Very loose wheel.

[Archer]

When I had my car up to flush my coolant system, my 6 yr old son was messing with my pass side front wheel. He said "look dad, the wheel wobbles". Sure enough, I went over there and the wheel wobbles about 1/2 inches in all directions... so whats the deal? Hub bearing? tie rods? ball joints? all of the above?

Also, the wheel is about 1/2-1 inch from the pass side fender in the rear. like its back farther than its suppose to be. the front driver is just fine, tho it too needs a hub bearing. one of the lug studs are missing.

I tell ya, the people that owned the camaro before I, really neglected it. So here I am, broke and trying to restore it with the help of ebay and junk yrds.. haha Junk yards are just about as expensive as GM anymore...

Thanks for any input guys/ girls..

Archer

[FadeToBlak121]

Re: Very loose wheel.

ya know, my dad had me look at the front end of his minivan and i was shaking the wheels and one of them was soo loose it almost felt like the lug nuts were lose. (they werent). looked under while someone shook it and it was the lower ball joint.

sounds like the same problem with you.

[Pewter02Camaro]

Re: Very loose wheel.

looked under while someone shook it and it was the lower ball joint.

was gonna say the same thing. :P

[Bonemaro]

Re: Very loose wheel.

was gonna say the same thing. :P

Yup, same here. That's exactly what it sounds like.

[Pewter02Camaro]

Re: Very loose wheel.

that reminds me i may need to repalce my driver side. not really pleased with the amount of play i saw in it the last time i had the front end jacked up off the ground.

[Blizzard242]

Re: Very loose wheel.

Yeah my gf had bad ball joints on her car, there was play in the wheel as you described. When she turned it would feel as if she was hitting small patches of ice. Scary when thats on a summer day. So yeah anyways I think the consensus is ball joint heh :) good luck.

[Archer]

Re: Very loose wheel.

damn, had to be the hardest one to replace.. ugh. anyone know where to find the puller and tool to replace it? looks kinda like a press.. would that still cause the tire to be farther back than normal?
archer

[steddy]

Re: Very loose wheel.

You may also want to take a look at the upper control arm bushings while you move it. Mine went last year and I had that same problem. It's easy when you move it, just look up at where the upper is attached to the front sub-frame. If that's the case, I know from experience, a set of polys make a night and day difference (and gets rid of the sound like the car's gonna fall apart either anymore). I ended up having it done by a frame shop that had a press on hand. You could replace the ball joints and both tie rod ends and if the bushings are FUBAR, all that isn't going to make much difference in the feel and road bash it'll make.

[bigbrian442]

Re: Very loose wheel.

damn, had to be the hardest one to replace.. ugh. anyone know where to find the puller and tool to replace it? looks kinda like a press.. would that still cause the tire to be farther back than normal?
archer

No one here has looked at your car. They are telling you where to look. You will need to jack the car back up, move the wheel, and look to see where the play is coming from.

[Bonemaro]

Re: Very loose wheel.

I've never replaced a ball joint. Do they need to be pressed in or is it just a bolt on job?

[Christopherrr]

Re: Very loose wheel.

I'd check both the outer and inner tie rods...you will see excessive play and figure out if it's one or both. If you turn the wheel you can also figure out if you need hub assemblies if there's excessive noise.

[FadeToBlak121]

Re: Very loose wheel.

if youre just worried about pressing them, ive been told you can take it to any garage that does that kind of stuff and they can press it for you. then you take it home and basically bolt it on. from what ive heard.

[Archer]

Re: Very loose wheel.

yeah I have a friend at a body shop that has a press. thats what I'll have to do I guess... im going to try to take the car apart sometime soon, once I get my girls SUV put back together.