Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => Drive train, fuel, suspension, steering & brakes => Topic started by: Jkalplus1 on July 29, 2015, 13:52:05
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Gents,
My car works great, but I notice sometimes when I am on a highway access ramp, in a right hand turn where some pulling force is working on the right hand wheels of the car, a soft continuous crackling sound...Bearing drama? Tie rod? I remember reading an old post by Dan about it but I cannot find it anymore. Thank you if you can point me in the right direction!
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I was probably talking about the idler arm bushing. On a long right hand curve, the right front tire won't have that much end thrust on it. This will allow a very loose ilder arm to pop up and down causing the right font tire to steer in and out as the arm moves up and down. You may not notice the wheel moving but you will likely feel the car moving around on the road resulting in constant input required to keep you pointed in the right direction. Whether this will made any noises you can hear is not somethig I can answer.
Raise the front of your car high enough so that you can easily reach under the front tires. Push and pull lightly at the 3 and 9 positions. If every thing is tight, you won't feel any play. Tie rod ends and the drag link will tend to pop up and down or move side ways if they're loose. The idler arm will move up and down if it's loose but it may be harder to see.
You can go further and check for wheel bearing play. Grab the wheel at 6 and 12 then push and pull lightly. No play should be felt. If you feel play, grease the king pins and try again. If all of the play goes away, you have worn king pin bushings. If you can still feel play then you probably have loose wheel bearings. I would recomend that you remove any play from the wheel bearings and king pins before you test your idler arm and tie rod ends.