERYONE TACK THEM IN

 

There are two different sizings out there. Some can be pressed in, and will stay in. Others are slightly smaller in diameter, and can be inserted/removed with bare hands.