front end clunk/steering

[siteunseen]

Use your video device as your helper. 

Those wheel bearings were a hard torque to figuring out as I recall. There was something in the fsm I believe. Tighten to a certain place then back off? Good luck, it would be nice if the battery was loose like Zed Head said.

 

[Dave WM]

I just tighten them up until start to bind up, turn both direction, then back off until play is noticed then creep up on them until no play. Perhaps I should review the FSM, its just the way I have always done it. I have zero play in 12/6 direction on wheels.

[Dave WM]

a duh moment, I can just take off the hub caps and look at it while executing the pop procedure... maybe when the sun goes down it feels like well over 100f right now.

[Zed Head]

On checking wheel bearing looseness - I dealt with loose bearings for a while and found that you can get a really good idea of looseness/tightness by grabbing the top of the tire and shaking back and forth, with the car on the ground.  If there's any looseness, you'll hear it clunking.  You just have to be careful not to confuse the noise with brake pads or caliper parts moving though.

Pretty sure that I also found that the nut will only tighten so far, not always clamping the bearings in to the race like most cars.  I could crank the nut down and the bearings would still be loose, if they were worn out.

Edited August 18, 2020 by Zed Head

[Mark Maras]

We didn't torque tapered roller bearings "back in the day". We would spin the wheel while tightening the nut until the nut was snug and usually tighten it until the next slot in the nut aligned with the hole in the spindle. On my 71 the next alignment slot felt too tight, so I backed the nut off. That slot left the wheel bearings with an almost imperceptible amount of play. I consulted my Dad (ex-logger) about the looseness and he said a tapered wheel bearing would last a lot longer a bit loose than a bit too tight. I don't know why, to this day, but I left the bearings a bit loose and other than occasionally greasing them, I ran them over 175,000 miles. I did have to tighten them, temporarily, for novice races. Tech didn't like loose wheel bearings.

[Dave WM]

hmmm ZH I am def hearing something when shaking the top while on ground.

A follow up, no play with the car up in the air.

 

Edited August 19, 2020 by Dave WM
found the real reason see later post.

[Zed Head]

I should also mention that the reason I was focused on my bearings is because they led to loose steering.  So that's another sign.  That wandering feeling in the front end when it should be tight.  Getting pulled by freeway grooves, excessive tire wear, etc.

I've worked on a variety of car brands bearings but the Z bearings were the most difficult to get right, for me.  Not sure why.

[S30Driver]

Have you replaced the rack bushings Dave?   Easy to check,  watch for any vertical movement when turning steering wheel with hood open.  Need helper or your camera for passenger side check.    Might be unrelated to your problem but worth checking.

[Dave WM]

I think I hope I may have it. I was able to duplicate the sound by locking the steering wheel, wheels up, push hard 9/6 one way to "set it" then pull back and pop.

I found the control arm bolt (17mm) less than torqued to spec (I got a socket on one side a wrench on the other) I could turn it pretty easy, not loose mind you but def not uga uga uga tight.

any way tightened it up, check the other side (it was fine) and could no longer duplicate the pop with the car wheels up. Again too late to test drive tonight have to go clean up and call it a day.

I think I intentionally delay testing like this so I can at least think I have if fixed. Will check in the morning and report back. So anyone else forget to tight the control arm bolts and if so do you recall any odd clunking sounds?

[Dave WM]

3 hours ago, S30Driver said:

Have you replaced the rack bushings Dave?   Easy to check,  watch for any vertical movement when turning steering wheel with hood open.  Need helper or your camera for passenger side check.    Might be unrelated to your problem but worth checking.

yes replaced the rack bushings, I made a video of it showing the amount of give they have in side to side play.

[Dave WM]

Fixed!

so bottom line is if you have worked on the front suspension make sure you torque to spec. I am not sure but the nuts may have nylon locking, perhaps one use only. I will check again to see if anything loosens up.

to recap the situation, the noise would present when I would back up, turn one direction, then reverse steer while going forward after backing up. a noticeable "pop" or "clunk" would be heard in the front of the car with a slight release feel in the steering wheel. I presume I was shifting the control arm bushing ever so slightly. It has the original control arm bush (front control arm).  I have new OE bushings on hand, but since I did not install them I presume I had the arm off and check them and decided not to replace.

It will be interesting to see if I notice any change in the normal driving, there was nothing odd going on other than the clunk that I can recall.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Dave WM

[Zed Head]

Are you saying that the big nut and bolt that create the inner pivot for the "transverse link" was loose?

Edited August 19, 2020 by Zed Head