ok so a couple weeks ago, i started hearing grinding during turns, the sound was consistent to speed. i got under the car and my outer most axle boot was ripped apart on the driverside. grease was covering the brakes. this was all recent, not typical dryrot ripped.

today i decided to get under it again and have someone turn the wheel, i pulled into my driveway which was paved a few years ago, and noticed, the driver side front suspension looked lower than normal. i pulled into the garage and still low. im talking a significant inch lower than the passenger side. had my sister turn the wheel left and right and saw no rubbing while on stand or on the ground. the rubbing im hearing is probably in the hub or axle itself.

but the shock looks fine, bushings look good, theres no play in the wheel, spring is all there, all in ok condition, car is stock as ****. i dont know whats doing it. axle is pretty tore but i dont thing thats causing the lowered ride hieght on that side. any words of wisdom?

car is a 93 4 door civic manual trans, 1.5 non. stock as the day it was born

 

hmmm... nothing? no one?

 

MM&Y of car would help. 94

 

93 4 door civic 1.5 manual

 

If it is stock then my guess would be a weak spring, bent/damaged spring seats or a damaged shock tower.

What kind of condition is the car in, rust wise?

Any chance you hit a curb and bent something, [suspension] on that side of car?

Any chance the problem is on the other side, sitting higher, 94 for any of the above reasons?

 

this is the only thing i figured. but the springs look in good condition by eye. shock tower looks great

only rust is on the quarters which i cut off, under the hood, there is no rust on the towers or frame. maybe on some bolts.

i didnt hit a curb most certainly.

i dont know what can cause that side to sit higher. at first i thought maybe a blow shock causing it to sit lower but that wouldnt cause that.

everything you asked, i thought of too... i looked for rust or suspension damage, bends, cracks. something ripped the cv boot off.

 

If all else is good, it can only be the spring itself, a weak spring would look no diff. then a good spring except it would be shorter, [compressed more].

Measure both front springs from upper seat, [damper mounting base] to lower seat, [on damper unit "shock"] with car sitting on suspension.
While at it, make sure spring mounting rubber is in place, [top of spring between spring and damper mounting plate] on the side that's low. 94

 

i will do this this weekend and come back with results.

the measurements i had before were from the top of the rim to the fender.

 

Did you replace the ripped CV boot? A grinding during turning is usually confirmation that your CV joint needs to be replaced. While you are measuring & replacing your springs you should look at replacing the CV boot/joint.

 

yes, it says it in the first post, the cv boot (outer most) is shredded. i know this is the sound and needs to be replaced but what is shredding them. i dont wanna put a new axle in to get tore up again.

im driving on the **** axle now, i just coast through turns and its fine.

 

a ripped boot on an axle gives you maybe a week or two max in the current illinois weather. Replace it soon.
boost go bad from time to time, may be age (rubber degrades, especially when it's flexed often) or something in the road that you hit, or even something going bad internally tore it and flew out. If you don't see anything that can cause it, repalce it and check it regularly for a while to make sure it doens't happen again.
Lifetime warranty axles are good for this just in case something happens that it rips again.

 

i hear ya, im doing it this saturday. thanks all

 

Well for 1, cheap axles from autozone have really soft rubber boots and because of this they loose thier shape and rip VERY easy. This is what a Duralast axle looked like after PERFECT install. I treat everything like its glass. Only nice part about Autozone is they take everything back! I installed in Oct of 09. Its Jan 4th now. Looked great after the install but Ill post up another link of what the other boots look like when I take the axles off in a min. Honestly I think all they need is some real good rubber treatment sprayed on them or coated somehow, before they are installed and have a chance to crack. Cause even the boots that didn't warp like this one have DEEP cracks throughout the boot. Pics of other boots will be taken and posted, I love it when you guys share pics .

http://www5.snapfish.com/slideshow/A...NAME=snapfish/

Also I will be reinsalling the new replacment duralast axles, I'm gonna get some rubber starch (if that exists), or somthing to that effect, and i'll repost what they look like again in coulpe months when I do my swaybar and frame support install.

Also quik note that i forgot about: If you are missing your splash guard or fender liners, road debris and pot holes will claim your CV boots. No your car dosen't have to be lowered, specialy if you live in CA. Road are TERRIBLE!

 

good ****, im gonna look into something as well, good info.. post your findings later

and for other, i know cv boots crack all the time... mine looks like a raccoon was snacking on it, it is tore up from the floor up. i jsut hope my car didnt cause it.

 

ok, so i had plans tonight and they went from being plans to maybe not happening, so when i left work, i bought the axle and rented a 32mm socket and hit the garage. first off, why is the metal used in the suspension always beat up. is it cheap ****? not prepared well?

anywho, so when i initially diagnosed the problem, i was doing the water pump on my car so when i saw the boot, it looked bad, now that i have the axle off, the boot just looks torn, the insides are... well you be the judge, im surprised it lasted as long as it did



the lower ball joint cotter pin was a ***** and i wasnt happy with it. axle came out ok. new one in, i still hear something but its different and sounds like bushings maybe.

anyways, its done, and i only broke a screw driver and needle nose pliers, oh and a 1/2" extension.

 

Jeezzzz, that has been exposed to the elements for some time. 94

 

i know, you should see what it looked like when you turn the wheel. looks like the ball bearings in there are gonna shoot out. and the metal in there is eaten up

 

ok so the new one is in an everything is gravy.... but when i turn the wheel hard, i still hear a lil rubbing coming from there like before, but less aggressive.

before, anyway i turn it, even a little turn, id get rubbing, now, its to the right and has to be a good turn...

any thoughts

 

My FIRST thought is WHEEL BEARINGS. Not to difficult to change if it is them. Do you notice any Humming yet? or jus the scratching?

My SECOND thought, could be the brake shield, but that nosie usually isn't affected by a TURN.

Got pics of the DURALAST CV boot that went poop on me. I'll post them soon. Got the new axles waiting on the sideine, to prevent this from happening again, I sprayed the NEW boots really good with Miguires leather and rubber care STUFF. ;P We'll see how this works out.

 

TIP #1 : Do Both at same time.. especialy if its one of the FRONT ones. They USUALLY carry more wieght, and Ive done just one before. Jus to have to do the other one a month later. ;( You live, you learn.

TIP #2 : When you do the test that involves lifting the car and then checking for "PLAY" in the bearing, using the wheel. It doesn't mean your bearings are GOOD jus cause there is NO play in them. That just means they weren't HORRIBLY BAD.

I finay went nutz and had friend drive my car while I ran along side. Its was easy to hear that it was bad from outside the car.

 

man, this sure doesnt sound like a wheel bearing like i have heard before. sounds like the same old creaking as before just less agressive. im gonna take a look at it this weekend. thanks

 

sooo, it turns out they say my axle boots were chewed up because my struts are old... and saying my wheel bearing is going...

my front struts rebound like they should, anyone have comments about this in regards to struts

 

If your just pushing on the car to check the struts, you can't. Good springs will hide it all. I've got 100k plus on my stock suspention. Some random parts look new but everything else looks WAY old. I took it ALL apart and presure washed and greased everything. Mostly to find that it was all in Darn Good condition. Bump stops look'd the worst and they were still firm n' foamy! (I didn't even replace them, they weren't cracked jus discolored. but still had nice feel, not britle).

I jus bought my car and so I like to run through everything at least once, I also went ES bushings had couple bad ones only two and I got the master kit for 60 buck on Craigslist brand new in box. Wish I would got the BLACK ones now that Im almost done with them all. ;'( black ones resist graphite!

Point is I dont think your struts are bad, dosen't hurt to check. Have to take the shock of car, spring off shock, and then reassemble, here this guy does a nice job of the test. and explains what to look for in bad struts.

I dont think yours are BAD. Its the number one thing auto-repair shops sell for NO darn reason. I live in LA Ive now been to almost 15 shops. Jus to find they all overcharge and have people that work there that DON'T care about YOUR car!

If you must, download HELMS for free from http://www.spoonertuner.com/manuals

THESE manuals are in .PDF format you must use adobe, or foxfit. they are .PDF READERS, you will find it slow to navigate through the manual and the index is kinda usless in this format. (you'll see there's no page numbers just tabs)

Heres where you can get FOXFIT for FREE too http://download.cnet.com/Foxit-Reade...-10313206.html

Then rent a spring compressor from AutoZone, CHECK the TOOL'S THREAD'S. Very commonly they are stripped, this almost murdered my shock assembley, there was stripped threads at the bottom of one of the huge bolts, when I got to them, they gave way under pressure of the spring.

Then watch this VIDEO few times http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSQPp74ibg8

This is how its done (Helms is just for how to take out the shock assembly). You should have one, if you dont get one, its FREE!

 

STOP: Don't use the autozone SPRING COMPRESSOR at all. They dont WORK, I dont know about your car but my 95 integra. the spring is too long and close together. It damages the DUST COVER. Sorry for the bad info. you must go to a shop and beg them to just dissasemble and reassemble for cheap. call around and get prices if you just bring in the shock assembly. I'm going through this right now. Its NOT cool. Shops are being rediculous so DON't take it apart until you have thier CLEAR word, hell a quote type'd out, with a good price you can hold them too. Good Luck.

 

thanks for everyones words, i appreciate