Alignment-Steering-Suspension? SAFTEY

[Dinky26]

I took my 86' Brat to my mechanic because it was shaking at about 50-60mph & it would come and go with good a road. It was also pulling to the left a fair bit but by the time I took it into the shop it had really quit pulling at all.

 

I'm wanting to get my nephew in a Subaru. Found a good prospect for the application, 3 hours away though.

I want to drive my Brat for this task.

My question being if I drive my Brat for these 3 hours there and 3 hours back am I looking at potential failing of my steering/suspension.

Mechanic told me that I need the following parts replaced.

 

1. Ball Joints

2. Inner tie rod end

3. Lower control arm bushing

4. Strut rod bushing

5. Steering Gear Mounting Bushing

 

They also told me that they could only find the first two items. I went to Rock Auto and found the third without really looking, hum.....

 

Any how would I be better off taking a less fuel efficient vehicle for my 3 hr drive task??

 

When I bought the car the seller told me he had taken it to an alignment shop and they couldn't do anything to help the issue, IDK what to believe for sure on that though.

 

Welcome any and all comments.

 

Thanks

[BratRod]

Way back when I got my Brat, my father and I were driving to the city. The brat started to shake at about 65... and a few minutes later the tire started to fall apart. I bought a set of new tires, the mechanic came in personally and told me the front end was shot and that an alignment probably wouldn't help much, but he did it anyway. Did not shake again. After I replaced just about every suspension part possible, it rode a lot better than originally, and the wheel was much more straight.

 

As for parts failing, I would jack the front end up and have someone wobble the wheel while you look for what has slack. That will give you a better idea of how bad it is. I have replaced front end parts on peoples cars that scare me pretty bad. (Tie rod cup was CRACKED, and she was still driving it.) Sometimes parts fail when they shouldn't, and don't fail when they should. I have seen plenty examples of both. My general rule is: better safe than sorry.

 

Hope this helps. Don't take my word as fact, though. This is just my experience, and opinion.

[SmashedGlass]

I've had a ball joint come apart on one of my cars before. Luckily, it occurred while I was still in a large parking lot; had I been driving at any significant speed, it could have been catastrophic. I'd dig into and fix all of that suspension (at a minimum those first three items) before you drive any distances in the Brat. Having a wheel assembly come off while speeding down a road might ruin your day.

[Uberoo]

like it was said jack up the car and have an assistant turn the wheel back and forth to check the wear yourself.The tires don't even need to come off the ground,just enough for you to clearly see what is going on.have them turn the wheel as you look at each joint.Often a mechanic will say most parts are bad when something is worn that causes all of the suspension to move...

 

I once had a mechanic tell more more or less every front suspension piece of my 82 datsun/nissan 200sx (with only 60K miles) was shot.Despite the fact that the car rode better and handled better than most anything I have driven,And I've driven alot of cars with worn out suspensions.

[jono]

tires and their ply separation can cause grief as you describe. A malfunctioning CV joint inner can also cause a wobble on cruise, fade with torque and be an intermittent thing.

 

My EA82 sedan was pulling and vibrating, after tires inflated with a badly maintained pressure gauge in friends shop - gave 45 to tires with set max of 36. Tires bubbled up - ply separation killed them. Near new tyres from a wrecker solved vibes and steering pull - aligned with a tape measure between rims on stands !

[nipper]

I took my 86' Brat to my mechanic because it was shaking at about 50-60mph & it would come and go with good a road. It was also pulling to the left a fair bit but by the time I took it into the shop it had really quit pulling at all.

 

I'm wanting to get my nephew in a Subaru. Found a good prospect for the application, 3 hours away though.

I want to drive my Brat for this task.

My question being if I drive my Brat for these 3 hours there and 3 hours back am I looking at potential failing of my steering/suspension.

Mechanic told me that I need the following parts replaced.

 

1. Ball Joints

2. Inner tie rod end

3. Lower control arm bushing

4. Strut rod bushing

5. Steering Gear Mounting Bushing

 

They also told me that they could only find the first two items. I went to Rock Auto and found the third without really looking, hum.....

 

Any how would I be better off taking a less fuel efficient vehicle for my 3 hr drive task??

 

When I bought the car the seller told me he had taken it to an alignment shop and they couldn't do anything to help the issue, IDK what to believe for sure on that though.

 

Welcome any and all comments.

 

Thanks

Saftey Saftey Saftey. I have had ball joints pop, tie rod end go, half shafts explode. If you do the math the extra 30 bucks in gas is far cheaper then a 3 hr tow, or a short tow and a rental car.

[idosubaru]

lean towards being safe - realize how hard it is for us to say anything contructive without seeing a car.

 

generally subaru suspensions don't just fall apart.  so you could do a simple check and look for how much play/noise the ball joint, tie rods, and those components have.  simply jack the car up and see.  we can't do that.

 

and tires, if they're old then yes they are prone to blow out if they're aged.  if they sat for awhile, are a few years old, driving at highway speeds in summer heat won't do them any favors.

 

otherwise - if those things check out - drive it.

 

shaking/vibrating that goes away sounds like bushings...not a big deal if you inspect they're genearl condition and see which ones it is. 

or better yet - fix them.

 

there's probably only one thing causing 90% of the vibration, not 10. find that one and fix it.

[Gloyale]

Change the balljoints and tierods.

 

Those are the on;y parts that would "fall apart" and fail causing an accident.

 

I will bet once you get those fixed, the pulling/vibration will be greatly reduced.

 

I would bet that the shaking around 55-65 is a CV axle, and won't really be a safety issue.

[Dinky26]

  Yep after I thought about what I was thinking about and typed it in here it made alot more sense to BE SAFE and leave it home.

 

I feel very confident that what I was told needs to be replaced.  I've been going to them long enough with enough different vehicles over the years that he does NOT blow smoke up ones  A$$.  Which I am so glad I have found them to be with way.        

 

As it turned out the 3hours there and 3 hours back was NOT worth it :( oh well you don't know how some have been abused till you see them :angry: . Just amazes me how badly some treat their vehicles.

 

So in your opinion/opinions how labor intensive is it to replace these parts I've listed??

 

I am starting to notice that sometimes it pulls to the left---then to the right.  Does this indicate that a ball joint or tie rod is about to EXPLODE.....???

[idosubaru]

if there's no rust all that stuff is easy.  if there's rust well things get more interesting.

 

in general tie rods on subaru's are cake, so maybe you can start with those. 

 

you can even align the car yourself if you want.  there's some great threads on stringing a line from front to back and measuring the rear of the tire and front of the tire distance from that line, get it even and your toe is golden.

 

 

not necessarily about to explode - sometimes steering issues just cause a little wandering.  aged steering rack joints will cause a looseness like that too, allowing the steering system to shift as pavement differs.  you'll notice a very slight "delay" in steering too...like turn...slight hesitation while it takes up the slack in the warn bushings...then it turns.  but bushings can probably do that too or loose tie rods. 

 

it might be imminent, might not, depends what's causing it.

 

like we said - without simply grabbing it and seeing, which we can't do via the interwebs, there's no way to say.

[Dinky26]

if there's no rust all that stuff is easy.  if there's rust well things get more interesting.

 

in general tie rods on subaru's are cake, so maybe you can start with those. 

 

you can even align the car yourself if you want.  there's some great threads on stringing a line from front to back and measuring the rear of the tire and front of the tire distance from that line, get it even and your toe is golden.

 

 

not necessarily about to explode - sometimes steering issues just cause a little wandering.  aged steering rack joints will cause a looseness like that too, allowing the steering system to shift as pavement differs.  you'll notice a very slight "delay" in steering too...like turn...slight hesitation while it takes up the slack in the warn bushings...then it turns.  but bushings can probably do that too or loose tie rods. 

 

it might be imminent, might not, depends what's causing it.

 

like we said - without simply grabbing it and seeing, which we can't do via the interwebs, there's no way to say.

Yeah I know there's no way to really say for sure. Thanks for the input.

 

Are there 2 inner tie rod ends or just one kinda makes sense there would be 2, I only ordered one ?