Front susp guru's... Help me out

[squeak93]

98 Gt. Lowered eibach pro kit. Stock everything else that I can see, no cc plates.

Now the problem. My driver front wheel hub/bearing assembly was making a ticking noise the other day. That told me it was well on its way out and to take it easy if I do drive it (weekend summer toy only so wasn't worried about it at that particular moment). I painted the calipers and did all the cleaning I wanted and just put it back together figuring I'd get to it in a few weeks when it was a bit warmer in my garage. But I took it to a local photo meet with some friends this past weekend and I had this horrific metal on metal noise about 1/2 through the day. (only put 10 miles on it). I got the wheel tore off last night and the brakes and stuff had come loose. I tightented them quite well and they should not of had this happen.

The wheel/rack has some side to side play to it like a tie rod is bad. It bump steers pretty good on that side b/c of this. What am I looking at here? My hub assembly is obviously shot, are my ball joints on the way out too? Or do I just replace the tie rod and go on? Just curious as to why the stuff loosened itself after I KNOW for a fact that it was all buttoned up real tight.

Any takers? Def not my first time with a wrench and suspension, just wandering where to start my diagnosis.

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

Grab the tie rods and see if they move up and down. If they do, they are junk.

Jack car up by K-member and spin the front wheels/tires. If you hearing, groaning/grinding/any noise, the hubs are junk. You should basically nothing when you spin them. It's rare the hub bearings go bad on 94-04 cars, but I have seen it once....but that was because the jackass who did the brakes before I got the car heated the hell out of them. You could see a hot spot on the flange. I put a new hub on for him and the car drove great.

 

[squeak93]

I can't move them up and down, but can see it move side to side into the rack boot cover. Just very odd that it loosened everything up and I know for a fact it was installed correctly. it has some vibration so I assume thats why they bolts backed them selves off...

So replace the hub, thats apparent. What about the ball joint? I can't feel any up and down motion on the wheel or assembly as a whole.

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

The tie rods are supposed to move side to side. They move over bumps and when you take corners. They are a ball and socket type part like (your knee cap).

The ball joints test you can jack it up again and then grab the wheel at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock and pull and push toward/away from yourself. The wheel should be tight.

Another ball joint test is to stick a pry bar between the LCA and the bottom of the spindle where it hooks to the ball joint. Try and pry upward on the spindle. If it moves up and down, it's junk. If it's tight it's good. They usually squeak very badly and annoyingly while driving. That is how you know if they are bad too. If you get new ball joints, but MOOG. Not Ford OEM crap, not Autozone China made crap. I used Ford ball joints in a 99 Mustang that a customer provided and they were just as loose as the 75K old ones I took out. No improvement whatsoever.

 

[96SCstang]

The tie rods are supposed to move side to side. They move over bumps and when you take corners. They are a ball and socket type part like (your knee cap).

i have to disagree with the above statement. no suspension part should have any kind of movement inside the joint. if you grab the tire at 3 and 9 o'clock and there is movement in the tie rod end it is bad and warrents replacement. i small amount of movement won't do much damage but alot of movement causes tire wear and could break on you driving. from what you have said i would replace the wheel hub and outer tie rod end and then go get it aligned.

 

[squeak93]

My passenger side has no movement on either test. The driver side only moves when my hands are on the 3 and 9. I do not remember any from the 12 and 6. I'll check that again tonight but don't have time to actually tear into till tomorrow.

So, def the out not the inner tie rod? I can see movement right by the rack even, was afraid the rack was bad. I do have a "catch" in the steering every now and then when I first start the car up and back out of the driveway. But that is the only time I feel/notice it.

Oh the fun of fix other peoples f ups...

 

[96SCstang]

oh i thought you said you seen movement in the outer tie rod end. what you need to do is get a buddy to shake the tire and 3 and 9, and you get under and put your hand on the outer tie rod end and then put your hand on the inner boot right where the tie rod would be. then just see where you feel the movement. then replace that part.

 

[bhuff30]

As SVT32VDOHC said, it is rare for hubs to go bad. I had a hub on my 97 GT go bad, but it took 155k miles! In my case, it made no noise or sounds, but while driving on the highway, it felt like a loose tie rod end. I'm not so certain your problem is the hub.

If you have play while holding the tire at 3 and 9, then it is either the tie rod or hub. Just watch the tie rods while you are wiggling the tire. If you see movement within the tie rod end, then it is bad. If not, then most likely it is fine and just the hub needs to be replaced.

If there is play wiggling from 12 and 6, but not 3 and 9, then it's likely the ball joint. A hub will be equally loose in all directions, and a ball joint will be mostly from 12 and 6.

When you do replace the hub, be aware that the main retaining nut should be replaced. This is clearly stated in the ford service manual. I bought the nuts from ford and they cost about 10$ each. But suspension is one area you don't want to mess around, do it right! Also, the nut needs to be torqued very high, I believe the minimum spec was 250 ft*lbs which was the maximum for my torque wrench. Again, do it right because a suspension failure can be horrible.

 

[SaleenGT2001]

if the tie rod has side to side movement the inners are most likely gone.

very easy replacement and only about $20 each. you need an alignment after you put new ones on

 

[squeak93]

When I move my wheel, I can see the inner tie rod move into the boot on the rack. Seems that may be my problem. The car has 150k on it as well. I can her "ticking" and now grinding when the wheel rotates. I need to dig into it tonight to see exactly whats up. Got busy helping a friend move last night so no worky for me.

 

[SaleenGT2001]

deff sounds like its time for new inners