Alright so tonight i took it out for the first real drive its had since i finished, and there were 2 BAD things i noticed besides all the improvements.

First, while holding the wheel steady (its crooked because i need an alignment BAD), the car will swerve within the lane (slow progression, but it still happens).

Second, I hear this weird noise in turns, its almost like the strut is loose, and clunking around in its mount, but I know that isnt the case, everything is tightened down...

Could both of these be caused by my sh!tty sway bar endlink?





I know its bad... but would it cause the problems?

 

Yea i had some wierd noises too....it was my links.

 

Being out of alignment can cause the driveability problems you are talking about... and the noise is probably because the swaybar is not being held on by the broken endlink.

 

well my passenger one is fine, matter of fact my whole passenger side seems fine, boots are all in good condition, all the bushings are good, sway bar and tie bar links all look good, but my drivers side is just torn up. I wonder why that is...

Oh yeah im planning on getting a lifetime alignment somewhere, what should that cost me?

 

it looks as tho the sawy bar is clearly missing a bushing or something. u can see a piece of somethung hanging off there, that would defenatly make a noise.

700th post

 

Lifetime allignment shouldn't be more than $200.

 

Rockford,

Glad you got the car back up and running...the issue you hear with the struts might be your strut bearings or the strut mounts...they do wear over time. I'm changing mine this weekend as well.

 

You need to replace the entire swaybar linkage on that side. It may be a PITA to get the linkage off as it is obviously rusted.
I can not imagine paying $200 for a lifetime alignment. Around here, you could get five alignments for that, so why go the lifetime route?
Randy

 

Yeah, I'm not going to get a lifetime, mostly because 1.) the car will need like 2 more in its life, and im not coming back here after college anyway, so itd be pointless to be tied to one place...

 

I think a link like that would definitely cause a clunking noise when you hit a bump or if you were to turn the steering wheel sharply back and forth.

I would also vote for a cheaper alignment. The longest I've owned any car is about 15 years and I doubt I had it aligned more than twice.

 

... or you could be like me.... get it aligned 5 times in one month cause you keep screwin with the suspension or things that require moving suspension components to get to them. (that and houston roads suck a$$)
I bought the one year plan at NTB and have had my car aligned at least 6 or 7 times
lol
they get tired of me but they can't turn me down. and i watch them do it. I tell them what to do lol. (cause if you don't stand there and watch them they will just get it to meet the tolerences and say it's done)