Weird suspension problem, can't find issue

[Royal96]

You say you hear a clicking when turning the wheel? Your car have ABS? Might be something stuck to the sensor being it's magnetic. Worth looking at. I know it won't cause handling problems but it'll cause a clicking noise for sure.

Hadn't thought of that, but thats a good point. Ah well, the bearing was cheap and it isnt hard to change.

I think the new a arms will probably solve your problem. I'll bet your control arm bushings are split. Changing the ball joints is pretty easy with the borrowed tool, I did it day before yesterday. I like Rockauto, as long as I order the right part I get the right part...

Yeah, I've replaced the ball joint before, and it's not hard, just time consuming.

 

[Royal96]

Anyone know of a way to get the a arm out without removing the steering rack? I'm trying to get this done as quickly as possible and I don't really want to have to remove the rack and then have to replied the system afterwards.

 

[lutter94]

The steering rack and a arm aren't close to each other at all

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[Royal96]

The steering rack and a arm aren't close to each other at all

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

The tie rod runs right in the way of the front bolt. I can't get anything short of a wrench in the bolt, and there isn't room on the inside of the a arm to get an impact or anything. I also foresee problems getting the bolt out with the tie rod on the way.

 

[Frank.JD.Perez]

They're close but the steering rack shouldn't pose an issue for the removal of the arms

 

[Frank.JD.Perez]

Best thing to do is when you get the crown bolt off the tie rods to put it on upside down and thread down a little bit. Then get a mallet or hammer and hit it until it comes out

 

[Royal96]

I think y'all are misunderstanding my predicament. I'll post a picture tomorrow when its daylight and Im working on it again.

 

[Royal96]

Here's a rough diagram

Green is the tie rod (Not tie rod end, but the tie rod jutting out the side of the steering rack), red is the a arm bolt behind it, black is the a-arm. No articulation of the tie rod whatsoever gives me any extra access to the bolt.

 

[DKblue98GT]

I just rebuilt my front end. I would:

Remove the tie rod ends from the spindles

Break the ball joints loose from the spindles with the strut still attached and a Jack under tha A arm to support it when it breaks free. Make sure you leave the ball joint nut threaded on far enough to be safe.

Make sure the steering wheel and wheels are straight. Remove the bolt that holds the steering shaft to the rack. Pull the lower shaft off the rack.

Remove the 2 bolts that hold the rack to the k member and pull the rack forward. Use wire or zip ties to hang the rack from the sway bar.

You don't need to disconnect the lines from the rack, just be careful of them.

You can now get the front A armbolts out.

Remove the outer bolt on each side at the back of the k member so the rear control arm bolts will come out.

I hope this helps!
Robb

 

[lutter94]

If you pull the tie rod off the control arm, pull it up/steer all the way to the opposite side, none of that helps?

 

[Royal96]

If you pull the tie rod off the control arm, pull it up/steer all the way to the opposite side, none of that helps?

I tried, and unfortunately not.

I tried pulling the rack off but the column wont come loose from it. However, with both rack bolts out, I was able to pull the rack up and out just enough to get the bolt out.

 

[Royal96]

Remove the outer bolt on each side at the back of the k member so the rear control arm bolts will come out.

I wasn't sure what you meant by this until I tried to pull the rear bolt out. I was quite amazed that ford wouldn't check clearance on that, but it is easy enough to get around.

 

[DKblue98GT]

I'm glad you got it done.

 

[Royal96]

Well finished it up today. Can't say too much yet since I only drove it to the parts store and back, but so far everything seems good. Definitely needs an alignment, but that is obvious. The old wheel bearing looked like it was in okay shape, but it was definitely causing the rotational clicking, so I'm glad I went ahead and changed that out.

 

[Frank.JD.Perez]

Well finished it up today. Can't say too much yet since I only drove it to the parts store and back, but so far everything seems good. Definitely needs an alignment, but that is obvious. The old wheel bearing looked like it was in okay shape, but it was definitely causing the rotational clicking, so I'm glad I went ahead and changed that out.

One a scale of pain in the ass to :rage: how would you rate changing the wheel bearings?

 

[Royal96]

One a scale of pain in the ass to :rage: how would you rate changing the wheel bearings?

Super easy if you have a good impact gun. I'd imagine it may be quite a bit more painful without one. You take off the wheel and brake assembly, carefully pry off the dust cover in the center of the hub, use the impact (with a 36mm socket that you may have to rent, or if you're like me and like to have tools around, buy) to take the hub nut off. Slide the old hub/bearing assembly off the spindle, clean the spindle, add some wheel bearing grease, slide the new hub/bearing assembly on, put on new nut, torque to 250 ft/lbs, carefully replace the dust cover (small piece of wood and a hammer around the edge worked wonders for me), reassemble brake assembly, put your wheel back on and you're done. Seriously takes like 15 minutes if you're taking your time.