Could someone let me know what the signs of needing new ones is??? I hear a clunking noise when I make hard turns and the steering wheel seems to dance around at highway speeds. What could this be??

Thanks for your help!

 

Anyone?????

 

Chillout man... it was only an hour and a half since ya started the thread...

Have you looked at the CV boots? Are they torn and is grease oozing out of them? If so, ya need to check to see that CV joints aren't damaged. When there is insufficient grease, they will make noise when turning due to the lack of lubrication, but they may not be damaged. BUT they will get busted eventually if ya don't get the boots fixed. Get that done.

Also, check your wheel bearings and tie rod ends. Jack the car up, grab the top and bottom of the tire and try to wiggle it, if there is excessive play, ya probably have bad bearings. If ya grab left and right and wiggle (like you're trying to turn the wheel) and there is excessive play then its the tie rod ends.

 

CV's usually will make a clicking or grinding noise when turning if they are going bad. They can also make clunking feelings and sounds, however that could also be a strut or a bushing depending on when you hear the noise. If a CV is going bad you can sometimes play with the axle itself and notice a little play or yuo will notice a tear in one of the boots. If one of the boots is bad(torn) its almost definitely going bad, or it will soon.

 

sounds like wheel bearing issues. check your boot for tears like PM said.

 

If your CV boots look like this:



Git r done!!

 

most likely it needs to be regreased, and if it wanders on the highway it might be the lower ball joints, like puppetmaster said wiggle top and bottom of the front tires and find if there is any play.

 

when u turn you hear clickin noise..
your wheels are way greasy.. thats the oil leaking

 

Thanks for the input guys, I'll check all the above!!

 

If you need a CV, I recommend picking up a used factory one at a salvage yard. New is big bucks $800ish and I've never had good luck with re-builds. I bent my drivers side and picked up one used for $150

 

you can get a aftermarket from autozone for like 60 bucks

 

clunking could just be normal turn stops in the steering linkage, if thats what its doing.

id start wiht an alignment check. i noticed that the goodyears around here have been doing free alignment checks lately

 

On my 01 the front end was knocking quite a bit. I replaced the stabilizer links on the front end and all was well . This is a very easy fix and according to info gathered on the org. these links don't last very long, at least on 01's.

MCE