Front Suspension help
09-27-2013, 03:32 AM
#1
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Front Suspension help My front left suspension pops when going over bumps and applying the brakes. Anything that requires the compression and rebound of the front left at slow speeds it makes a popping sounds. The car tracks fine down the road and on the highway. No vibration no shakes during braking. I've removed the whole strut assembly, and saw nothing wrong, no strut leaks, no broken spring, strut mount looks decent. The sway bar bushings are new and the end links look fine. I pulled on everything including the hub. The A-Arm bushings are compliant and in good conditon. Everything is troqued to spec. The only things are questionable is I have a bad strut, or ball joints. The ball joints don't seem too bad from what I could tell.
Can the ball joints be replaced or do i have to order the whole a-arms? I did not see individule part numbers for the ball joints on GM Parts Direct or GM Parts House. I have no problem ordering a front strut and replacing it, I just don't wont to duplicate work I don't have to. The car has 110K on it.
Can the ball joints be replaced or do i have to order the whole a-arms? I did not see individule part numbers for the ball joints on GM Parts Direct or GM Parts House. I have no problem ordering a front strut and replacing it, I just don't wont to duplicate work I don't have to. The car has 110K on it.
09-27-2013, 06:16 AM
#2
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Sounds like a strut, jack the front end up and grab your prybar. Pry at things lightly to see what moves and you will find your solution, when I had this it was a bad strut but checking everything quickly won't hurt.
09-27-2013, 11:08 PM
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Usually when ball joints go bad you have "memory steer". It's like you turn the wheel left or right and the car won't correct itself when you let go of the steering wheel, it keeps going in the direction you turned the wheel, plus the steering wheel doesn't turn back like it should. That's my experience with other cars anyways.
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09-28-2013, 07:16 PM
#8
Hijack......
I had some death wobble when I go over bumps at first and then it did it all the time. I checked the ball joints and they seemed bad.
I confirmed when I replaced them.
It has removed the death wobble from everyday driving, but bumps it still does it.
Thoughts?
I had some death wobble when I go over bumps at first and then it did it all the time. I checked the ball joints and they seemed bad.
I confirmed when I replaced them.
It has removed the death wobble from everyday driving, but bumps it still does it.
Thoughts?
09-28-2013, 10:59 PM
#10
Stock as stock except for new Ball joints.
It has been whisper quiet for years and smooth as butter.
I had a high mile CTS before the V and never felt this.
I had a slight bounce and it was rough, but when I replaced the joints, tie rods and shocks and springs on the CTS is was beautiful again.
Death wobble is common on alot of trucks and some cars. IF you have never experienced it, then it is hard to explain. It is just the death wobble.
It has been whisper quiet for years and smooth as butter.
I had a high mile CTS before the V and never felt this.
I had a slight bounce and it was rough, but when I replaced the joints, tie rods and shocks and springs on the CTS is was beautiful again.
Death wobble is common on alot of trucks and some cars. IF you have never experienced it, then it is hard to explain. It is just the death wobble.
09-28-2013, 11:27 PM
#11
Stock as stock except for new Ball joints.
It has been whisper quiet for years and smooth as butter.
I had a high mile CTS before the V and never felt this.
I had a slight bounce and it was rough, but when I replaced the joints, tie rods and shocks and springs on the CTS is was beautiful again.
Death wobble is common on alot of trucks and some cars. IF you have never experienced it, then it is hard to explain. It is just the death wobble.
It has been whisper quiet for years and smooth as butter.
I had a high mile CTS before the V and never felt this.
I had a slight bounce and it was rough, but when I replaced the joints, tie rods and shocks and springs on the CTS is was beautiful again.
Death wobble is common on alot of trucks and some cars. IF you have never experienced it, then it is hard to explain. It is just the death wobble.
Holy smokes. Looks like worn bushings, bad wheel bearings, wheel imbalance, or really, really bad caster settings. When was the last time you had an alignment? If you take the front end of the car off the ground, can you man-handle the wheel and get it to move at all?
Last edited by FuzzyLog1c; 09-28-2013 at 11:34 PM.
09-29-2013, 07:55 PM
#13
Holy smokes. Looks like worn bushings, bad wheel bearings, wheel imbalance, or really, really bad caster settings. When was the last time you had an alignment? If you take the front end of the car off the ground, can you man-handle the wheel and get it to move at all?
Aligned about 2-3 months ago and the shop said it was spot on so did not charge me.
Tracks correct down the road, just wobbles and feels unstable when hits bumps.
09-29-2013, 09:47 PM
#14
I would check your shocks and control arms and verify that they aren't seized.
10-27-2013, 05:36 PM
#17
I've inadequately seated caliper pins before. As you can imagine, vibration caused the pins to partially back out, allowing the outermost pads to drop onto the rotor hat, making a horrible grinding sound--but none of what was described above happened. The brakes still worked and the car drove fine. Please don't tell people to hit their brake calipers with a dead blow hammer.
Last edited by FuzzyLog1c; 10-27-2013 at 06:51 PM.
10-27-2013, 07:38 PM
#18
I've inadequately seated caliper pins before. As you can imagine, vibration caused the pins to partially back out, allowing the outermost pads to drop onto the rotor hat, making a horrible grinding sound--but none of what was described above happened. The brakes still worked and the car drove fine. Please don't tell people to hit their brake calipers with a dead blow hammer.