Hi guys,

I recently replaced the front passenger upper control arm and lower ball joint on my '94 LX MT. I week later, I also replaced the front brake calipers and pads, and rotated the wheels. Then about a week ago, I adjusted the tie rods for alignment.

I noticed that my steering shakes violently (side to side) when I brake around 30-40mph. It also shakes on the highway around 70-75mph, and feels like a milder version of the same shake I get when I brake. Moreover, I can feel the shaking in my legs as I drive.

Additionally, the front passenger side makes a clicking noise when I go over bumps and it sounds as if something metallic is loose/has play. When I brake, this same clicking noise can be heard as the car shakes.

I took off the wheel off, but I didn't notice anything visibly loose or damaged. Any thoughts? Maybe the tie rod?


Thanks!

 

Check to see if is the rotor(s) are running hot. Could be many things given the amount of things you have recently done but hydraulic lock (over greased caliper pin), sticky brake piston, internally collapsed brake hose etc. will cause vibration. If a rotor gets too hot it will warp it and cause vibration. I doubt the clicking is related to the vibration.

 

Thanks for the reply.

The reason why I don't think my rotors are warped is because of how the shaking feels when I brake. It's a lot more like when the ball joints and axle were bad before. It has more of a jerky feel, to put it differently.

Thoughts?

 

Were you having shaking when braking before the repairs?

You should also put the front of the car on jackstands. Push/pull the tire at 12/6 o'clock and also 3/9 o'clock to see if there is any play. Go over all your work to see if something didn't get reassembled properly.

 

There was shaking before replacing the lower ball joint and upper control arm. After replacing those items, the shaking reduced significantly and stayed that way for about a week. After that, the shaking got worse.

Also, the clicking noise when I go over bumps didn't happen until after I did those repairs.

 

Noises are tough to diagnose over the web. Below is a good video on how to locate suspension noises.

Shaking when braking sounds like a brake rotor issue to me. I picked up a dial indicator for pretty cheap at harbor freight that you can attach in place with vice grips. You can measure warping of the rotor.