Front end is wobbling BAD!

Most noticeable at lower speeds, but intensity randomly varies. Steering is pulling to the left, but not smoothly pulling to the left. Every wheel rotation the wheel pulls like 1/4" to the left in a step.

Problem is not worse during braking, so it's probably not the rotors.

I replaced upper and lower ball joints and tie rod ends on both sides this summer. I took a look and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

I thought it was the tires, so I rotated them, no luck.

Could it just be out of alignment or something worse? Any Ideas?

Wheel hubs? maybe? Would they be loose to touch if they are bad?

I'm going to bring it in for an alignment, but I am broke, so I need to fix this as cheaply as possible.

It's a little scary, I don't want to drive it until I can fix it. It's my daily driver too. 125k miles.

Thanks all!

 

jack up the car, place hands at 9 & 3 on the tire. can you wobble it back and forth? (Tierod)

place hands at 12 & 6 on the tire. can you wobble it? (ball joints)

Did you have it aligned when you put the tierods on?

 

I did ball joints and tie rod ends at the same time, then I had it aligned. No problems until just recently.

When I was rotating the tires I didn't notice any play in the wheels, but I will check again. I never diagnosed a bad joint or rod end by trying to wobble the wheel. I just never noticed any play in it. It was only obvious after I removed the spindle.

What kind of play in the wheel are you talking about? Thanks for the quick reply. Very much appreciated. I'm at work right now. I think I'm going to drive the side roads home. heh. Hopefully I will see something when I inspect it again. I hate not knowing what it is. Thanks again.

 

Just if you can move the wheel at all. Im talking each front wheel, not the steering wheel. Only do this when the wheel is free to spin. (off the ground)

If everything is good, then you shouldnt be able to wobble the wheel in any direction.

 

I'm going home to take a look again. Like I said I didn't notice anything when rotating the tires. I hope I find something. I gotta get this fixed. Thanks again.

 

I was checking my front end and I noticed a little bit of wobble at 9 & 3. Should I replace my tie rod ends? My car does not do good over bumps and ruts. it gets thrown around a little bit. I do have a lca bushing out though. Polyurethane is taking care of that though I hope. When you find out what it is tell me I'd like to know.

 

OK, well - ahem - I got home safe. About half way home, the car started to shake violently. I slowed down to 20mph or less.

It's the damn tires!

I rotated them originally and apparently the same damn thing happened to both front and back tires, that's why I didn't notice a difference when I changed them. Unbelievable. Uuugh.

I jacked up the front of the car and spun the wheel and watched real closely. I thought I was seeing things. Then I got a dial indicator. About a 3/8" radial runout! Then I check the back wheel and it's the same damn thing! That's why I discounted the tires originally because I just assued that only one would be problematic.

They are due for replacement soon anyway. So I guess driving around on eggshaped tires might cause the wobble. ha! The other side of the car is fine. I wish 275/40R17's were less expensive though.

 

jackalope!

If it wobbles at 9&3, then it could be the tie rod ends, BUT make sure that your side-to-side motion isn't also moving the whole steering arm causing the opposite wheel to slightly move up and back too. My tie rod ends are fine, but my steering has a tiny amount of play. I don't know if that's a bad thing, but It's not my tie rod ends. heh.

 

What would it be if the other wheel was moving? It could have been I had the whole front end up. I know I wasn't pushing hard enough to actually turn the wheel. It was actually play. If anyone has some input that would be great. Thanks. Oh, Plappo You might want to be careful on those tires my brother had the same problem and his tire flew apart after about 60 miles.

 

Glad to hear you got home safe. Good thing its the tires, would have sucked if one of the parts went bad that you already put in there not too long ago.