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99 Toyota Sienna 3.0 150K
Issue: Both front tires are wearing very heavily on the inside tread (got about 20K from Michelins before inside tread was wore down to nothing, the rest of the tread looks great).
When I jack the car up and wiggle the tires I don’t really get any movement left to right. I do get movement wiggling the tires in the up to down direction. There is definitely something worn out/loose in that direction (one of the tires moves about 1/16″ which isn’t much, but I can hear that something is definitely loose in that assembly).
Question is…I know that a bad ball joint can cause the movement and tire wear, but are there other causes of this as well that I should look for? The reason I ask is because when I move the tire while looking at the lower ball joint I see no movement at all from the ball joint, but will you always see movement from a bad ball joint if it is just partially failed?
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If you can feel movement when you move the wheel something there is worn out. Could be ball joints, control arm bushings, strut or wheel bearing. Ball joints can be worn out and have no movement but since you can feel something loose there is wear somewhere.
You really need a helper who can shake the wheel while you inspect for worn components. Be sure the car is secure before getting under it. And that means blocked rear wheels and axle stands under the front.
Thanks for the reply…I should have mentioned the front end has MacPherson struts and this is why I suspect the ball joint because that would be the main culprit in that type of system. But maybe I should check the bearing too, like you said, I just assumed that if they were bad I would have heard them by now.
So with MacPherson struts 99% of the time the type of movement I’m getting would either be wheel bearing or ball joint (with ball joints being the prime suspect) is that right?
I hope it is the ball joint because I ordered them last night and it’s already too late to cancel :blink: I’ve actually been buying a lot of car parts off Amazon because they ship so fast.
Anyway, I’m confused as to how to tell the difference between a bad ball joint and bad bearing because it seems like the test for each of them is identical (i.e. movement in the 12’oclock – 6’oclock position).
I don’t hear any noise at all that’s why I assumed it’s not the bearing but technically I guess bad bearings don’t always have to make noise.
Another problem is that there is not much movement and since the ball joint is covered by a rubber boot I figured it may be hard to see it moving away.
Honestly, I remember seeing some movement around where the CV joint goes into the knuckle (when viewing it from the back). Now that’s where the hub assemble/bearing is located. BUT I can’t tell if the movement is from the bearing or if I’m just seeing the entire knuckle move because of the bad ball joint.
Sorry I’m just confused on how to be 100% sure because I don’t like throwing parts at cars, but maybe this is a situation where I can’t be totally sure because there’s not enough movement to see much. At least the ball joints where only $30/ea and at 150K I guess there’s nothing wrong with replacing them anyway.
You could be right. Toyota is not known for ball joint wear but being the age it is it could be possible. I have seen loose wheel bearings the did not make any noise. Upper strut mounts and where the strut piston enters the strut can both be a source of movement.
Yeah I think I’m going to just replace the bearings and maybe the ball joints while I’m at it. I watched a few you tube videos of people showing bad bearing movement and it looks like exactly what I have. One video was on my exact vehicle and how to replace them so that was nice.
In the video the guy says the torque spec for the axle nut for my 99 Sienna is 215ft lbs. I’ve looked and can’t find the spec in my Chilton manual. Do you know what it is or a website that would list specs like that?
The way to tell if you have a bad ball joint is looking at it while prying on the lower control arm watching for unwanted movement. Shaking the wheel tells you something is loose but not much else. So, check the mounted wheel first and if you detect a problem you must do some exploring with the wheel off.
Make sure the car is firmly mounted on stands before venturing under it with your body.
You can tell by putting your eyes on the loose part. If you see movement in the wheel when you move the tire, you should be able to spot what’s loose. This video shows the process.
Additional information in these articles.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/determining-the-causes-of-vehicle-vibrations
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