First of all, my car is lowered with Neuspeed springs and Tokico shocks. Now, the problem is that whenever I drive over any rough pavement (at any speed) my suspension rattles like crazy. I took of my driver side front tire and noticed an uneven wear pattern on the inner part of it. Its pretty bald so it needs to be replaced. Although, the other tires have plenty of meat. When I bought the car about 6 months ago, the guy who sold it to me said he fixed the inner tie rod because it broke when he ran onto a curb--I had noticed the bumper was a little uneven (not much, but still noticeable). How can I check that out? I have a funny feeling about it? Could it still be broken? What symptoms does a broken tie rod give? Also, I don't know where the inner tie rod is located.
Anyway, I tried to tug and pull on the steel arm that's parallel to the shock and connected to the brake ( it's called the knuckle I think?). Well, there was some minute play when I tugged on it. I'd say about a little less than one-eighth of an inch. It also rattled a bit. I don't think this is normal? I do have 123,000 miles so I know that plays a big role in the car being noisy, but what are your thoughts?





[Modified by sando112, 4:10 AM 11/7/2001]

 

Your inner tie rod is a joint located on the inner part of the steering rack, it has a black boot that covers it and protects it from dirt and debris..

The outer tie rod is what connects to the lower control arm and pivots when steering, this is the major component when adjusting "toe"(steering angle) on the particular tire..

Whenever a inner/outer tie rod is replaced the car must also have a front end alignment to insure the tires are riding "true" and to ensure proper steering and to prevent premature tire wear.. This may have not been done in your case for the fact of an uneven tire wear pattern..

Tie rods don't usually create rattles when driving over bumps, they will "clunk" when moving the steering wheel back and forth..

Alot of suspension noises can be related to struts or upper/lower ball joints...

Struts sometimes make noises like shaking a jar of pennies, and can only be duplicated when the car is moving

Ball joints will "creak" like an old rusty door hinge , but can be duplicated by bouncing the front end while the car is parked..

Hope this helps..

 

Thanks for the info....

Well, the suspension doesn't really sound like it's creaking. It's more like a rattle. Like I said when I yanked on the knuckle back and forth there was some play--about and 1/8th of an inch. The sound was identical to the rattle I'm talking about. This noise is driving me nuts!!! Helllllppp!!!