dele22

Hello everyone

Whenever I hit a pot hole or a crack in the road, my front passenger wheel rattles like crazy. It also doesn't seem to handle the shock quite as well as it should. I took it to Sears Auto and got a free quote, and they told me it was the tie rod end. I replaced that, and although my old tie rod end was bad, it still does the rattling thing with the new one in place. I can wiggle the tire horizontally in both directions when it's up on a jack. What's the next logical fix? Ball joints? Any method for diagnosing or pinpointing exactly what the problem is?

I'm happy to provide whatever extra info is needed.

Thanks for any advice!

dele22

Quick follow up: The general consensus amongst my friends is that it's either the inner tie rod or my entire rack/pinion. Anyone know how I can tell the difference?

There is some play in the inner tie rod, but it doesn't seem like it could be causing the ruckus I'm hearing on uneven terrain.

lazlong

Besides a visual inspection of the boots, rubber pieces, and rack mount bolts and cushions (also rubber) you'd have to take the rack out. If you're gonna do that then might as well rebuild it. There shouldn't be any play in the inner tie-rods. Even though it's a pain, I would change the inner tie-rods first as that's the least expensive option. A set of inner are about as much as 1 outer.

dele22

Thanks, I'll just give the tie rods a quick switch as it's only a few bucks and looks easy. I think a whole rack replacement is over my head, hopefully it won't come to that. What are the next most common causes of horizontal wheel play that I can check for?

dele22

Found the time to swap the tie rods today. No more wheel play, but there's still some strange rattle when I hit uneven terrain. The car seems to handle a little better, but it's hard to say beyond that.

For what it's worth, the sound seems quieter, more like rubber mallet on metal rather than metal on metal.

dele22

Alright, sounds like my wheel is going to fall off anytime I go over even minor uneven terrain. Any usual suspects I should take a look at? The wheel
doesn't wiggle in any direction.

Just finished replacing the inner tie rod end on both sides and that has made no difference.

Former User

Check the strut (springs and shock absorber). Also, is the nut loose in the shock tower?

Have you checked the upper arm and ball joint?

lazlong

I had a sound like that and it turned out to be the top mount on the strut assembly.

dele22

Any advice on how to diagnose the struts? I have next to no knowledge about this sort of thing.

chiprez

I have the same problem actually. Checked out my front end and although my right inner tie rod has minor play, I know it can't make that noise. Racked up my car and as I lifted it I didn't look like the strut top had any movement. Hmmmm

chiprez

I think to check the upper arm and ball joint you have to lift the car with weight on the suension and check for play then.

dele22

Thanks for that tip

78F350

I had a rattle like that in my CRV. It turned out to be the sway bar links. No play in the wheel, but a serious rattle on bumps.

I replaced both the links and the bushings on the sway bar, pretty cheap and easy fix. Well, after it was done it was easy: It can be a real pain getting the old links off.

I love this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0486J-reupY

At about 3 mins in "This thing is utter hell." I felt his pain.

dele22

Turned out to be a blown strut.
edit: Crap, I just swapped the strut and although the car handles well and doesn't sound like it's going to explode whenever I hit uneven terrain, a slight rattle is still there. Must be something small, some joint or bushing somewhere that I'm missing.