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1994 plymouth acclaim v6. title says most of it… had a weird alignment problem for a good month now that was experienced as my steering wheel slightly cocked right 10 degrees to maintain a straight like. when i hit bumps going over 55 or so i could feel the car strafe slightly. i checked my alignment with a tape measurer and found it to be toed out about .5 inches…you can even visually see the drivers side front tire pointing slightly out when the wheels are straight and the passengers side tire is totally straight…
thinking it was an alignment issue, i got under there today and adjusted the drivers side tie rod to toe it in slightly. upon putting the wheel back on and dropping it off the jack, i was tightening the lug nuts, and noticed that the wheel shifted forward and back when i was applying torque. confused, i jacked the car up and applied torque to the lugs with no play in the wheel…dropped it back down, and it has the play again! so it only has play when the car is lowered.
It’s not just the wheel, the whole assembly shifts forward and back when you torque it hard enough, even the strut kindof cockseyes itself when i move the wheel. bear in mind this movement is restricted to toward the front of the car and back of the car when i rotate the wheel, no push or pull movement.
after scouring the assembly, i finally found the point of movement. its the lower ball joint… or rather just ball joint (this car doesn’t have an upper). when i apply that torque to a lug, everything in the assembly moves, but it stops after the ball joint, so i would presume it is the culprit?
furthermore, the boot on it looked really neglected and dry, so i tried to grease it with the zerc fitting… couldn’t pump anything into it. unscrewed the zerc nozzle and ran a nail through it to clear out the gunk…still wont accept any grease.
So is this hook line and sinker the ball joint? just want to get some expert input before i start taking things apart. thanks guys!
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On those, a factory ball joint wear indicator was if you where able to wiggle the grease fitting. the boot worn is another. The play you describe sounds like its well past needing replaced. You will need a ball joint press to change it. An alignment shop can straighten things up for you, even set your steering wheel straight.
Still doesn’t amount to the crazy explanation of the woobliness on road xyz. All our old BJs get trashed and we pray it fixes the problem. It doesn’t, if we’re not lucky. If you have some good years traveled on that vehicle, I wouldn’t hesitate to assume the frame has shifted and that there’s no remedy for a slight wobble (excessive, yes). Drive her hard with caution, but don’t let up if an elk is 10 feet away at 60 mph. WTf am I talking about
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