| Author |
Message |
    
Jack Quinlan (Jsq)
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 - 10:00 am: | 
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I was getting my alignment done and was informed that my left front swivel ball was loose. The tech said it wasn't serious and as such, not anything immediately pressing. However, he offered to fix it for X amount. I declined, not feeling comfortable with Yahoo's Alignment doing anything other than make my landy go straight. I have a very helpful and honest (gasp?!) mechanic at the local dealership. How soon should I go see him? I'm about to take a trip to New Mexico from San Diego and I'd like to know if it can wait till afterwards. |
Paul T. Schram (Paulschram)
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 - 03:50 pm: |
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OK, I'll bite. Is the swivel ball loose in its fixing to the axle housing, or is the swivel pin preload out of tolerance?
The easiest way to tell if it is critical is to investigate how it drives. If it drives fine with no violent jumping from lane to lane, or veering when going over bumpy roads, he's probably full of shit. If your steering is sketchy, it might be the swivel ball preload. But, before I'd jump at swivel preload, I would spend a nominal amount on tie rod ends (you can do the installation and alignment yourself) and see if it doesn't clear up any discomfort you might feel in your steering.
Peace,
Paul |
Jack Quinlan (Jsq)
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 - 11:52 pm: |
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First off, thanks for jumping in.
I have ZERO steering/handling problems.
Hmmmm. I need to get under there and get dirty to really check it out. Then I can provide more symptoms for diagnosis.
Maybe they were just trying to scam me? |
Paul T. Schram (Paulschram)
| | Posted on Thursday, October 24, 2002 - 07:00 am: |
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Jack:
If your swivel ball preload had gotten bad enough that he thought it needed work, you would have been on the board before now asking us why your truck wouldn't run straight and your fears for your safety.
Jack up your truck (jack stands, etc.) and remove the front wheels to look for any excessive play. While it really takes more to determine condition of swivel balls, this will give you an opportunity to become more familiar with your steering and to see if you do indeed need additional work. Grab ahold of your steering control rods and roll them to get an idea of how much play you have in your tie rod ends. If they seem loose to you, go ahead and replace them, it shouldn't cost you more than $100 for parts and unless the joints had seized in the rods, it's an easy job, two hours.
BTW- how many miles do you have on your truck, this might give me a better idea of what's going on.
Peace,
Paul |
Jack Quinlan (Jsq)
| | Posted on Thursday, October 24, 2002 - 09:51 am: |
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I'll get those wheels off and have a look.
I have a 97 DI with 50,200 mi.
pretty low miles for this sort of issue I think. |
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