So yeahhh...neither inner nor outer tie rod end did anything for the wobble. Getting it looked at with a free alignment check to see what they say. Is the only likely cause left a damaged steering rack? Should I check the power steering fluid to see if that relates?
Tie rod end adjustment nut. What is the hex size of it? My 19mm wasn't enough.
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Place for alignment said the ball joints are bad (which I suspected from the torn boot) and account for the wobble on the horizontal plane.
So for now I have to go with that and proceed accordingly.
So for now I have to go with that and proceed accordingly.
No matter my technique, nut stripped and I'm in hell. Going to get an extractor and beyond that I guess just saw through the damn thing like a savage. Was considering a big pair of bolt cutters to bite in and either turn or crumble the nut.
Use a nut splitter ..
They didn't have any nut splitters at the usual spots but I lucked out and Harbor Freight had a very effective rounded nut remover. It ended up being the ball joint after all. Whew.
It would be super classy for them to make a little rubber cap like seen on brake bleeder screws but to cover the nut and any exposed threads. It took considerable effort with an 18" breaker bar and that was after cycles of heat, WD40, hammer blows, and wrenching.
Unlike the tie rod end that required only a few good whacks with the hammer to dislodge, the ball joint had to be pickle-forked with multiple hard hits. I'm fairly certain it was the original because the other side was a nice Moog with a grease fitting.
Now back for alignment check and hoping to convince a shop to put on some used tires I have DOT date coded 9 years ago. Any suggestions of places that aren't fussy in the Ann Arbor, MI area? Thanks
It would be super classy for them to make a little rubber cap like seen on brake bleeder screws but to cover the nut and any exposed threads. It took considerable effort with an 18" breaker bar and that was after cycles of heat, WD40, hammer blows, and wrenching.
Unlike the tie rod end that required only a few good whacks with the hammer to dislodge, the ball joint had to be pickle-forked with multiple hard hits. I'm fairly certain it was the original because the other side was a nice Moog with a grease fitting.
Now back for alignment check and hoping to convince a shop to put on some used tires I have DOT date coded 9 years ago. Any suggestions of places that aren't fussy in the Ann Arbor, MI area? Thanks
Discount Tire uses a high tech laser scanner thing to measure tread depth. It said the used donor tires were under 5/32" and so couldn't be installed. My low tech depth gauge was definitely showing at or over 5/32". Think they listen? Nope. So a $200/pair resulted.
A Belle Tire quoted another $200 to do the ball joint if I hadn't done it myself. Unbelievable for a 10 minute job.
A Belle Tire quoted another $200 to do the ball joint if I hadn't done it myself. Unbelievable for a 10 minute job.
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