Bad ball joints?

Zeppelin · #1 01-04-2003, 04:07 PM

I have been having bad front end shakes with some high speed stops, so I decided to jack up the car and take a look.. I jacked up one side and grabbed the wheel and pushed and pulled it. The wheel has some slop in it from side to side. Is this a ball joint problem? (Yes the wheels are on tight)

lee · #2 01-04-2003, 05:24 PM

I don't think so, ball joints are usually an up & down thing with some spring load removed.

I think side to side means tie rods or ???

Beav · #3 01-04-2003, 06:33 PM

More than likely tie rods.

svx_commuter · #4 01-05-2003, 09:45 AM

Hey dude

Your going to have to get under there and look at what's moving.

If the strut is bad it will be at the top of the strut.
If the outer TieRod is bad you will see play between the two halves.
The BJ can be checked with the tire off the ground and a small pry bar to force apart and check for motion.

The inner tie rod you can't see. But if the other stuff is okay it may be them. Run the steering wheel all the way to lock the front end up, have someone hold the wheel and see if the tie rod moves in and out when you pull on the tire.