[Achmiel]

I have a problem where my steering wheel shakes and the car pulls to the right. I thought it was just the tie rods, which have been replaced. Same problem. Now I'm hearing a metal on metal sound at times depending on road conditions.

I'm going to drop it off at a shop and see what they can find. But was wondering if these symptoms sound familiar to some of you and what the fix might be.

Car is an '04 Accord 6-6 lowered on Tein Street Advance coil-overs (which I am aware that lowering a car will wear out parts fast - I was trying to save up money for a front suspension refresh, but I don't have anymore time to sit on it).

thanks!

Mods: I just realized this might need to be moved to the Wheels, Suspension, & Brakes section. Should have made the post in there to begin with. Move it if you must

 

[Achmiel]

And by front suspension refresh, I'm talking about new OEM everything: upper control arms, ball joints, lower control arm bushings, etc...

 

[chris918]

If you jack up the car on the jack support (don't jack up using control arms) you should be able to see if your compliance bushings are ripped.

Mine were torn heavily, and after replacing them it improved the handling. Good news is it's not hard or expensive to yank the control arm, press new bushings, and replace.

 

[jfuredy]

Yes, if your compliance bushings are completely torn through, you will get metal on metal clanking sounds in your suspension. I got it most reliably/consistently when backing out of my driveway and going down off of the roll-curb at a slight angle. And yes, the tears are pretty easy to spot on the front of the lower control arms when the car is jacked up and the front suspension is at full droop.

 

[salcuta]

Bad lower ball joints will clunk over bumps, especially speed bumps.

 

[t-rd]

The only proper way to identify a bad lower ball joint is to:
- jack up the front with front wheels in the air, grab the wheels by the 12 and 6 o'clock locations with your hands and try to rock the tire. If the bottom 6 o'clock point moves, then the lower ball joint bad. I have seen this first hand with an upper ball joint, huge movement.
- use a pry bar and wedge it between the knuckle and the outboard casing of the axle and pry, if you see movement then the lower ball joint is bad.

 

[salcuta]

The only proper way to identify a bad lower ball joint is to:
- jack up the front with front wheels in the air, grab the wheels by the 12 and 6 o'clock locations with your hands and try to rock the tire. If the bottom 6 o'clock point moves, then the lower ball joint bad. I have seen this first hand with an upper ball joint, huge movement.
- use a pry bar and wedge it between the knuckle and the outboard casing of the axle and pry, if you see movement then the lower ball joint is bad.

I tried the same technique on my car but there wasn't any play in the wheel. Balljoint was clunking though. Weird. Replaced it and all is well.

 

[t-rd]

^ then that's when you need a pry bar to pry hard to try for movement.

 

[salcuta]

Good point.

 

[t-rd]

here you go, the pry bar test

 

[Achmiel]

Well... I was way off. Dropped the car off last week to have the shop look at the suspension. Turns out, the right rear sway bar end link was broken and had to be replaced. The shop said everything else was good to go and I should only replace things as they wear (still going to amass parts for an eventual front suspension refresh). Going to get new tires for the front this week which should take care of the pulling and wheel shaking.

 

[bez]

Well... I was way off. Dropped the car off last week to have the shop look at the suspension. Turns out, the right rear sway bar end link was broken and had to be replaced. The shop said everything else was good to go and I should only replace things as they wear (still going to amass parts for an eventual front suspension refresh). Going to get new tires for the front this week which should take care of the pulling and wheel shaking.

Did the metal on metal sound disappear after replacing the link?

 

[Achmiel]

Yup. Car feels more solid over bumps/road irregularities as well.

Kinda sucks to have it break when I'm planning on replacing the sway bar and end links for TL-S units, but I gotta keep it on the road to make that money.....