cheech_11

so on my way back to school i hit a series of potholes on the balt/wash pkwy that i couldnt avoid at around 60mph as soon as it was over i could tell something wasnt right but it still drove fine and i took it up to 80mph to check the stability and that was fine but once i pulled in for gas at slow speeds i could hear the awful loud creak coming from the front end while turning the wheel or with the slightest unevenness in the road with the majority of it coming from the right side. i got to school lathered everything in wd40 and it shut up for a couple days. then the rain came and took off all the grease and once again it was louder than ever. i jacked it up yesterday and could see that my outer tie rod bushing is completely shot and everything else looks fine. struts were just replaced at 70,000 and now im at 113000 so im not suspecting those. im just not completely sold that the bad bushing is whats causing all of the noise seeing at how loud and creaky it is but maybe im wrong. i greased it all up again and its been quiet since so ill get that bushing changed. any other ideas of what it could be?

ac max 92

iTrader: (13)

Definately sounds like a balljoint to me which is also a safety issue so be sure to get em checked for play and if it does wind up being a balljoint be sure to do both sides for piece of mind.

cheech_11

i could completely see it being that because when i push down on the right side of the car to recreate the noise i can hear it when i push hard and it sounds like right where the ball joint would be. how much does that usually run to get replaced? im down in south carolina so im sure itll be cheaper than new york seeing that i got a oil change, tire rotation and an alignment for $32 as compared to home which would be 70 plus at least

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

jack up each side of the front end on the frame edges one at a time so the front wheel just clears the ground. wiggle the tire at 3 and 9 o clock and then 12 and 6 o clock. wiggle it hard, if theres play and 3 and 9 you probably have a bad tie rod, 12 and 6 is probably a bad balljoint. could also be a wheel bearing

other thing is pull on the swaybar near the endlink, if you get a clunk the endlink is bad

cheech_11

i should know by tomorrow what it is. thanks guys iv been trying to figure this out for over a week now and im sick of my car sounding like an old town car lol

cheech_11

turned out to be sway bar links easy fix