i just replaced my front control arms today with some oem ones because i have the gay balljoint camber kits on them. now for some reason when i make any turns, the steering wheel has to go farther than it used to, which it was driving perfectly normal last night. and the weirdest thing is, the steering wheel wont straighten itself out after the turn, i have to pull it straight. for example, when i turned around at the end of my court and released the wheel a little to straighten out, it stayed where it was and kept turning. so i just let go to see what would happen and i ended up going in a few complete perfect circles.

the car is a 96 gsr. everything is bolted down tight and it was driving perfectly normal yesterday. the only thing i can think of to be wrong is that i tightened the bolts holding the arms to the anchor bridge thing too tight. could that be the problem? any input is appreciated.

 

Sounds like its binding somewhere. Put the front end on jacks and have someone turn the wheel and take a look to see what it is.

 

Post up the alignment sheet you got after having your car aligned.

 

i think i should fix the problem before i go get an alignment.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by drhonda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sounds like its binding somewhere. Put the front end on jacks and have someone turn the wheel and take a look to see what it is.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ok thanks im gonna check everything out again. does anybody have any other suggestions?

 

ok i raised the car and loosened the bolts where the arm pivots and then jacked up the control arm all the way and tightened them down, so that it wouldnt put as much stress on the arm. originally i tightened them when the arm was pointing downwards. it drives a little better but still doesnt straighten out all the way. now i noticed that when one wheel is straight, the other is pointed inward. the toe is bad because i just took out a camber kit right? but is this the reason for it not turning correctly?

 

wow either nobody knows anything about my problem or no one wants to help. if you're thinking i should just go get an alignment, i will, to fix the toe. however, i called wheel works and told them my problem and the manager said an alignment wont fix it, its a mechanical problem. either he doesnt know anything or i f*cked something up. can anybody guess at what i might have f*cked up? any input will be appreciated.

 

tightening the bushings with the suspension loaded is the proper way to install new suspension arms/parts.

also, changing camber DOES affect toe. they are very related. so you shouldnt be surprised the steering is different and your toe is off.

get an alignment.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">tightening the bushings with the suspension loaded is the proper way to install new suspension arms/parts.

also, changing camber DOES affect toe. they are very related. so you shouldnt be surprised the steering is different and your toe is off.

get an alignment.</TD></TR></TABLE>

ok thanks a lot. yea i did tighten them under load. so alignment dude was wrong i guess. thanks again.

 

ok so i went to les schwab to get it aligned and the guy said my tie rods are messed up. i didnt notice anything wrong with them last week but now i can feel play in the driver side when doing the 3oclock 6oclock shake but not the passenger side. my question is should i replace both sides or leave it alone if there is no play.

another question is, can i reuse the the tie rod circlip from the old one since the new tie rod from the dealership didnt come with it. and what else do i need besides the boot, castle nut, and cotter pin. the dealership tie rod only came with the boot attached but nothing else. thanks for the help.

 

so i can reuse the castle nut and cotter pin, but how do i go about resusing the circlip. how do i get it off the old joint and onto the new one. i looked at it and looks wrapped all the way around the boot. do i need a special tool?

 

help

 

cotter pins are about as cheap ans nails. reuse them if you can, but its easier to just use a new one.

i recommend new OEM castle nuts, because used castle nuts get the threads stretched and dont fit as well. causing too much friction and can make it difficult to put back on old worn out balljoints. you can solve this by replacing or rethreading with the right sized tap, either 10x1.25 or 12x1.25mm.

which "circlip" are you talking about? there is not real "circlip" on a tie rod balljoint. just a wire thingy around the rubber boot you can carefully pry off with a screwdriver and reuse. only lower balljoints have circlip or snap ring. and some new balljoints dont need them, as its unecessary.

 

the circlip im talking about is the wire thingy you described. the reason i call it a circlip is because the acura parts sites call it that: #15

http://www.acuraautomotivepart...ormal

so i can just pry it off and reuse it. thanks for all the info.