loose steering
05-20-2005, 05:57 PM
#11
Banned
Tie Rods are a possibility... probably 2-300 bux to do including an alignment.
Its hard to believe it would be Tie Rods though, Ive never heard of Toe rods going bad on any Honda thats only used for street use.
Darren, if you'd like i can give you a phone # to a friend of mine who is a 25yr exp front end tech.
Its hard to believe it would be Tie Rods though, Ive never heard of Toe rods going bad on any Honda thats only used for street use.
Darren, if you'd like i can give you a phone # to a friend of mine who is a 25yr exp front end tech.
05-20-2005, 08:34 PM
#12
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by Tugz_S2K,May 20 2005, 09:57 PM
Tie Rods are a possibility... probably 2-300 bux to do including an alignment.
Its hard to believe it would be Tie Rods though, Ive never heard of Toe rods going bad on any Honda thats only used for street use.
Darren, if you'd like i can give you a phone # to a friend of mine who is a 25yr exp front end tech.
Its hard to believe it would be Tie Rods though, Ive never heard of Toe rods going bad on any Honda thats only used for street use.
Darren, if you'd like i can give you a phone # to a friend of mine who is a 25yr exp front end tech.
05-20-2005, 08:37 PM
#13
Registered User
Join Date: May 2005
Location: formerly B18C5
Posts: 143
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Checking the ball joints on your suspension is easy, you might as well try it yourself before taking it anywhere. It's important to be able to check all your ball joints as a regular maintenance procedure. In this case, first I'd check the tie rods.
Jack up the front of the car and wiggle the wheels left and right. You should have a bit of play, but if it's a too much have a look where it's coming from. You should be able to see if there's too much play in the joint. If one tie rod is going, then it's likely the other one is going to. It's cheap insurance to replace both at the same time, since you'll need an alignment anyway.
The other two (per side) you need to check are your upper and lower knuckle ball joints. With the wheels still in the air, wiggle the wheel top to bottom. If there's any play one of the two is bad. If you can wiggle the top of the wheel back and forth it's probably the top. If you can wiggle the bottom of the wheel back and forth it's probably the bottom.
If you still can't figure which one is giving you problems, then put the wheels back on the ground and give it another wiggle. If you still have play it's probably the top.
As for replacement, the tie rod ends aren't too bad to do. You basically unthread them, then pop the joint. Or pop the joint and unthread them, whichever works easier for you. If it's an upper or lower ball joint it's a bit more involved. I'm not sure how S2000s work, but on all Civics/Tegs you need to replace the entire upper A arm. They're cheap, and it's much easier than removing the joint from the arm. For the lower joint you need to get someone with a press to remove it. Sometimes there's a clip that you have to remove. I don't know how our cars work, but it'll be obvious if you look at it. It's a 30 second job if you have a press. You can just take the knuckle to a small shop and they'll do it for a few bucks cash.
If you don't find a bad ball joint, then the next thing I'd do is get your alignment checked. It'll probably be off regardless, so you might as well see if that fixes it. You might have too much toe-in, which can really numb steering feel.
Hrm. I wrote a lot for something that's supposed to be easy to do.
Coles notes:
1) Jack up the car.
2) Wiggle the wheels in different directions.
3) See if there's any play
4) Replace bad joint(s) (if necessary)
5) Get an alignment
Jack up the front of the car and wiggle the wheels left and right. You should have a bit of play, but if it's a too much have a look where it's coming from. You should be able to see if there's too much play in the joint. If one tie rod is going, then it's likely the other one is going to. It's cheap insurance to replace both at the same time, since you'll need an alignment anyway.
The other two (per side) you need to check are your upper and lower knuckle ball joints. With the wheels still in the air, wiggle the wheel top to bottom. If there's any play one of the two is bad. If you can wiggle the top of the wheel back and forth it's probably the top. If you can wiggle the bottom of the wheel back and forth it's probably the bottom.
If you still can't figure which one is giving you problems, then put the wheels back on the ground and give it another wiggle. If you still have play it's probably the top.
As for replacement, the tie rod ends aren't too bad to do. You basically unthread them, then pop the joint. Or pop the joint and unthread them, whichever works easier for you. If it's an upper or lower ball joint it's a bit more involved. I'm not sure how S2000s work, but on all Civics/Tegs you need to replace the entire upper A arm. They're cheap, and it's much easier than removing the joint from the arm. For the lower joint you need to get someone with a press to remove it. Sometimes there's a clip that you have to remove. I don't know how our cars work, but it'll be obvious if you look at it. It's a 30 second job if you have a press. You can just take the knuckle to a small shop and they'll do it for a few bucks cash.
If you don't find a bad ball joint, then the next thing I'd do is get your alignment checked. It'll probably be off regardless, so you might as well see if that fixes it. You might have too much toe-in, which can really numb steering feel.
Hrm. I wrote a lot for something that's supposed to be easy to do.
Coles notes:
1) Jack up the car.
2) Wiggle the wheels in different directions.
3) See if there's any play
4) Replace bad joint(s) (if necessary)
5) Get an alignment
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post