General Maintenance & Repairs - I will start here, alignment/tire wear/clunk

I am starting this thread here because I'm not sure where else to post it. Please let me know if you think this thread is better suited in another category.

FIRST
When I hit a bump I hear an ugly loud clunk or bang. This is at speeds of 40 + mph, it is loud. It makes me slow down when I can or avoid the bumps all together where possible. I would love to enjoy this car on a regular basis without destroying whatever is banging.

NEXT
The car has a mind of its own when on wet and on the bumps. When I travel over bumps or drive down a wet surface the car wants to pull hard to one side or the other. I was advised to replace the ball joints. The bj's should be here tomorrow.

FINALLY - Alignment
The tires are wearing unevenly in the rear. The inside of the rear tires are bald while the outsides are showing some, not a lot, tread remaining. Also, when I do take this car to the alignment shop, the best they can do is get the car to drive straight but the steering wheel is cocked to the left (counterclock wise) about 30 degrees. This makes it comfortable to rest my arm on the drivers door and steer, but I also know this isn't the winning solution.

Any suggestions as to where I can start to help troubleshoot these issues?

Pictures.... I've heard they are worth 1,000 words.

http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/joeboulley/2000%20Camaro%20SS/extremetirewear.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/joeboulley/2000%20Camaro%20SS/RLtire.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/joeboulley/2000%20Camaro%20SS/RLtirewear.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/joeboulley/2000%20Camaro%20SS/RRtire.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/joeboulley/2000%20Camaro%20SS/RRtirewear.jpg
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/joeboulley/2000%20Camaro%20SS/abovethedriveshaft.jpg
This picture is of the odd clean and shiny spots that I noticed above the drive shaft near the differential. The rub marks are coming from the foam on the emergency brake cable. I don't know if this is good information, but IMO it was related info that needed to be talked about. I will post a video showing the exploration of that area as soon as my phone uploads the video.
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/joeboulley/2000%20Camaro%20SS/rearendleak.jpg
Not only does this picture show there is a leak in the coming from the differential yolk, but there seems to be a space between the differential housing and the yolk. Any thoughts as to how much, if any, space should be here?


I know this is a lot, but this will help me get my car on the road for the summer. I'd love to get out of N. Wisconsin and go see the Minnesota GM club members and go visit my brother in the Chicagoland this summer. Two trips that will be a lot of fun if I can get a head start on this troubleshooting.

Thank you in advance to any and all who look and or reply to this thread.

The exploratory video to the area above the driveshaft near the differential.

http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/joeboulley/th_2012-05-21_20-05-32_271.jpg (http://s489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/joeboulley/?action=view&current=2012-05-21_20-05-32_271.mp4)

"tracking" from one side of the road to the other is common to a cheap set or worn set of tires. If you are getting free play in the steering wheel causing the car to move left or right all the time it is a sign of bad tie rod end links

The clunk in my experience is common to fbodies at higher mileage. Most commonly a rear sway bar bushing

The wear on your tires is telling me you may need an adjustable pan hard bar. It could also be a symptom of a damaged rear swar bar end link

Has your car ever been involved in a wreck?

Thank you for the reply.

I will look into the tie rod end links and rear sway bar bushings and rear sway bar end links tomorrow after work. I do have an adjustable pan hard bar, so I will search how to properly set that up tomorrow because I'm not sure I have ever done anymore than just install it to match the factory size. I'm also of the opinion that I have never heard of any shop I have had the car at adjusting the panhard. Any suggestions here?

I also just realized that my sig is incomplete. So, in short I will put a quick description here.

FRONT
-----------
Upper non-adjustable BMR control arms
Lower BMR A-arms
BAER tie rod ends
Bushings where I could do them, but I did find that my front sway bar was upgraded before I bought the car which was at 30K (currently 130K); most of these upgrades front and rear came at about 70K.

REAR
-------------
BMR adjustable LCA's
Rear Axle LCA relocation bracket
Adjustable Panhard

OTHER
---------------
Energy Susp. Trans Mount Bushing
Brake Rotors, Pads & Fluid
TA Rear Diff Cover

Eibach Pro Kit
KYB blue shocks


Other FREE MODS to keep me tinkering; thanks to this site.


"tracking" from one side of the road to the other is common to a cheap set or worn set of tires. If you are getting free play in the steering wheel causing the car to move left or right all the time it is a sign of bad tie rod end links

The clunk in my experience is common to fbodies at higher mileage. Most commonly a rear sway bar bushing

The wear on your tires is telling me you may need an adjustable pan hard bar. It could also be a symptom of a damaged rear swar bar end link

Has your car ever been involved in a wreck?

it was curbed on a sideways slide; passenger side. The outcome was two bent passenger side rims and rear axle, plus whatever I have not found yet. Then the mentioned upgrades to the chassis to help correct and hunt down the issues.

What about balljoints in the front? if they are shot they can make the car a handful to drive. Jack up.front of car then grab wheel and push/pull horizontally and then vertically. excessive movement could mean the balljoints are in need of replacement

What about balljoints in the front? if they are shot they can make the car a handful to drive. Jack up.front of car then grab wheel and push/pull horizontally and then vertically. excessive movement could mean the balljoints are in need of replacement

Yes, I plan to install new ball joints in the front. Both Upper and Lower BJ's. I will post my outcome after the install of the new BJ's.

I did some reading on the panhard bar (track bar) and my initial feeling is that the bar is not used to remove negative camber. The panhard bar can help center the rear under the car and is mostly adjusted for use on oval tracks. I'm a street driver and don't have any current plans to hit the oval right now, so I will wait to put the car on a flat lift then check out the bar to be sure it isn't over binding or pulling on the chassis. I do like a little tension on the panhard bar due to the increased response when coming out of a corner.

I am waiting for after work to inspect the bushings.

Thanks again for the posts and keep the troubshooting and help coming. It is all appreciated.

There is no camber adj on the rear as it is a solid axle...unless an axle tube is bent the rear tires should be wearing flat across the tread. How hard was the curb hit? Is it possible the actual axle tube bent? Aslo I would get a better set of tires on there before tryint to diagnose any wander or wet driving symptoms.

FIRST
When I hit a bump I hear an ugly loud clunk or bang. This is at speeds of 40 + mph, it is loud. It makes me slow down when I can or avoid the bumps all together where possible. I would love to enjoy this car on a regular basis without destroying whatever is banging.

You gotta get under the car and find what is loose. You may also check the spare tire area inside the car. The equipment there can make a hell of a noise.


NEXT
The car has a mind of its own when on wet and on the bumps. When I travel over bumps or drive down a wet surface the car wants to pull hard to one side or the other. I was advised to replace the ball joints. The bj's should be here tomorrow.

Is this with the bald tires that are in the picture or with the new ones on?


FINALLY - Alignment
The tires are wearing unevenly in the rear. The inside of the rear tires are bald while the outsides are showing some, not a lot, tread remaining.

Can you quantify this on tires that aren't bald? All tires wear unevenly to some degree, but you can't really judge things on bald tires.


Also, when I do take this car to the alignment shop, the best they can do is get the car to drive straight but the steering wheel is cocked to the left (counterclock wise) about 30 degrees.

You just need to go to an alignment shop who have people who know what they are doing. A proper alignment should leave the wheel straight. You might take it back to the last place that did the alignment and point out to them that they didn't straighten the wheel.

Ok, so tonights examination brought me some new information. I inspected the front steering components and found that the BMR Lower A-arms are loose in the front slot on the factory K member. This is probably the reason the car is very unpredictable in the steering. I was able to, by hand, move the front A-arm connection in the K member by grabbing the brake and using moderate hand force. I'm on the research mission tonight at the computer.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions as to how I can stop that front K member slot from slidingslipping?

This is my initial diagnosis, and I will post more tonight after some reading.


I agree with wssix99 and NY02ws6 that I need to put on the good tires to obtain more/correct information (The spare tire and other equipment in the rear area has been removed for about a year). I will look into it more once the car is rolling on good tread. Right now, I'm most concerned about the slippage in the K member area.

Thanks again everyone for keeping my sanity in check. Alone, this stuff becomes overwhelming.