So when I am stopped and start moving I hear some sort of movement coming from around the wheel/suspension or steering parts, but my handling is not comprimised, just wondering what it could be. Sounds like it could be a bushing or something moving around or something, kinda hard to explain, sometimes here it over little bumps etc.

 

sounds like controll arm bushing

 

ok thanks, best way of checking if it's good or bad?

 

One of my control arms had both its bushings completely blown so i got them both replaced. I never noticed any sort of sound though unless I would go over bumps though, so if you hear it when driving on a flat road, it might be something else. Is it specific to one side?

 

hearing it more on the left, but it may be on both sides, hard to tell.

 

Do you hear sort of a thunk when you take off?

 

yes I do, both upper control arms were changed for safety 6 months ago i guess. So i'm thinking it's the lower. If the inner tie rods were going, same noise? Also would it affect my steer dramatically?

 

does your shifter move forwards and backwards alot??? check your back mount, check for blown mounts.

 

check all your mounts while your there. and bushings. just go through and look at all of them.

 

have you checked your lower ball joints? i've heard of squeaking when they're bad, but i dunno about clunking. either that OR possibly a bad axle (binding perhaps)

 

axels are ok, mounts are all polyurethane, and shifter doesn't move with shifting, did before though, fixed that a while back. I ordered poly control arm bushings. Lower ball joints are on tie rod ends, change both the outter tie rod ends not to long ago. So I guess all that leaves is lower control arm bushings, just wondering about rack bushings, what symptoms do u get when they are bad? I noticed that a couple of them are cracked a little, but steering at high speeds is not comprimised at all.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pothole987 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">have you checked your lower ball joints? i've heard of squeaking when they're bad, but i dunno about clunking. either that OR possibly a bad axle (binding perhaps)</TD></TR></TABLE>

ball joints make a bed springs sound happened to me

 

ball joints are all new, no problem there. Anything else guys? Thanks for the input so far.

 

it could be your rack and pinion,i had the same kinda noise and for the longest time i could never figure it out until it got really bad,turn your steering wheel back and forth when ur parked with the key in,if u hear the noise its ur rack and pinion,very easy to change

 

ok so i did a test when i was stopped and it does make the noise, also started squeeking, that normal for when the rack starts to go? Also what exactly is involed in changing the rack, briefly in steps if u could.

 

yeah its your rack,its easy to change,jack up the car and take off the front two wheels,un bolt the tie rod ends and remove them from the rack,underneath the car youll see there are four bolts that hold it to the car,un bolt those four bolts and then on the inside of the car where the rack meets the steering column,remove the cover and youll see two ten millimeter bolts,remove those bolts and it should come right out,then repeat the steps in reverse order to put it back,then u should get an allignment

 

excellent, and to remove the inner tie rods, and put them on the new rack? easy?

 

yeah its simple,its best to loosen the bolt from the rack before you unbolt them from the hub,then you can spin them right off

 

ok cool, any idea if i can use the Si rack in a vx hatch?

 

you never said anything about dropping the subframe... i did it in mine, removing the ENTIRE tie rods didnt give me enough space.

yes all racks fit from 92-2000.

 

whats involved in dropping the subframe? Where are all the bolts? I tried dropping it before and it wasn't seperating from the chassis. Let me know.

 

you dont have to drop the sub frame,you might have to move the header,but not the subframe,you have to just pull the rack out in an angle,it might take a bit of manuvering but it will come out,angle it up on the pass side and pull it through the bottom on the driver side,i did mine and all i took out was my dc header and it came out

 

is it true I need an inner tie rod tool? Planning on doing this next week, so i'm going to gather all the stuff i need to do it, so there aren't any mistakes, let me know.

 

no u just need some wrenches and sockets

 

What steering racks will fit in my car? Mine is a manual so it's a little more difficult to find a rack to fit my car, just wondering if a rack from any 92-95 civic will fit my 92 civic hatch vx.