help! 96 brake upgrade fail! UPDATE

[VortecGT]

Hey guys I really need some help here! My car is driving me crazy! If im going down the road it will steer really funny and the car is all over the place. This all happened after I replaced both balljoints, strut rod bushings and I did the 96 brake upgrade. Both tie rod ends are new as well. The biggest problem is if I hit a patch of snow or a wet sewer drain while going down the road the car slides toward it and its hard to regain control. I checked everything and am still lost! please help!

Well turns out it was a bad aglinnment. But heres the kicker, about a year and a half ago I installed eibachs and sensatracs on the front with NEW mounts. Well when I was done I had two black metal spacers that go right on top of the mounts that I forgot to put in so I searched here and came to think they were just there to reduce noise. Turns out as I removed the nuts for the mounts the studs just fell in, The mounts had mushroommed up into the strut tower itself and ws causing the top of the strut to shift. Just an fyi dont forget those plates!

 

[Ishodu]

Did you get a alignment after doing all that work?

 

[Eric VerValin]

Was it aligned after the tie rods?

 

[K-Dawg]

Check that everything is tight, and then get an alignment.

 

[LOUDSHO92]

Make sure your strut rods are not in backwards. This will cause you to be all over the place.

 

[VortecGT]

I havent had it aligned yet but after taking the 1st test drive i put some toe in on each side and that didnt seem to help. Does anyone have a pic of the strut rods? I think I put them in right, they should make a slight angle toward the car where they go into the control arm correct? Thanks for the help so far guys it just doesent seem like a bad alignment could cause the car to steer and act as bad as it does but im no expert!

 

[SHOMEX]

yes a bad aligment will make your car do really funny things.

 

[shocar]

When you replace the tie rod ends, were they the same brand? If not, then even if you marked the positions, the alignment will be off. I replace my tie rod ends on a car awhile back and did everything right, but the tie rod end was not the same length as the ones I took off so I had a toe in problem. I bet that is the problem, your alignment is off more than you think .

 

[SHOtime2511]

Back when I did my brake upgrade I drove it straight to the alignment shop,felt like a wheel was about to fall off.

 

[LOUDSHO92]

The strut rods can easily go in backwards and not know it. If I remember correctly there should be the larger "washer" integrated into the rod should be on the engine side near the control arm.

 

[SeanMc]

The strut rods can easily go in backwards and not know it. If I remember correctly there should be the larger "washer" integrated into the rod should be on the engine side near the control arm.

So you take off your strut rods to do a brake job?

 

[jonheese]

So you take off your strut rods to do a brake job?

This all happened after I replaced both balljoints, strut rod bushings and I did the 96 brake upgrade.

Sounds more like a brake job plus partial suspension refresh. The thread title is misleading.

 

[VortecGT]

Everything checks out ok im going to get it aligned today and see what happens. Thanks guys!

 

[VortecGT]

Alright so I took it to a shop and they are not willing to drill the welds on the strut tower. They said if I did it then broght it back they would align it. How do I go about doing this? Also he told me the rear is way out of wack but there is no way to adjust it. Is this true?

 

[Shoaz]

Alright so I took it to a shop and they are not willing to drill the welds on the strut tower. They said if I did it then broght it back they would align it. How do I go about doing this? Also he told me the rear is way out of wack but there is no way to adjust it. Is this true?

Both of those points make me think you should find another shop. It is standard procedure (and even described in the manual) to break the welds to do an alignment. You can either pop them up with a chisel or drill the spot welds out. Either way works, either way is common.

The stock rear control arms have large adjustment cams/nuts on the inboard joints of the (IIRC) front control arms. This allows setting toe only within a limited range. If things are really bad there may be something else going on (like the car has been tweaked in an accident), in which case the aftermarket Ingalls control arms should allow enough adjustment to get things back where they should be.

 

[32MTX]

you shouldn't need an alignment after changing FRONT strut rods/struts/control arms FYI on a SHO

as there is no adjustment in them, they bolt into one spot and thats it.

now if you lower it, or have ever removed your subframe, or changed tie rods, or hit a pothole/curb..... thats the type of stuff where you need to start tweaking things.

also on tie rods and stuff, I have never known anyone to get one perfectly correct after swapping them out, i don't care how careful you are. 1/16th of a turn on that tierod can change things. always get urself an alignment after changing an inner or outer tierod ASAP

when your ready for a good alignment come track me down, i've built a name for myself, shop owners try to track me down and get me to work for them!