WhiteStallion00

iTrader: (1)

The pass side LCA mount is broken, I'm afraid.

eb110americana

iTrader: (4)

I'm still trying to figure out what that picture shows. I know where it is on the car: passenger side, lower A-arm, rear (vertical) bushing. What exactly is broken, I can't tell. Is the A-arm broken? The subframe? Or is it the bushing itself?

I had to cut these bushings off my car with a sawzall as the bolts that run through them rusted solid to the bushing's internal sleeves. It was the result of Illinois road salt, where the car originated. That was not a fun process.

WhiteStallion00

iTrader: (1)

Here's a wider angle shot.

eb110americana

iTrader: (4)

So is the bushing torn? Or is it that the bolt is loose? There is a bolt coming down from the top held on by a nut at the bottom (as I'm sure is obvious). The bolt head is kept from spinning when the nut is tightened by an eccentric with a tab sticking down through the subframe. This tab is visible in your larger image just to the left of the ABS loom at the top. It's a stamped piece of metal that is added to the top of the bolt and then held in place by crushing the 6 points downwards to pin it against the bolt as it flairs out into a circle before passing through the subframe.

If the bushing is ripped, you can replace it with very little investment. They can be pressed in and out. If you don't have a press or the desire to rig up a vice, just take the arm off and bring it to a shop with a new bushing and they will do it for you. If the bolt is broken, loose, or the eccentric has come off, that isn't much of a problem to replace either.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

There is nothing wrong there. That's just the slot for the caster adjustment.

WhiteStallion00

iTrader: (1)

So that gap is supposed to be there? it's not there on the driver side. In fact, the driver side LCA runs parallel to the ground vs the passenger side, which has this gap and, as you can see, is not parallel.

I drove it to work and back home today, it felt like it barely made it home, the last few miles it was all i could do to keep it straight

eb110americana

iTrader: (4)

It's not visible on the other side because the A-arm happens to be covering the slot in the subframe there. Yes, that means they look different, but that is why they are adjustable: so that you can correct for your car's unique measurements. As long as the alignment numbers are spot on, then this isn't a problem.

I really have no more ideas for you. Keep checking for loose suspension parts. Also, try lowering your tire pressure to 35 psi. Running 46 PSI won't necessarily give you longer tire life. In fact there's a good chance that the center of your tire (not the center of the car, but farthest from each sidewall, the center of the tire itself) will wear out prematurely at 46 PSI. You should monitor tread depth with a gauge and adjust pressures until you find it wears evenly across the tire with correct alignment. If you go canyon carving or autocrossing, you can temporarily up the pressure to save the sidewalls, but that doesn't apply to street use.

WhiteStallion00

iTrader: (1)

*sigh* The nut is tight, but its not sitting in the pocket the same as the driver side is. The car was wobbling all over the place on the way home; I had to crank the wheel to 10:00 to keep it straight. Whatever's wrong is getting worse.

Can I pull the LCA's w/o needing a spring compressor to put things back together?

SSCamaro99_3

iTrader: (1)

I got new tires on a car once, and the shop had them at 45psi cold. Felt like I was riding on basketballs. If you are that high it could be an issue. Too much psi can wear tires just as badly as too little.

01 ss vert

iTrader: (1)

I'm curious what you find out. My car has similiar characteristics - at times it wants to pull to the right. Other times it will pull to the left. I'm only running -.5 degrees camber and my last two sets of front tires have run down to the cords on the driver side, inner portion of the tire. The passenge side always looks fine, but when I put in on an alignment rack, the specs look fine. I run a 275/40/17

The best way I could describe my condition would be to imagine my tires being way overinflated, and I'm only running on the center of the tire when going straight. If for any reason I would roll over to one side of the tire or the other, the entire car would pull that direction. Make sense on what I'm describing? Wheel input in crisp, and responsive. It doesn't feel overly tight or loose. My only complaint would be the wanting to wander at high speeds.

After checking toe and camber so many times, I have no clue what the culprit is. Would preloading the suspension with the front sway bar end links cause this? I can't see it causing my tire wear, I'm also open to ideas at this point.

You mean camber?

eb110americana

iTrader: (4)

I would not do this if I were you, at least, not without good reason. If nothing is loose or broken, leave it on. You'll need an alignment when you're done and it is a fair amount of work just for exploration. Yes, you can do it without a spring compressor. I used to have a better guide, but you can use this one. If the lower arm seems to be preloaded even at full extension, with the car up on jack stands, place the jack under the lower balljoint and lift to take up the spring slightly. When you unbolt the lower arm, you can release the jack slowly to decompress it. I doubt that will be necessary though. If you want to free the lower balljoint, know that it is very likely you'll rip the boot on it as that is easy to do when they stick. Moreover, I don't recommend doing any of this if you don't have to.

therabidweasel

iTrader: (5)

OP and 01 SS very in particular I would be extremely suspicious of your front away. Surprised only 1 person mentioned 46 psi, that is fuggin crazy. If the tires we're ok, they probably aren't anymore. . .they're also much more susceptible to picking up debris and getting a flat at that press. In fact I would double check with a different gauge, seems almost impossibly high to maintain for any reasonable amount of miles. my .02, good luck guys.

SuperSport01

If you checked the front end for play and cant find any. Jack up the rear and check everything for play or looseness. If you cant find any loose, broken, or worn out items, take the car to get an alignment. Also set your tire pressures to a more normal spec like 32-35 psi.

WhiteStallion00

iTrader: (1)

Thanx for the input, guys, still working on it. Latest notes:

1. The LCAs are loaded with stands under the frame; I was surprised to find that jacking under the ball joint, on either side, lifted the car off the stands and did not compress the springs much, if any at all

2. The 46lbs was a knee jerk more than anything else. I admit to not having done my usual preventative maintenance for about a year (that's what I call tearing random things apart and putting them back together with new parts, cleaned, etc). When I first notice the problem, the tires were all 4 down to mid 20's, so that;s what I attributed it to. I've always run the pressure high (usually 40-45) unless I was out in the hills

3. I went through the front and rear thoroughly tonight. Checked every nut and bolt, nothing loose, bent, fractured (still don't like the way that pass LCA sits), out of whack, etc. I can't find anything loose, I even went through things with my big flathead to see if I could pry things apart or move them, nothing!

4. I haven't checked the sway bar except to confirm the mounts and ends are tight and intact. I wouldn't know how to tell if it's bad or not

5. I could get an alignment, but it was checked before I changed the rack (f'ed up logic to use, I know, but the problem existed at that time so that kinda points towards it not being the problem).

It seems like the problem should be very obvious by the way it drives; you can tell something's wrong at 10 mph just by the way it feels. At 60 it's a pileup waiting to happen; add grooves in the pavement and you suddenly understand the term "white knuckle driving".

I'm almost forced to accept it as a shock problem (which I think might explain the fact that it turns very quickly once the weights shifts from side to side, seems like it used to be more sluggish). I can't afford to get shocks and not have that solve my problem, though, because I won;t be able to afford the real fix once I figure out the real problem

StraightTimeStirrups

Have you run the tires at the recommended pressure!

Putting so much air in the tires you have given them a crown, sort of like a motorcycle tire! Guess what makes a motorcycle turn? It is the crown of the tire! If you are on 100% perfectly level ground, you won't have an issue! If your road has a crown itself,which most do for drainage, it "Has the POTENTIAL" to want to turn your tire much like when a motorcycle leans over onto its side. You don't notice when you are riding your bike because you adjust your weight to compensate but in a car you cannot do that.

Another issue is that your toe in and out can be within spec but if your Caster Angle is too low, you will wander all over the place!

I am NOT saying that is your only problem but it can ADD to your other symptoms!

Joe

eb110americana

iTrader: (4)

I think some shops will offer a free alignment check. You have to pay to fix it if it's off, but they'll check for free. Have them test drive it with you and if they can feel what you're describing, have them check the alignment. I know you think you've ruled out the steering rack, but perhaps there is an issue there that feels like a problem you had before, but is actually getting worse, as you say, because something is off in the rack.

Formula1996

iTrader: (7)

This may seem like a no brainer but make sure you lug nuts are tightned to spec. A loose wheel will make the car feel very weird. Chances are this isn't it though as the wheel would have probably fallen off by now.

I had a similar problem on my El Camino, and it turned out to be a worn steering rack, tie rod and sway bar mount (the first 2 were the primary contributers). The car would follow the grooves very badly. Once I got those fixed it drove like a new car.

Good luck!

SuperSport01

The reason I said check the rear is because a buddies car had about a 1/4" of side to side play in the rear end. Drove like a uncontrolled forklift.

WhiteStallion00

iTrader: (1)

Still working on it. I dropped the tire pressures all the way around to 34. I agree on the rearend, we used ot set dirt cars up with a little lead on one side to get through the turns better. I swear I look at it sometimes and it appears there's toe-in back there, but it's just a illusion caused by the shape of the body, I think. I've beat every suspension part front and back with a rubber mallet, tried to pry a lot of them into moving with my oversized screwdriver and beat the tires with a 3lb sledge. NOTHING BUDGES!!!

I can feel it just by sitting in the car, it seems (that could just be a paranoia thing, though). I swear it seems the front end feels higher than it should, but the ride heights are the same as they were 4 yrs ago when I swapped out the rear bushings and shocks; I checked my notes.

When accelerating, it feels like the car is light, almost a sensation of floating a bit. I do a u-turn across lightrail tracks in the middle of the road and it goes from turning to going straight as the front tires go across the steel and I have to crank the wheels more once i'm over them to get it to start turning again. Sometimes it feels like the rear is sliding around the corner and other times it doesn't. But there's nothing loose, nothing moving (again, I cant exert the force a 2 ton chassis can).

I'm lost, completely friggin lost. If you drove it you'd be sure you could easily find the problem because of how poorly it behaves. I almost have to go with front shocks at this point since i don;t see anything wrong with the sway bar. A cracked frame is possible, but I slalomed that thing so hard that I would have done pretty good damage if it was something like that.

So, where can I get not too expensive but decent enough shocks to get me through a couple months of daily driving? has to be a retail place because it's thursday now and mail order wont get them here in time to go get my daughter tomorrow I prefer something at least a little better than stock. Would shcucks or advantage have ones for this? It's a vert, too, aren't those shocks a bit heavier than a coupe?

WhiteStallion00

iTrader: (1)

Oh, yeah, lugs are tight. Wheels have been on and off at least a dozen times this week. I had a loose lug on the rear a couple years ago; neither I or the rear-end shop could locate the clunking we heard while driving it (even on their special lift). I reached down on a hunch and sure enough, loose lug. Clunk went away.