lesstutrey

I should have been saying the anti-sway bar end-links. The rear and front struts have less than 10k, and are all KYB, and were done when the lift was done early this year. I have been under the car and pulled on the rear anti-sway bar, and hear the noise i'm getting from my rear end. If i sit down in with the door open on the driver side, rear seat, and rock the car, i hear the noise, it's coming from the anti-sway creeking. The bushings on the endlinks seem non-existent, there is a lot of play just pulling on it with my skinny 110lb body, hence my thought they need to be replaced.

Well, my car is making a new noise. This one comes without the motor on or anything. If i put weight on the drivers side, i hear a creek. Went under the car and tugged and stuff and the tie-rod seems to be making the noise, and the drivers side link seems bent/worn out. It also has about 10x the play the passenger side has. Sound like time to replace my tie rod end links? I know there should be some play, but obviously if my tie-rod is creeking it's got to much play, right? I did lift this car so it probably put some extra stress on them, and would make sense. So if this is the problem, anyone recomend an OE or aftermarket set of links? Should i just go with the moogs? I see there are Whiteline KLC044's that fit.. and would probably hold up to the stress i put on this thing rallying around the countryside, even though the whitelines are for "race use only"

Thanks for the info. yeah, 4400lbs ain't a light car by any means. Got a question for those of you with a trailer hitch.. Since the hitch bolts to the tow-recovery point in the rear, what is the best method of getting pulled out/pulling someone out? I got d-shackles (6 1/2 ton, 4 1/2 ton, 3 ton), a 25' chain with hooks on each end, and a couple snatch straps of varying lengths, as well as a tree saver. And for the front end, there is nothing that really fits into the tow eye except a hooked tow rope. So i bought some quick link chain pieces rated for 5000lbs, they hook into the eye nice and easy and a snatch strap loops right in. However the 5000lbs WLL seems a bit weak, and a decent way to send a piece of metal into lethal flight speed if it breaks. If i used two of the quick links, that's gonna not give me 10000lbs, but i imagine it would increase the load it could take, or am i crazy in that thinking? Have any of you had to actually use that front eye, and if so, how did you go about it? Those 130$ tow hooks subxtreme makes seem rather tempting with the annoying recovery ability on the front end, also thought about trying those 5 ton recovery hooks that bolt on.. dunno if they fit the hole spacing though. Could probably have one of the various machine shops make me a pair. Also thought of possibly bolting those 5 ton hooks on to the hitch.. i dunno, what do you guys think?

Yeah, it's only got 84k miles. Just wanted to see if it was bad or average. My old Acura legend, 3.2 V6 FWD got worse mileage so i'm not really that concerned. Especially with the 10" clearance after the lift. I dunno if it's true but primitive told me the front skid plate helps mileage, and it makes sense since there is less crap for air to catch on the bottom. I plan on getting some at some point, so i guess i'll see if that helps. However i get this feeling if i lift it more, which i honestly don't plan on, but might go to 4" lift, that the primitive plates won't fit right as i drop the subframe. But honestly i think i'll get something more serious for off-roading, like a wrangler, pathfinder, 4runner, international scout, 70's era GM truck. Something with a frame and just plain shocks, with better attack and departure angles and an engine i can play with. So i'm getting decent mileage no matter what fuel grade i'm running, does it really make sense to keep putting premium in? I know it's only recommended, not required, and i did not notice performance differences. Has anyone actually used a knock sensor on an H6 and found out if their car was knocking using lower grade gases and notice engine retardation from the VVT, cause i never noticed engine retardation running with 85, 89, 87, 90. I'm probably gonna get conflicting answers to this octane question.

I've been driving my 02 OBW, H6 VDC, for almost 2 years now. In that time, the best mileage i ever got was 23mpg. I did a test with about 5-6 tanks of each grade and none made a difference in mileage, so i still fill it with 93, even though it apparently doesn't need me too since it doesn't effect the mileage at all. I lifted it 2" and that also did not effect mileage. I just think that this is pretty horrible mileage. I read other threads and they seem to be reporting minimum of 22mpg with h6's. I guess the EPA has 20mpg listed as the city mileage, which is pretty much the driving i do. I use fuel cleaner every few thousand miles, keep my tires at proper pressure and all that jazz, so just wondering if it's bad mileage, and if so what might cause it.

Hidden hitch was stock on my 02. curt makes them too, i'd say any name brand hitch that fits it would be just fine.

still planning on making skid plates?

yeah, terrain parks around me are 20$ per person per day. Gotta pay for the passengers, at the same price, and they are on DNR land that is leased to them, and the state has grants for these places for creation, so they are just big private money makers around here.

So i've been having this minor issue with rub since i lifted. Guess what? The 2" lift moves the tires in just enough that if they are a bit low on tire pressure you get some kissing of the wheel well on the side of the tire. I was thinking of putting 1" lug adapters (just because i'm too lazy to replace the studs on the hubs, rather just bolt it on) that are hubcentric. Obviously 25mm is over compensation for the amount it has moved in, but it will put the wheels about even with the fender. Does this outward movement, at this much of a level, cause any potential problems?

Yeah, i have a 2" lifted one. It kisses the wheel wells in the rear with stock tire (225/65/R16). Even if you don't want to grind the calipers you can always add a lower profile caliper, however you are pre the bigger brakes, so you can run 15's NP. And yeah, they are heavy, my 2002 VDC is over 2 tons... but with just primacy mxv4s i haven't gotten stuck anywhere.. not that i've gone anywhere TOO sticky.. ripped across very muddy corn fields this spring, sure it could get stuck if i tried... Yet to destroy the bumper but my mud flaps aren't fairing well and are gonna get a replacement due to lots of high speed gravel... need a new front bumper.. someone needs to make them again =/ Yeah, you run in to problems with the spring perch if you try to run.. any tire. Needs 4" of lift to deal with the caster issues i think. I am also going to put 1" spacers on mine to deal with the narrower stance the lift left me with and to deal with the spring perch. How to completely deal with the spring perch would be to put a modded strut top lift so it has 2000-2003 style top and a 2004 lower so you can mount megan racing coilovers, then no spring problems, and adjustable suspension. Do i honestly feel like spending all this money on my DD though? I don't think i do. Spend money on something else... like something with a frame, aftermarket support and a car someone else might want after you dump a few grand on it getting it off-road worthy. Stupid to lecture i guess though.. just finding my OBW to be more trouble than worth for any off-road application.

double post.

Ok, if i went with just spacers designed to go on my stock hubs and threading what is the biggest size i can get, about 10mm?

Ok, did a big old shake down. There is nothing wrong with my suspension. The 2" lift simply move the tires in just enough that they kiss the rear of the wheel well at body level. So i have to do something about this and the answer seems pretty easy: spacers. I am currently looking at 1" hub-centric spacer/adapters. I just want there to be no rub whatsoever. I was also thinking possibly bigger due to the issue with taller tires hitting the strut perch. Is going with a spacer/adapter of this size a reasonable thing to do, and is going even bigger an option as well? Any drawbacks?

I live in the rust belt, whatever time it takes to do something, give it about double here. Pulling the arm would take a while, plus i can't even visibly see what's wrong with mine, so i don't wanna pull one bolt it on and see hey guess what, this is one is screwed up too. Plus fresh bushings and what not isn't anything to complain about.

Turns seem pretty even side to side as far as how far the steering wheel turns. Lower control arm is probably my trouble. It didn't actually get hit, but i can't imagine getting hit like that was good for the bushings, or remaining straight. That or tie-rods. What should i do to go about diagnosing the control arm/bushings, and what effect would it have on my ride. Like.. would it have an effect at all? Something isn't right, and i want to get this fixed. I guess spacers are always an option to prevent the rub...

Please, anyone have a clue why one side would rub and the other not? Could my rack and pinion be off a groove, so it's getting more turn to the right, and less turn to the left? There are not bump stops on the OBW are there (as in the stop systems that prevent steering from going past a point)? Something has to be causing my tires to turn more to the right than to the left, but what could it be? (i don't get front rub because there is way more room for the tires when turning). Just my latest theory, that my steering is going further one direction than the other. It doesn't make the noise in reverse, so that means when there is less load on the wheel it doesn't get the play enough to rub, but forward with all the weight of the car it does. Just trying to figure out where to even look. I had my camber and alignment done and the numbers and stuff were all in the green, but i didn't sit and watch the whole thing get done, so i don't know what they did, is it possible they moved something inward in the rear of the front wheel suspension? I just don't have a clue why one side and not hte other and all i can come up with is steering is goofy, i'm getting camber so that my tire is going / / and the low part rubs the wheel well, and that would be either my tie-end rods or anti-sway, right? Ahh so many freaking things it could be. I just know something must be out of whack because the only rubbing i ever hear about is strut rub, and this ain't it, this is fender rub with stock sized tires and OEM wheels and a 2" lift which has proven to NOT rub... the fenders at least...

I had a rub that for the longest time i could not figure out. Finally did and realized my right wheel, when fully extended turning RIGHT will rub up against the fender only on the right side, by the rear connection for the front lower control arm. I beat on the fender with a 3lb hammer but due to it being at a mount location it's not gonna get beat on hard. I'm going to take the wheel off and hit it again a few times to see if i can't get it bent with some actual room to swing, but no super-high hopes. When my steering is at full extension going left on the left side, the distance between the wheel and that spot on the fender is the same as if i were maxing it out right on the right side. However if i'm going up a hill (the end of my driveway) or applying some gas (and thus allowing body roll) that space disappears, and i get rub. Possibly something wrong in the sway bar or tie rods allowing it to body roll into the side. Front end needs to go up and be shaken down, it's 82k of wear, might need a new bushing or bolt or something. solutions: spacers, hub adapters, replacement of sway bar, replacement of end-tie-link. I like spacers for now, and lug adapters later because i would like to get 1" of space and run some 16" wheels off a TJ wrangler or something, dodge used 5x4.5 for a while and there are plenty of dodges in the junkyards, and plenty of guys selling their stock wrangler wheels cheap. I made another observation while checking out my suspension and comparing left to right sides, trying to spot something.. abnormal that might cause the tire to rub.. couldn't really find one, i don't think, but i did notice something about my left side lower control arm. The thing is beat to heck. It's got a hole near the front bushing (on the very front of the arm below the bushing), the bushings just seem shot in that area as well, at least the front bushing on the lower control arm, i treated the other side with a lot of silicon grease hunting for that rub so that might have something to do with the bushings looking better, but not the freaking hole in the control arm. Sounds like i need to replace my driver side control arm, doesn't it? I'll post pictures in the daylight tomorrow so you all can say "yeah, replace that, freaking rust belt"

Well, i realized i have had rub created by my lift. Inside fender well right by the control arm. Upsizing wheels more than like .5" on this car is totally out unless you run 4" lift with my fender wells...

Had a great time today (sarcasm) but got these problems resolved, mostly. We found the rub, i took a 3lb hammer and gently massaged it in a bit, the noise is gone. Little spray paint and the spot is gone. Since the 2" lift i have does not compensate for the control arm coming inward when the angle is increased, meaning a more narrow wheelbase, and the wheels are a bit closer to the wheel well. However i think i had this rub after the accident so part of the fender just got bent, not sure. I dunno if i am the only person who's complained about rub with stock tires after a lift on these generation OBs. That was like, the easy nice news. But why i brought this car into the shop to begin with was one of the scariest drives i've had in my life. I was driving around taking down numbers for apartments and what not with my girlfriend and i noticed it was awful easy to speed. I pulled into a parking lot to write down a number and when i put my car into park, it rev'd to 4-6k rpm. I turned it off, hoping it would not do that when i started it back up. No such luck. So i put it into gear and it was ONLY driving at 2000rpm idle. I had to drive 12 blocks to my friends shop. There are several major intersections on the way and when your car is idling at 2000rpm, you brakes don't work very well. I nearly got creamed in 3 intersections and was lucky i was not behind anyone at a stop. I had to sit on the brakes with full body weight and i was still creeping forward, i put on my hazards but no one seemed to get it meant my brakes were not working well. I finally got to the shop and didn't die. I was happy. As documented in this post I've had some idle problems. Guess what, these are directly related. My freaking throttle cables were just gunked to hell. Blasted it with some wd-40, drove it around (showed the other mechanic the noise and he found the rub spot in about 30 seconds) and now my car is idling at 700-800rpm, something it's never done since i had it. I feel like a moron for not cleaning my throttle lines, but glad BOTH my problems are mostly resolved. I was wondering if my anti-sway being loose (and possibly bent) on the side there was rub could have actually been causing the rub, since the wheel was allowed to angle into the car a bit more? I'm really looking for an excuse to upgrade to ralliteks

Tried it, no difference. Heat on the right side rotor was lower than the left side, so i no longer believe it's brake rubbing.. leaning more and more toward sway bar. It should not be missing paint at the connection point.

Yeah, doesn't really effect what it could be though. Just means each one of those points had some extra stress. This would be the only non-cosmetic damage i've noticed since the accident, which was a slow one in a 4 way stop intersection where i got got front/right damage, the bumper bent and this stupid thing on the side of the F250 punched a hole in the lower part of my resonator (which was bypassed by duct tape anywho)... and my paint doesn't match on hood and side fender but paying to have it repainted is a bit.. uhm.. pricey, especially when i'd rather just get the whole thing redone in C+ quality black (leaving gold bottom) for about the same price as just getting the fender and hood done.

Yeah, i told my father to have the oil changed, he went to midas due to a coupon, they told him they needed to do the back pads. When my friends shop did the brake job they found nothing wrong with anything but the rotors and pads, new clips and brake grease and all that jazz. My friend, who actually owns the shop and had the other mechanic do the work, is gonna give it a shake down personally on his rack in the next few days. He's pretty sure it never went up on the rack for testing of ball joint etc. I'm more friends with the owner, not so much the other mechanic (we all grew up on the same block though) We'll get to the heart of it. I think that in the little fender bender i was involved with in the middle of January might have bent the antisway.. which gives me an excuse to buy a ralitek set... Links seems perfect, it's just.. the sway bar should be mounted squarely on both links, not bent on one side where the bar mounts to the link the top has a gap between the link and connecting point on the bar, and i could see it potentially slipping around on the bushing when i make the turn, making the noise.. or it makes brakes rub, whatever, causes front end slack. Also the coating on the right side has rubbed off around the mounting bolt, leading me to believe there is slack there even more and the sway is indeed bent.. Drivetrain was smooth as butter while doing turns, heck, the car doesn't get a feeling from this noise. I just remembered something though. When i first start up my car and back out the driveway my brakes kinda crunch (i have a very steep slope at the end of the driveway, the level driveway is about 2-3' higher than the road) but if i pump em first, i don't get crunch, like the couple presses of the brake pedal makes the lines open up/fill up all the way.. but it's not like i feel like the brakes are weaker when i'm backing up like this. It just leads me to think maybe it could be something with the lines. My car makes another noise, an intermittent squeak, but it's from something on the belts, and goes away once it warms up (the weather or the car).. so it's gone. Oh, and another thing i was just unsure on. When i start up my car sometimes that sucker idles up to like 1800rpm and takes about a minute to drop down to a normal 800-1200rpm range. I think it's just the thermostat running it harder until heating (and engine cooling) system warms up. But perhaps i'm just nuts. It never does it on a warm engine, so it just makes sense to me to it's warming up the car.. Oh, and i'm missing a part to my interior and i have no idea where in the heck to find it. It's the sliding clamp that keeps the opening to the lights on the right side of the tailgate closed. I pulled the one from the left and it worked in the right just fine.. so it doesn't matter what side it's from, just wondering what the heck part this is so i can order one.

I've had people look at it with steering maxed out, no rub then, and no signs of any rub on the tire either. No marks. The sound doesn't sound like ball joints or wheel bearings, or strut mounts, there are no symptoms of any of that in the driving either, it drives fine, doesn't make noise EXCEPT when i'm turning right, maxed turn, SLOW. If i speed up to like 5mph doing 360 turns the noise goes away, as i slow down, there it is. It happens when i pull in to parking spaces and in parking lots pretty much exclusively,here i'm going to be driving very slow. I'ma have them put it up on the lift and shake down to try to figure out what it is, but might end up just saying dunno, and not spend any more money on repairs. Maybe control arm bushings? i dunno.

Well.. look at crap a little because the rain i thought was coming never came. The only thing i can visibly see wrong is at the sway links on the right side, but i don't know if it is because i'm parked at a slight incline but at the top of the links i see two different things. (right side is sitting a little lower than left due to curve of driveway) On the left side i see a sway link that seems to be fitted in better, and the sway bar is pretty much exactly flush where they mount. The clamp up top looks like it has been there for 9 years, the dirt is nice and evenly placed on the sides, it doesn't look like it has moved, ever. On the right side i see a link that seems looser, and the bar, where it connects to the link is bent so that there is a slight gap forming at the top of the bar. Just a little bit, but the top of the bar's connection is definitely bent toward the center of the car. The clamp also looks like it moved a little in recent history, the paint is disturbed and so is the dirt. My tie rod seems tight... though old and rusty. The sway bar has all those rubber bushings in that part of the linkage so that seemed to be the most logical thing i can VISIBLY see. New brakes have nice new clips and all that jazz, i trust the guys who did these brakes way more than midas. I just read about half shafts going so we did half shafts, and found out brakes had crapped out. It's a childhood friend charging me 15$ less an hour labor than to the general public so i'm pretty damn certain he's not screwing with me. I was the one who was gun ho on the shafts, the other mechanic, who is a GM truck guy, and has done a lot of truck lifts, and knows the axle woes associated with that agreed that it was a good hunch.. so we went that route. Like i say, oh well. I'd post some pics of this right now, but all i have is crap camera phone shots taken at 11pm, i'll get some day ones and post that.

Perhaps the guys at midas (ugh, where the brakes were done first time) did just turn them, and they just didn't hold up, or they just did a crap job, or ya know, driving around on the gravel around here (and in the salt belt none the less) at 70mph and vdc going off all winter, heck if i knew. They have duracraft gold-lines on them now, so maybe they'll stand up. It is raining today, so i'm not doing anything aside from realizing that one of the springs on the liftgate handle is gone.. and i dunno where i'm gonna get one because the handle will not close. I can find the handle and back plate online.. but it doesn't say if it comes with springs. I just need the right side handle spring... and right side clip for the rear lights... edit: ok and now realizing there isn't a second spring and the lubing worked for the handle.. the noise.. not trying today.