Wobbles from the front right wheel!

gilly

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
SA
First Name
Simon
Drive
2000 Legnum VR4 Type S
So this has been progressively getting worse, but havent had time to get it checked out.
It feels like I have a flat front right tyre, but the tyre is fine.
Most noticeable at around 40-55km or off throttle from 60.
Sometimes it starts when changing lanes, or sometimes when i drive over a manhole.
It usually last for a few seconds.
Wheel nuts are on tight.

I have noticed when jacked up, that I can move the wheel (and presumably the hub) back and forth. Has about 5mm travel.

Any ideas what it could be? Or is it a case of impossible to diagnose without inspecting?
If so, I will just take it somewhere to be looked at. Driven Motorsports is close to work so I'll head there.
 

Brenton

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
Port Lincoln. South Australia
First Name
Brenton
Drive
97 PFL legnum
Could be a number of things.Lower control arms, tierod end, wheel bearings. Should get it looked at asap last thing you want is lower control arms failing
 

Nitephyre

Flaccid Member
Lifetime Member
Location
ormeau@gc.qld.au
First Name
Matt :)
Drive
1963 Toyota Lite-Stout & 2007 Toyota Blade Master G
Tyre egged or wheel buckled... I had both issues on the 18's I had on. Except all four tyres ended up being egged and two wheels buckled :/

Oh missed the movement bit... what Brenton said.
 

NuffNuff

1 AYC Bar
Lifetime Member
Location
Victoria
First Name
Damian
Drive
GTI, GTI, FL Manual Legnum VR4
jack up the front right, grab the wheel on the left and right and see if it wobbles or has play in it. same as top to bottom. tie rod or something probably nackered

edit: stupid me, you already did this... get it looked at ASAP
 

slickd1

Wizard
Lifetime Member
Location
NSW
First Name
Matthew Dundon
Drive
1998 EC5W Manual Legnum.
ASAP! will likely be control arm. see if you can see any damage on any of them. if needs be get a bit of height by driving up a gutter if you don't have the gear.
 

gilly

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
SA
First Name
Simon
Drive
2000 Legnum VR4 Type S
I got underneath yesterday and couldn't see anything obvious.
I will be taking it to a workshop tomorrow.
Cheers for all the replies!
 

Kaldek

2 AYC Bars
Premium Member
Location
Melbourne
First Name
Ed
Drive
2000 Legnum VR4 Manual, Ford Territory family runabout, BMW K1300R.
If it moves back and forth (i.e. you grab the wheel at 9 and 3 o'clock) but not up and down (i.e. top to bottom when you grab the wheel at 12 and 6 o'clock) your inner tie rod is worn (also known as a "rack end"). Mine wobbles too, and I'm about to replace it this weekend. I've never done the job before so I can't tell you how long a mechanic should take, but I'd figure 60-90 minutes. In my case I'll probably take four hours. I'm a slow worker on new stuff.

$44 part. Tool needed to remove them runs between $40 and $80 on eBay.
 

gilly

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
SA
First Name
Simon
Drive
2000 Legnum VR4 Type S
Excellent - yes that is exactly what happens.
A mechanic mate of mine reckons it is the rack end as well.
Where did you get the part? And do you have a part number?
Look forward to hearing how you go.
 

Kaldek

2 AYC Bars
Premium Member
Location
Melbourne
First Name
Ed
Drive
2000 Legnum VR4 Manual, Ford Territory family runabout, BMW K1300R.
Excellent - yes that is exactly what happens.
A mechanic mate of mine reckons it is the rack end as well.
Where did you get the part? And do you have a part number?
Look forward to hearing how you go.

I bought the tie rod from Mits Fix as they had parts in stock. It is a non-genuine part but considered good quality (note, this cannot be said for the Lower Control Arms which need to be genuine).

The part code is RE1012 made by Protex. If you search eBay for "RE1012" there's a few folks selling them locally. I imagine your mechanic can also just ask his parts supplier for that code and get one.

Your mechanic will also tell you if you need new boots.
 

[TUFFTR]

Leaving Skid Marks
Location
Victoria
First Name
Paul
Drive
Mitsubishi Magna
You shouldn't need a tool to do tie rod ends. Few spanners at most. Soak the end in WD40, put on a set of earmuffs and belt the knuckle with a hammer, once you loosen the castle nut, the vibrations from the hammer will loosen the seal and the tie rod end should literally drop out of it's hole. Same process I use for lower control arms on Magnas.
 

Kaldek

2 AYC Bars
Premium Member
Location
Melbourne
First Name
Ed
Drive
2000 Legnum VR4 Manual, Ford Territory family runabout, BMW K1300R.
You shouldn't need a tool to do tie rod ends. Few spanners at most. Soak the end in WD40, put on a set of earmuffs and belt the knuckle with a hammer, once you loosen the castle nut, the vibrations from the hammer will loosen the seal and the tie rod end should literally drop out of it's hole. Same process I use for lower control arms on Magnas.
Dude, we're not talking about the tie rod end.

We're talking about the Inner Tie Rod, otherwise known as the "rack end". It's the rod which the "tie rod end" is screwed onto, and it connects to the steering rack. It looks like this:

RE1012.jpg


Skip to 2:40 to see what we're talking about in the following video:

 

Kaldek

2 AYC Bars
Premium Member
Location
Melbourne
First Name
Ed
Drive
2000 Legnum VR4 Manual, Ford Territory family runabout, BMW K1300R.
Wouldn't you know it, here is an actual Legnum video of a worn inner tie rod. Same side, too.

@gilly this is a good thing to check and compare to what you're seeing.

 

Kaldek

2 AYC Bars
Premium Member
Location
Melbourne
First Name
Ed
Drive
2000 Legnum VR4 Manual, Ford Territory family runabout, BMW K1300R.
Job done here at my place. Will edit and upload some video later, but it was a 2 hour job as I thought it might be. It was actually rather easy!

In the meantime, here are the tools you will need:

To remove the outer tie rod castle nut: 17mm socket or spanner.
To remove the outer tie rod lock nut: 21mm spanner and 22mm spanner or adjustable wrench
To remove the inner tie rod: a tie rod removal tool. I bought this one from eBay for $38 delivered and it is a great tool.
To remove the tie rod boot: A long flat head screw driver to break the factory boot clip holding it to the steering rack, and a pair of pliers to remove the spring clip holding it to the tie rod


As you can see, the old inner tie rod ball joint is a bit fubar'd:
Worn inner tie rod.jpg
 
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