You're going about this the wrong way, and the most expensive way to diagnose a problem. This should start with an inspection at a tire and alignment shop. Many will do this for free.
The lower ball joint and the strut can indeed cause clunking noises, but those would be further down on the list of suspects. For a strut to make noise, it would have to have a lot of play between the shaft and the hole on top of the body where it comes through. You can identify that by leaving the vehicle on the ground, reaching over the top of the tire, then touch your fingertip to the shaft while resting it on top of the strut's body. You'll usually need to force a hard plastic dust shield up to let for fingers sneak in there. Now push in and pull out on the top of the tire with your other hand. You're looking for the sensation of that shaft walking back and forth. It's easy to confuse that with the shaft simply moving up and down normally as you bump the vehicle's body up and down a little. Typically when this wear occurs, you won't hear it at first when that movement is still small. By the time you can hear it, the slop is pretty obvious. Most of the oil will also have been leaked out by this time, so you will ee excessive bouncing too. This wear can not be seen when the vehicle is raised off the ground because the strut will be fully extended with gravity holding the shaft from moving.
To inspect the lower ball joint, the vehicle does have to be raised up so the suspension is hanging freely. The jack stand must be under the frame or front cross member, not supporting the lower control arm. Use a pry bar to try to cause movement between the ball and socket, or have a helper tug left and right vigorously on the tire while you watch for any sideways movement between the ball and socket. Don't confuse the normal rotation of the joint with sideways wear and movement.
A better suspect for clunking is the anti-sway bar links. The design used is especially prone to this wear. To find this, reach around the tire and wrap your fingertips lightly around the link, then use your arm to push the body up and down a little. You'll need to have the vehicle sitting on flat ground so there's no tension on the links. If there's wear in one of the joints, you'll feel the clunking with your fingers. Worn links aren't really a safety hazard, but it's standard practice to replace them in pairs when one is worn.
A less common cause of clunking is the bushings used to mount the anti-sway bar. To find those, wrap your hand around the bar near one of the bushings, then have a helper bounce the vehicle up and down. You're looking for movement, or free play, between the bar and one of the bushings. These are also replaced in pairs when necessary.
By replacing the lower control arm to replace the ball joint, you already replaced the control arm's bushings. Those used to easily last the life of the vehicle, but today they're made of a softer rubber compound to improve ride quality. As a result, they do get hammered out and can cause clunking noises.
The inspection should also include the universal joints in the steering shaft, and the inner and outer tie rod ends.
The miserable handling and steering is understandable and expected after the parts you mentioned are replaced. One of the two lower holes on the strut will be oval-shaped. That is to allow for adjustment of "camber", the first of the three main alignment angles. I have a trick to get that very close to correct, but it has to be done before any parts are removed, and it must be done one strut at a time. Even with that trick, it only gets you close enough to allow you to drive comfortably to the alignment shop.
This also applies to the ball joint, regardless if you replace just the joint or the entire control arm. No two parts are ever exactly the same. That's why they build in adjustments for the alignment. Either of these parts will affect the pulling in one direction, and will lead to an off-center steering wheel.
What I would do is head to the alignment shop and start with the inspection, and tell them which parts you replaced already. When they identify the cause of the noise, you can decide if you want to do the repairs yourself or have the specialist do it. Don't get excited about the poor handling at this point. The alignment will take care of that.
Let me know what you find, then we'll figure out where to go next.
SPONSORED LINKS
Friday, December 13th, 2024 AT 1:57 PM
