So a little mechanical background to my car. 240K miles, autobox, 90% of the suspension has been rebuilt, and has less than 2000 miles on it, and was with replaced with OEM spec parts from either rockauto, fcp or ipd. To be exact, up front I did the complete strut assembly, including springs, mounts, bump stop, etc; sway bar links; inner and out tie rod ends; both cv axles; control arms, with bushing and ball joint; rotors and pads. Sway bar bushings look ok, and isn't tearing. I do have replacements, I just haven't put them on yet. Both CV axles are replaced, however, the boot for the inner joint on the passenger side ripped about 200 miles ago.. So I have to find out what kind of warranty it has. The only other thing that hasn't been replaced is the wheel bearings, and I'm not sure when they were done last.
The rear I did both springs and struts, with all the matching hardware, as well as the larger out control arm bushings. (not looking forward to doing those again on the turbo..
) Inner bushings are ok, and the car rides very smooth over bumps. No ride problems on either end of the car.Also just replaced the timing belt, with the pump and pulleys, s-belt, oil sump o-rings, pcv system, and did a tune up about 7k miles ago on the full ignition system. The upper motor mount does need replaced. It's not horrible, but it's cracked all around.
This has been one heck of a over haul on this car. It drove horribly before I replaced all of this, but the car drives very good now. I still however, have a wobble when I accelerate from a stop, doesn't matter if I'm turning or going straight. The harder I accelerate, the worse the wobble is, and starts to become a vibration at some points. This was a lot worse before I went through and replaced everything mentioned above. And by wobble, I mean it feels like a bent rim, the front end of the car gets thrown side to side very slightly. I haven't had an "official" alignment done yet, but we did have it on a lift, and used the string method (hope you guys know what I'm talking about). It drives straight as an arrow down the highway with no hands on the wheel. But at highway speeds, from about 45 and up, it feels like a vibration, like a slightly worn tie rod end would. Also, depending on how you go over it, bumps cause a very slight rattle. It doesn't do that all the time though.
One other thing worth mentioning, the steering rack is in decent condition, however, when we were changing the inner tie rods, we noticed play. I wasn't 100% sure if this is normal. So the shaft doesn't have play going in and out of the rack, or as if you were steering left or right. It has play going towards the front and rear of the car, when your loosening or tightening the tie rods.
I also have a problem with my subframe. I hit a brick.. yes a brick, last winter. It was covered by snow, with the passengers side tire, just the front. No immediate damage other than a flat tire, which I was able to get home quick before it went flat. I did replace the tire, it ripped pretty good, along with the rim. So when this happened, the left mount for the passengers side control arm got pushed up about 3/4". I tried to bend it back, but we couldn't get enough leverage. We almost pulled the car off the lift
And just an easy shot in the dark, possibly the wheel bearing? It didn't wobble like this until just about 3 months ago, so I don't think it's anything related to the subframe mount.
Sorry for the horrible long post, just wanted to make sure everything was covered.
Regards,
Sage
