According to a shop my ball joints and struts are very worn. I've recently had them replace the outter tie rods ends and idler arm. They say everything else is fine including the rag joint. Yet there is still a lot of play in the steering and while going down the road I find myself correcting back and forth constantly. It seems like I'm a drunk driver.

I'm wondering if there is some unforseen culprit of my loose steering. At the very top of the steering wheel there is a slight knock. The shop doesnt think there is anything wrong with the steering box either. Is there anything in the steering column that could cause this? Could this be a combination of bad ball joints and the alignment being set improperly because of the bad ball joints?

I think I'm gonna bite the bullet and get these things replaced. But I want to make sure the problem will go away when I get the work done. Parts and labour they estimated $500 CAN, thats around $325 US for kyb struts and moog ball joints. Not bad?

 

if you paid for an alignment you got screwd and if a shop did an alignment knowing you had worn parts on your car i'd find another shop. you basically threw away the money, time, and effort spent on the alignment. there is no way they could set it to specs with worn parts. it's like a 1/2 bolt in a 1" hole, it could be anywhere in the hole and not the same place twice. replace the worn parts and get another alignement. then make up your mind if it still feels sloppy or not.

 

Actually, I've got a similar thing, but the play in the wheel isn't extensive, just somewhat noticeable and not enough to affect my driving and I actually do feel a slight knock usually when turning the wheel from one direction going in the opposite. BTW, not just a few months ago I replaced my tie rods, ball joint and entire front suspension and it really didn't go away. I've got a WS6 steering box on the way that may fix the problem, otherwise its in my idler and pitman arm (kinda doubtful). The car has been aligned correctly and a couple times so I highly doubt its the alignment.

 

I just replaced my ball joints and didn't notice any change in steering. If they're worn, they need to be replaced. Take it from me, you DO NOT want to experience what happens when one of them goes bad. It doesn't just wear out- it breaks, taking at least your tire and fender out with it. $325 sounds like a decent price.

 

Pianiy, the idler arm is a "wear item" on our car... it wears out, just because of the design of our front suspension. I had a bad idler arm and center link, and was all over the road. Those two new pieces fixed the problem.

And that was going to be my suggestion to matlock; maybe the center link is worn out. Think about replacing it yourself, and bringing it to them for an alignment. It's not a hard piece to put on, and you could always do the inner tie rod ends at the same time, too (just as easy). If you take a measurement of how "long" the combination of "inner tie rod end + adjusting sleeve + outer tie rod end" is, you could get your alignment close enough to limp to ANOTHER alignment shop. Was this a chain-style store (like PepBoys or any other place that sells air freshners and floormats and injector cleaner), or was it a specialty tire/alignment shop?

 

The shop said my center link was okay. They're a specialty shop called BC Shock and Strut. They are very reasonable with their prices and I was recommended by a couple of stores, so thats why I went to them. Apparently when I got my outter tie rod ends (and alignment) done they said my ball joints were wearing but the tie rod ends were the most important to get done so I did. I went back about a month later because my steering was still loose and getting worse, and the guy asked which of their employees checked the ball joints because he said they're gone.

I guess I'll price the stuff out at a different alignment shop.

 

loose steering is not always caused by ball joints check your tie rod ends inner and outer that mess with steering bad, oh yeah i wouldn't go to that robbery of shop anymore