Noise in front end

[eppoh]

My sons 98 Legacy wagon had torn tire rod boot and a torn driver CV boot. I am down with back trouble so, he took it to a local shop. They replaced the axle and boots. Now he says there is a small clunk when turning the wheel fast. The shop looked at it and says there is a little play in the left rod from the steering rack. The play is up and down, not in and out.

 

I cannot get under there to check it. Does this sound likely?

[NoahDL88]

Yes, ball joints or tie rod ends wear in a way that up and down motion becomes common.

 

On Ford explorers it gets so bad you can literally get half an inch of play, much more than that and its going over

[sparky11]

Is it clunk or a pop? I'm chasing a similar noise on my 97 legacy left front suspension. I can't find anything loose at all, yet when I turn quickly left or right I get a pop from the left that I can feel.

 

I can reproduce it by sawing the wheel back and forth at medium speeds putting a fair amount of stress on the suspension. I just replaced the left axle but it was there before i did that. I had the ball joint out of the knuckle and it looks/ feels ok however I'm leaning that direction. At this point there is no abnormal tire wear, or handling problems.

[sparky11]

I should clarify that I know it is not an upper strut bearing or spring problem. Its feel is similar to the strut / knuckle bolts being not tight enough allowing it to shift under stress. Those have not been touched since I got the car 3 years ago and there is no marks or evidence they are moving.

 

I had that happen before after having a car aligned. That's what happens when you don't do things yourself. I just didn't have access to an alignment rack anymore.

[sparky11]

If it wasn't there before the work was done it just sounds suspicious to me. Something may not have been completely tightened up, or reinstalled correctly. Stuff happens. What they did is not rocket science.