I have some play in my left front, front end parts, and I am not sure what it is. When I go over bumps it feels loose. I really noticed it this past weekend when I was going over a rickedy bridge at the beach. What controls/dampens the up and down movement in our front ends (not struts)? Would a blown ball joint be this noticible. The one thing I have not looked into is control arm bushings but I am not sure worn out bushings would cause this much play. Does anyone have any insight or experience with this problem? Thanks for any help.

 

well, check for play in the front wheels. When my LCA bushings were done, the whole things was shaking. It feels as if it will fall off, but it won't. I suggest you check that first. While u are at it, change the end link and even the ball joints if u have to. It'll be worth it. If u do have to change the bushings on the LCA, get them from energy suspension....they're polyeurathane. I have a set for my 99, but haven't put them in yet. I should be doing it sometime soon, i'll let u know

 

My driver side wheel does kinda feel as if it will fall off. It does not wobble or anything, there is just so much play in it. I have already replaced my sway bar end links, and I also replace my ball joints but I used cheap ball joints, and I had to take them off the nuckle after I pressed them in, so I did a dumb thing and used a pickle fork to seperate them...anyway I think I may have damaged them that way. I know I need to replace that, but I had this play even before the ball joint thing. I have never inspected LCA bushings...I am really not sure what to look for, other than to see if they are rotten. Anyone have a pic of what a good LCA bushing (installed) should look like?

Please let me know how your replacement goes and if this solves your problem. Thanks.

 

bump for this thread. Does anyone have experience with this?

Spinning weed leaf avatar, did you ever get your energy suspension LCA bushing put in? Did you notice anything? Did replacing the LCA bushings make your wheels feel more solid and not as if they are going to fall off?

 

Here's pix from my front end rebuild.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=479796

Pickle fork = bad.
Never re-use a part taken off with a pickle fork.

If you can wobble the wheel when the car is jacked up it's probly the wheel bearings. That will make the car feel very loose but it will probably make noise as well. The rest of the rubbers only really kick in on cornering IMO.

 

the bearing seem to be fine. Mine is more of a case when the wheel moves up then down like in a pot hole or on a speed bump or going down a bumpy road it feels loose on the left front. I am just wondering if anyone else had the problems?

 

I've had it on another car, long time ago, when I forgot to tighten the strut tower bolts. But there was a noise as the threads on the bolt rasped through the chassis hole Very scarey round corners!

How do you know it's loose? What are the symptoms? Is it squirly on corners, making noise on bumps, wobbly steering? I think we need more info.

 

those bolts are tight.
The car feels safe in corners, and the steering is fine. Its hard to describe. Every morning I back down my gravel drive way, and it just makes a wobble/clunking noise the whole way down the drive way....like something is loose when it moves up and down. I know I need a ball joint but I don't think it will affect it that much.

 

...like your tire is deforming overnight and developing a flat spot?

I've heard of this in cold places, but can't think how you'd check for it.

Is that the only time you get it?

 

no, it is not like that...it happens the whole time the I am going over a bumpy surface. It does not happen once a rotation, but the whole time the wheel/tire is moving over a bumpy surface. I don't know how else to describe it. Something is loose/worn when I am on a bumpy surface.

 

what would be symptoms of a blown strut in the front? I have AGX's but I did buy them used and I have ground controls that are all the way down in the front.

 

ok, I was changing my wheels out (back to stock) to take the car to get painted today. While the driver side front was off I looked around at all the front end parts....everything looked pretty good. The only thing I saw was that my sway bar bushings were shot. If these were shot would it cause a noise when the car moved up and down? Make a sound as if something is loose? i am going to call the dealership tomorrow to get a new set...I am hoping this problem is something this easy...but it usually is not. Anyone get a loose feeling when the sway bar bushings are worn out?

 

I have a similar sound in the front end now. I am curious what others say...

 

do you know if you have any worn out parts up front?

 

On top of some of these symtoms listed, my car also exhibits a fair amount of understeer, even in the slightest corner. Granted, tires are worn out, but it never felt this loose before.

 

It may be the front strut mount. I had some of the syptoms you describe, so I kicked my wheel and found something was loose. When I opened my hood, I found that the top of my strut was wiggling in there.... but i totaled the car about a couple weeks later so never found out exactly what it was.

 

I don't know of anyworn out parts.

This afternoon I went to a shop to have them look it over and they couldn't find anything abnormal, even after I drove them around for a while. The sound didn't occur on that drive. But I know something is wrong. I hope to look it over tonight.

 

i know exactly what ure talking about, mines the same way. it feels fine in turns and everything but then you hit a bump in the road or a pothole and it feels like its just gunna fall apart and clunks a lot. im replacing my shocks/springs in a few weeks hoping that will be it, dont think it will be, but ill like the impoved handling over stock anyway

 

I'll check into that. But my problem happens when the suspension travels up and down, not really side to side. Mine does not make a noise when I 'kick the wheel'

 

Also, when i go over bumps or in corners, it feels as if the whole car is sliding around, like on ice....
Like something picks it up and drops its couple of inches over...

 

you may want to start a new thread because my car is fine in corners, so I don't know if the info I am trying to find will help you.

 

cardana24, did this ever get resolved? If so, what was the cause and solution in your case? I've got the same issue I think (kind of a thumping noise from the front right suspension when going over bumps, even very small bumps). Like you, I don't get any noise from turning, only from going over bumps. When the car is jacked up or on the hoist at the garage, there is no play in the wheel bearing or any of the suspension parts if you try to wiggle anything by hand, so I can't seem to get a proper diagnosis. I have already replaced my upper strut mount, strut bearing, end link and a stablizer bar bushing on that side and the noise just seems to be getting worse. I have also swapped out a whole strut and spring assembly from another vehicle and the noise continues. It's starting to get frustrating and expensive replacing part after part and not getting it fixed. If you have any updates on your situation, please reply. Even it's just to say what else you've tried and didn't help. Thanks.

 

I have not solved my problem yet, I have not had any time to work on it. I'll post back when I work on it.

 

OK, as for my issue, I think it's fixed. It seems to have been a bad strut after all, even though the old strut was not leaking and seemed to be functioning properly. Here's what I did to confirm the strut was bad:
I removed the strut and spring from the vehicle and then compressed the spring and removed it from the strut. At that point, with the strut held in a vice, I wiggled the strut piston rod and I could feel and hear it clunking around inside the strut. I tried the same with a brand new strut and it had no play and makes no noise when you try to wiggle the piston around. So, I installed a brand new strut (with a new dust boot/bump stop because the old one was split) and I no longer get those annoying thumps with every little bump on the road that I hit. What’s funny is that I had previously swapped out the whole strut and spring assembly with one from a wrecker and the noise continued. I therefore assumed that my problem could not have been a bad strut, and I ended up returning the strut and spring back to the wrecker for a credit note. I guess the one from the wrecker just happened to have the exact same problem as the one I was replacing. Everything is good now though with the new strut. I hope this might help you out as well.