EJZero1

All of the following symptoms started within the last week or two:

1. Car is starting to wander and follow undulations on road surface.

2. Knocking/clunking coming from driver front corner when hitting significant bumps.

3. Just yesterday, on braking in a right curve, steering wheel developed a significant wobble.

It seems plausible to me these could all be related to the same issue. My first thought when hearing the clunking was A-arm issues. Ball joints? Anything I can check on the car now to verify or rule out?

Thanks much...now back to the garage to try and track down the clunking coming from the rear of the car...

jmj951

Could be a LOT of things. Biggest culprits would be the ball joint or tie rod end. Other main possibilities are the strut and strut mount bearing. Put the front left corner in the air and try to wiggle it around, first holding it on the top and bottom, then left and right, and see what gives. Grab the strut right below the spring perch and try to shake it around, then again right at the top to see if the strut mount bearing is loose.

EJZero1

Just back in from the garage...

As suggested above, got the left front corner in the air and checked for play. Nothing vertical, but force applied at 9 and 3 o'clock revealed play in the ball joint...1/4 inch or more of laterl play at the ball joint. For comparison sake, did the same test on the passener side and got no play. So I guess now I have direction. Time to look at ball joint options...

Feel free to offer up suggestions for repair/replacement.

On another note, no obvious culprits in the clunking in the rear of the car, although torn boots indicate a possible need for new cv joints or axles.

Thanks in advance!

jmj951

Ball joint on the a-arm, or in the steering linkage? If you're detecting it left-to-right, it sounds like it's in the steering linkage. You can buy just the tie rod end (significantly cheaper, can get you buy if that's the only problem area), or the entire tie rod that includes the inner joint as well. Although it's more expensive, I recommend the entire tie rod. I tried to go the cheap route once and only replaced the tie rod end, not knowing if the inner joint wears much, but later I had to replace the entire tie rod. I mainly use Paragon for replacement parts like these.

EJZero1

The play I found was at the ball joint on the A-arm. Not sure how much that ball joint is supposed to "give", but it looked excessive to me, especially when compared to the passenger side which had no noticable flex at all.

Will get the front end up in the air again today and fully inspect all of the front end components for wear...

Thanks for the inputs!