Supples’ Pub

So this week instead of super-over-researching the front suspension, only over-researching it this time, I dove right in to trying to figure out why there was several inches of play in the steering. We were also hearing loud popping noises from the suspension when turning the wheel hard over to nearly the end of turning radius.

You can see the general breakdown of the very simple front suspension of a 3rd gen F-body. We had already replaced the inner & outer tie rod ends, adjusting sleeves, and the whole steering gear box. While this allowed the car to theoretically hold an alignment, it did little to fix the big-rig like steering (i.e. you can wave the wheel back & forth of center and not move much).

The idler arm, #5 in the picture, was an aftermarket part so it should have been good. That leaves only the centerlink - a long bar that connects the tie rods, pitman arm, and idler arm together. A rather crucial part, it is beyond me why our original tech didn’t recommend replacing it when we did the tie rod ends - it is only a $60 part.

Anyway, I dove into the car one evening after work and made a good bit of progress. With a pickle fork and hammer borrowed from Jim, I whacked away until I realized I should probably remove/loosen the nut on top of the stud first. That made things much easier and the more recent idler-arm side of the centerlink popped free.

 
A pickle fork, hammered in between a ball joint & where it mounts

The pitman arm side, being much older, took a lot more persuasion but eventually came apart. Unfortunately the idler-arm side of the connecting rod complicated things with a nut just spinning on the ball joint stud. Gripping the stud with various pliers didn’t help, despite working on the pitman arm side, so given it was 8pm I gave it a rest. Kat was out here with me for most of that time, lending her invaluable common sense (seriously).

So with a busy week, I didn’t get a chance to tackle the centerlink again and Kat decided to get her hands dirty. Yesterday she rolled under the car and started playing with it. Using a jack to put pressure on the centerlink, it siezed up the stud enough to get the nut off, then remove the tie end castle nuts & cotter pins, and finally remove the old centerlink. The centerlink needed some muscling to remove from the tie rod ends, which she handled entirely herself. A quick trip to Advanced Auto yielded a new centerlink with new castle nuts & cotter pins.

Castle nut

Today Kat got back under the car, fit up the new part, attached the new castle nuts & cotter pins, then finally reinstalled the pitman & idler arms into the centerlink. This was a particular challenge given the different angles of the suspension with the wheels off the ground, but she persisted and came out victorious. I have a little concern over the idler arm “angle” as described in various threads on ThirdGen.org, but will let the alignment shop handle that when the time comes.

So while she was out tonight, I took the Camaro for a quick spin. I noticed two things right off: the steering seems much tighter and it still pops. I need Kat’s second opinion on the steering tightness, as it’s been several days since I drove with the old centerlink and I didn’t do as many tight maneuvers as I did with the new centerlink - but I feel it is noticeably improved!

So the loud popping noises are still there - bummer. Logic would dictate our last weak link are the lower control arm ball joints - not unexpected. However, there is a chance the noise is either coming from the steering box (replaced last fall) - if so, probably related to improper installation. There is also a chance the suspension is contacting somewhere, most likely something hitting the sway bar. We’ll pay close attention to this possibility tomorrow when greasing all the ball joints before taking it for another test drive.

If the ball joints do need to replaced, it can be done fairly easily with a special tool and some elbow grease. Or one can drop the A-Arm entirely, have a shop press the ball joint in & out, and replace the bushings at the same time (which are a pain traditionally). Hey, while the A-Arm is out, why not replace the worn front springs with some fresh OEM ones? And since you have to take the wheel and caliper off, why not do the brake job that is desperately needed?

As much as I would love to dive into that, it is Kat’s project and her money. We’ll probably get an expert opinion on the popping noise, and if that is the answer probably go the route I suggested above. The springs are $50, control arm bushings $40, and could even do the motor mounts (why not?) for $50. The $44 ball joints aren’t a big deal, and the brake job is a necessity regardless. But if the ball joints aren’t the problem, my Tim Taylor project style (think Home Improvement TV show) hits the can and we’ll just fix the specific problem causing the popping noises for now.

Ah well - I’ve still got a box of suspension parts for the Goat that need installing!