mclasser

Lately, the steering has gotten pretty sloppy on my I35. On slightly bumpy roads, the vehicle wanders and the steering wheel twitches left and right. The same thing happens on smoother roads but to a lesser extent.

A few months back, my mechanic replaced the leaking high pressure power steering hose. At the same time, he did a general inspection and said the suspension looked good. There was dried fluid on some suspension components so I hosed everything off afterwards at a car wash and moved on with life.

I read LCA bushings can get damaged from the leaking fluid on these cars. I haven't gotten a chance to jack up the front end yet but are my symptoms consistent with bad LCA bushings? Oddly enough, I don't hear any noises.

Derrick2k2SE

iTrader: (3)

It sounds like the control arm bushings may have failed. They're relatively easy to inspect from under the car with a flashlight. The bushing is very thick. Chances are you'll see a split in one or more of them. You can also use a pry bar to move the control arm near the bushing. If the bushing is shot you'll be able to move it a good bit and maybe even see the wheel move.

Oil and fluid leaks will destroy just about any rubber on a car.

mclasser

Thanks, Derrick.

mclasser

I checked out the LCA bushings the other day when I was changing the oil and they looked good. Incidentally, I decided to rotate the tires and the now car handles normally again. It had been like 20K miles since the last rotation so the front tires were significantly more worn than the rears.

Will keep monitoring, but for now the issue seems solved.

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

Check tie rods, too.

mclasser

The boots are slightly torn but there's no play.

I could wait until they develop slop but the job's cheap & easy enough that I'm gonna knock it out soon. I made a thread the other day asking about brand recommendations. Found out that Beck/Arnley tie rods are made in Japan so I'm going to pull the trigger on those.

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

What about inners?

mclasser

They're good.

maximatech12

Wouldn't the pitman Rods need adjusting? If the threads on the replacement ends don't match up the inner may need adjusting.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

Ummm, we have rack and pinion steering. Rack and pinion doesn't use Pitman arms, Pitman rods, drag links, etc.

mclasser

Yeah maybe on a 94 Suburban, not a Maxima. What kind of Maxima tech are you?? Or...

maximatech12

Well the system was designed and evolved so I just called it that.
since the outer ends here are the "screw on" type you may have to remove the inner boot and screw the rods in or out to account for the thread difference? I can't imagine it being that easy where the new end just screws right on bringing you perfectly to where the old one was.

mclasser

Derrick2k2SE

iTrader: (3)

No. That's not a problem or even a concern.
The outers don't just screw on and tighten down. They screw on to the arm and are adjusted by how far you thread them down. There's plenty of room for adjustment. Once they're adjusted there's another nut that gets torqued down to lock it all together.
You basically get it as close as you can to how it was and get an alignment after you're done.