Hello All, my car has been experiencing this for awhile now, every time I back down out of the drive I will here a pop noise coming from the right front, while I'm driving the car will either pull hard right and push hard left (sometimes). I'm trying to pin point what has went wrong here so i replaced idler arm but that wasn't it, could the drop down bracket for the long tubes be the issue or is it a bad ball joint/tie rod end. the front end is only about 4 years old but should I go ahead and put all new goodies up front since I just did the rear?
Drop down brackets are a weak link unless they have been reinforced, have someone turn the wheel while you watch the bracket and other items, did you rebuild the power steering cylinder? The power assist that Ford used in that era was not one of their better ideas
Check out 1st video in this post: http://www.streetortrack.com/Street-or-Track-Adjustable-Strut-Rods-pr-16135.html here is direct link to the video: may or may not be the problem, but worth looking into. David
Possible alignment issues or an under inflated tire. Might be time for some goodies, look into maier racing in Livermore or Street or Track online.
What did you use on the front end when you did it back then? If you used one of the inexpensive ebay kits or something along that line I would definitely take a look at the ball joints and such again. I have had TRW suspension parts go well out of spec in short order so there is a possibility you could have an issue there. You could always mount a GoPro like in the video above and post it here (love watching suspension in motion!).
the suspension was only redone with all new bushing and upper control arms, right front only makes a noise when i'm backing down the driveway
May not be a suspension component! Could possibly be something else, exhaust, or body part. Just a thought!
Check your lower control arm bushings. I had a problem with that and it almost threw me into a bridge. Jim
Well I've gone ahead and ordered all new suspension components, does anyone have any tips for me while I'm in the process of rebuilding
I would not drive the car until you get this sorted out. If something lets go, it will pull harder than you can hang onto the steering wheel. I had a strut rod break and even though it was at low speed in a parking lot, it ripped the wheel out of my grip. On the road, it would have put me head-on into traffic going the other direction. Being that it happens when you are backing up, I am betting it is the lower ball joint on the passenger side. You can check for slop in the front end by grabbing the front tire while the car is on the ground and pushing on it. Push/pull from the top ought to show bad ball joints, push/pull from the sides will show bad tie rods. Have you hit a curb hard lately? That could be a possible cause.
