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Hey guys, i am trying to figure out what is causing my steering wheel to shake, along with a corresponding thump when it begins to shake.. The steering wheel does not always shake just sometimes..

I was doing a cv replace on both driver and passenger side, and while doing the passenger side i noticed that if i grabbed my hub and pulled/pushed there was movement that didnt seem right.. best way to explain it is this ... before i pushed it looked like | and when i pushed it looked like \ but with a bit less of a tilt.. i could move it back and forth in the tilting direction. I am thinking a bad tie rod but i am not sure.. Anyone know how i can diagnose this? or if it can be something else?


thanks alot in advance guys.
Ryan

 
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a friend of mine said it is the upper ball joint.. I wanna know for sure before i start dropping money into random parts for a trial and error. So i went to autozone and get some prices 22$ for just the ball joint... 80$ for ball joint and control arm.. I am told that pressing the ball joint into the control arm is pretty difficult and i might need a shop to do it. Any advice??

 
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Just did some more research.. I forgot to take into consideration that i have aftermarket control arms. is there a possibility that they made it easier on us? do i need an aftermarket ball joint or factory?

 
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Your ball joints are definitely bad, if the hub is able to move in the way that you describe that indicates that they're failing. You'll be able to replace them yourself with a ball joint press kit that you can rent from most auto-parts stores, but they should absolutelt be torqued with a torque wrench. Buying all new control arms is really unnecessary, worst case scenario you could remove the control arms and take them to a mechanic to press in the ball joints then re-install yourself. I suspect your tie rod ends need replacing as well.

 
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thanks for the info i appreciate it

 
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While you're at it, I would say replace both upper and lower ball joints on both sides, and you'll definitely want to have somebody with a press kit to get them in nice and tight. Then check the wear on the tire, and if it is unevenly worn, get a new set of fronts and have them aligned.

If you do all of this, and don't dick around with the car too much, you probably won't encounter that problem again.