Front End question

I was doing a general inspection of my truck the other day and noticed my tires are starting to wear on the inner edge. I checked and they all have the wear in the same place. I jacked up on of the front corners and checked the ball joints - nice and tight. Then I triedmoving the tire side to side and there was quite a bit of play. The play even transmits to the steering wheel ( I can hear a loud clunk when I move it). What's the best way to norrow down the culprit? I was thinking of droping the skid plate and letting my son rock the tire while I watched for the loose parts. Anyone have any other thoughts?

That would probably be your best bet. Unless you take it in to the shop and have them inspect it for you. Most shop will do it for free if you tell them you want a front end alignment. They'll do the inspection, then tell you what and how much its going to cost to repair the front end before they can align it.

Your Tierod ends may have gone south Muzzy...

Your Tierod ends may have gone south Muzzy...


This what I'm thinking. Suspensions are virgin territory for me - so this will be fun. If they are bad I should see play in them right? As for repair, are they difficult to do and will I need any special tools?

Your are lucky if your Ball joints are good, And Yes, You will see play in them if they are bad, Also the tool you will need is a PICKLE FORK, also known as a ball joint seperator, and a BFH. Mark or count the threads on the tierod ends before you remove them, and try to install the new ones as close as possible to the old marks, you will need the front end Aligned when your finished.

You need a professional alignment.

Your are lucky if your Ball joints are good, And Yes, You will see play in them if they are bad, Also the tool you will need is a PICKLE FORK, also known as a ball joint seperator, and a BFH. Mark or count the threads on the tierod ends before you remove them, and try to install the new ones as close as possible to the old marks, you will need the front end Aligned when your finished.

You shouldn't have any problems seeing where the slack is. You'll have a tierod assembly (outer tie rod >< sleeve>< inner tierod end) on each side to check. You'll also want to check the idler arm, pitman arm, and the rag joint in the steering shaft. DINO55 has got you on the right track if the tie rod ends are the problem. It's not hard to replace them at all. As DINO said you'll need a pickle fork, but there are a few different sizes you'll need the one labled as a tierod end seperator not a ball joint seperator. If just one end is bad you can just replace the bad one, but I like replacing them all at one time, I always buy new sleeves, too, that way I don't have to take the old assemblies apart I just remove them as a whole, and then measure center to center and make the new assemblies match the old ones. You'll want to get them as close as possible because this is what controls the toe in and toe out. I usually do my own alignments, but recommend that most people just drop the $50 and have it done.

The idler arm isn't bad to replace either, it took about 20 minutes to replace the one on my blazer. It just has 2 bolts connecting to the frame and then one stud going into the steering linkage. Replacing the idler arm doesn't require an alignment.

The pitman arm is a pain in the ass. Luckily, they usually last longer than the rest of the componets.

Checking out the tie-rods, idle and pitman arm; you should be able to just jack up the vehicle, front tires off the ground and grab a tire, front and back on a horizontal plane, and rock the tire back and forth. Have someone watch all the pivot points of the tie-rods and idler/pitman arms for slop. If one part is too far gone, it is possible to not detect the next bad part until the first part is replaced.

As for the Ball Joints; they are checked the same way, except grab the tire top and bottom on a vertical plane. If you get no play here, take a long pry bar (4 feet or so) and wedge under the tire, the tire should be 5 to 6 inches off the ground, now lift up and down on the pry bar while keeping pressure on the tire. Have some look to see if the ball joint shaft is moving up and down without bringng the lower control arm with it.