drummerboy0088

Yesterday I was driving on the highway, changed lanes and heard a big POP. My wheel started shaking out of control, and I pulled over to the shoulder. As I was coming to a stop, the shaking became worse.

At first I thought I blew a front tire, but after inspecting the car I saw all 4 tires were okay, nothing was hanging, no leaks, and front end visually looked fine. Had my fiancé turn the wheel all the way to one side, then back to the other and the front end would shift.

Had the car towed to my brothers shop for us to look at today. It has 148K miles, but we replaced end links, lower control arms around 75K.

Hoping it's just a failed busing in one of the lower control arms, but we shall see today after work. Anyone else have this issue or an idea of what it could be?

donbrew

My guess is a ball joint.

drummerboy0088

Maybe I can get away with replacing ball joints and bushings.

Oldblue

Take the LCA's out to inspect the rear bushings, check the steering rack and the intermediate steering shaft, both can cause a shake

donbrew

Could be a wheel threw a weight, especially if they are the stick-on type.

drummerboy0088

Turns out one of the bolts holding the caliper bracket fell out. The rattling was the caliper hitting the inside of the wheel. Also noticed the seal on the transmission (passenger side axle) came out, and I'm leaking a little trans fluid. Not leaving puddles anywhere. Goal for Friday is to locktite the bolts holding the caliper brackets, replace lower control arms, re-seal the trans.

donbrew

You might check the ball joint pinch, I seem to remember a smaller gap.

The caliper might allow the axle to travel out farther causing a ATF leak, I would just clean it up and monitor.

Those bolts regularly get mistaken for the other bolts when I do a brake job. Somebody may have loosened it up and forgot.

firemangeorge

Check the threads on that bracket closely. A loose bolt wiggling around in there may have damaged the threads before it fell out.
If it seems OK, run a thread chaser through it to clean up any bad spots.

Oldblue

Torque 'em correctly

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-...e-items-54648/

And for your reading pleasure

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-...ol-arms-44378/

drummerboy0088

My brother put these calipers on a few weeks ago. The piston on the passenger one seized up and wore one of my brake pads completely down to the metal. I got NAPA's caliper which comes pre-loaded, but had to use the bolts from the old calipers. Guess he just didn't tighten all the way.

Like they say, sometimes it's best to double check your work.


Good to know about the ATF leak. Hopefully that's the case George. It was only a little bit of fluid on the axle. No puddles under the car, no drips.

New MOOG LTA's are on their way. This is the 2nd set going on the car - originally replaced at 75K miles with NAPA brand. Going MOOG since they're pre-assembled with bushings and ball joint.