Gyoas759 Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 For a while now, I can feel a little play in the front steering, as well as the usual CV clicks, there's a louder clunking noise. Tonight my room mate and I did some donuts etc. in the gravel pit nearby. Nothing really rough, but definatly bounced around quite a bit. Had a lot of fun in the snow! When I got back onto the paved road, I had much more of a wobble as I drove. It seems to come and go, but when it's bad, it's REALLY bad. top speed is about 40 mph or it feels like the vibration will shake my arms right off the wheel. I can also hear a little noise from what sound like the passenger front side. Worn bearings? What did I do to my car? I have nearly 2 spare cars worth of parts, so I'm not too worried. But what might it be and where do i go from here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 I believe that your Subie got a Worn Part that is Not the Bearings... I Believe it is the Part that goes between the Link and the Wheel / Brakes Assembly, but I don`t know the English Translation for its Spanish Name: "Rótula" :-\ Might be some sort of "Rod" I Think... Do you Understand what Part I`m Writing about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertsubaru Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 You might have just knocked a wheel weight off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94Loyale Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 So I see I wasn't the only one having fun in the snow yesterday and today. Anyway, if you hear a clunk, I usually think balljoint. But I'm not sure if that is what your problem is. Especially with the offroad donuts and stuff, I wonder if it could use an alignment. I abused my 90 Loyale offroad for awhile and the front end got all jacked up. I had it realigned and it fixed Most of the problems. And Loyale 2.7, maybe Tie Rod your thinking of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 ... I usually think balljoint. ... ...And Loyale 2.7, maybe Tie Rod your thinking of? Yes, it might be, or Balljoint... I`m not Sure about the Right Translation, but I think you got the Idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyoas759 Posted February 14, 2008 Author Share Posted February 14, 2008 Once the snow melts or freezes solid, I'll crawl under there and look. Anyone have any tips on what I should be looking for? My first thought is to jack up the body and push against the wheels themselves to see if there's any play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 Once the snow melts or freezes solid, I'll crawl under there and look. Anyone have any tips on what I should be looking for? My first thought is to jack up the body and push against the wheels themselves to see if there's any play. that is the best place to start - you can do it yourself, but it is easier to have a freind that can do the wheel wiggling so you can get under there and really see what is happening and where any movement might be located. sounds as if you may have several things needing attention from your description...key things to look at - ball joints, tierod ends, & the wheel bearings of course, but dont forget the obvious things like lug nuts and castle nut... also check mounting points for the control arms and other componants as well for cracked, worn, or missing bushings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 not being able to see or hear it we need the best description and details you can muster. but...that being said and me being a psychic, you have a bad axle. find the broken CV boot and yank the axle around. any play? if not, pack some grease in there by hand, pushing it in and all over as best as you can behind the busted boot. if it gets a little better (noise or vibrations), then you just found your problem. it could be so bad that no amount of grease will help though. replace the axle with a good used or new Subaru axle or MWE axle only. don't buy any aftermarket junk. you should investigate immediately. if this is an axle it could destroy your speedometer gear inside the transmission with all that vibrating and the only way to fix it is to replace the transmission...or do a tear down of the trans, which most people don't opt for. either way, yanking a transmission = no fun in my book...particularly when replacing the axle could avoid it. on the passengers side the axle is only a couple inches away from the plastic speedometer gear inside the front diff, all of that vibration can break it (don't ask how i know). other possible options if it's not your axle...sounds like you're leaving many things unattended...are wheel bearings, wheel out of balance, a very bad ball joint, steering rack bushings, tie rod ends. should be very obvious by pushing/pulling or looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 if this is trasshwagon 5mkII one of the ball joints have been replaced. i cant remember is we did both or not ball joint noises occur when hitting bumps, potholes and washboards, and if floppy enough, can cause the wheel to shimmy off and on at varyting highway speeds, and feather the outer treads on the tire. how are the axle boots. the inner boot may have some sand or gravel in it. actually on the original trashwagon i had a pea gravel in the doj, and drove 600 miles from iowa tha way. ask mcbrat if he remembers that... anyway if the doj gets bad enough that will cause a rumble in the seat, and be somewhat progressively louder as it gets worse. it can be bad enough to cause a vipration int he wheek, but not so much handling problems. if the outer cv is bad enough the race can hang up inside and jertk the steering out of your hands, and sometimes you have to turn sharp the other way or while reversing to reset the race, if its that bad expect it to break when you accelerate while turning. otherwise if the whgeel bearings are bad, the car can wander to one side or the other. you will hear a noise turrning in the direction of pull and it will go away turning the other direction a bad bearing if bad enough, will let the brake rotor ride sideways and wer the brake pads at an angle, and even be so bad the rotor rides against the caliper bracket. on my sedan it was so bad that i had metal to metal brakes, and if i turned while reversing the rotor would hang up against the caliper4 bracket and lock up if you have the hubs from the gl1- sedan thosw will sap over wither withtheir axles, or by themselves with tw5mkII's or a new axle. but once you have the axle out its no more than a seal puller and a drift punch to replace the bearings. you can get replacement bearings for about 30 bucks, some of th eaftermarket are sealed bearings, but pack the hubs with grease anyway and emove the seal on the inner sides of the sealed bearings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 this will not work withthe parking brake set oh, and a loose castle nut will act the same as a bad wheel bearing. but if its loose for too long then it can destroy the baring or the splines in the hub. Once the snow melts or freezes solid, I'll crawl under there and look. Anyone have any tips on what I should be looking for? My first thought is to jack up the body and push against the wheels themselves to see if there's any play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyoas759 Posted February 16, 2008 Author Share Posted February 16, 2008 The axle sounds about right. Both CVs have been making a lot of noise for a while now. I haven't bothered doing anything about it yet since I really only use the car for off road and snow driving anyway. I have a pretty good set off a turbo wagon that I can swap in there when I get a nice day to work on it. Wish I had a garage... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyoas759 Posted April 11, 2008 Author Share Posted April 11, 2008 Finally getting this stuff taken care of. I drove the car 6 miles today to get it inspected and the vibration is gone. Does this confirm the bad axle theory? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted April 12, 2008 Share Posted April 12, 2008 Extreme vibration is often a result of bad DOJ's. The outer CV's either click, or just explode. They don't cause much vibration. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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