So i went to the local tire shop for 2 new tires and an alignment yesterday. And i got my 2 new tires but i couldnt get an alignment because of this reason which i have never heard of before and tell me if its possible:

Me and my dad repacked my wheel bearings about 2 weeks ago when we replaced my front rotors and pads. When we repacked the wheel bearings, i put a glob in my hand and pressed it into the bearing. When i went to the shop, they couldnt do an alignment because they said my wheel bearings didnt have enough grease in them, and they couldnt tighten them down any further, which caused me to have alot of play in them. Is this even possible or are they just talking out their asses? In case anyone was wondering i bought 2 Kumho Ecasta EST Z rated 245/50/16 for the front. They are a very soft tire and do great in handling. Im buying a set of Nitto 555R 254/50/16 Drag Radials for the rear in the next week or so and ive decided to go with a set of American Racing Torque Thrust 2''s for my car. I can get the rims for about $920 for 4. any suggestions are appreciated.

 

Well i noticed a big difference with new tires installed, that the suspension has ALOT of play in it and makes all kinds of creeking and thumping noises in it at low speeds/turning. Jacked it up and the left lower ball joint is shot, but i still have alot of noise coming fron passenger side and the passenger side tie rod wouldnt take any grease when i greased the front end. Bad tie rods or ball joints or something worse? please help

 

If **** is broke, you gotta replace it. The car is old, its a fact of life.

As for the wheel bearings, I dont see why the shop would have any business even taking off the dust cap to check the bearings, unless they are hurting for business?!? Never did that in any of the 3 shops I worked at.

Unless, there was excessive play in the bearings. Jack the front end up, and try moving the tires in an in-out motion, to see if the bearings are too loose.

You can always take them out and repack, but if you are sure you did it good then you can just tighten the spindle nut.

Take out the cotter pin, and tighten the nut some. Turn the rotor a few times. Tighten the nut some more. Turn the rotor again. Tighten the nut till it gets real hard to turn the rotor. Then, back it off untill the rotor spins freely, but there is no in-out play that you can feel. Stick a new cotter pin back in.

 

I would take it to another shop cause they cant tell the different between a loose bearing and a loose ball joint.
It is true that you can not align a car that has looseness in the front end, but they should have been able to see that the ball joint was the culprit. And then sold you some ball joints, and they should have said somthing about the grease fitting. So like i said that place must have too many morons, so it would be in your best interest to find somebody else to do the work.

 

check your front springs they may have a broken colil at the bottom most of the cars i have owned make a real weird clunk on turns fron the sprins broke

 

well we just replaced the wheel bearings this weekend, just to be safe. I know something is wrong more then just ball joint, but everything feels tight and nothing that i can see is bad besides like i said the ball joint. going to replace that first to see if that takes care of everything or if it creates a new problem.

 

im definetly going to check my front springs, i hurt a curb in december on the driver side and never had the money to get an alignment so now its coming back to bite me in the ***.....

 

Well hitting a curb could have bent a control arm or many other things. Something that is bent bad enough, they will not be able to align around.

When you get the front end all nice and tight, take it to a different shop. And bring your own values for the alignment, do a search on this site for the ones you want. Then, stand there while he is doing the alignment and make sure he gets all your values spot on, or very close. If you dont stand there, they will most likely do a toe-n-go without touching the caster or camber on the strut mounts.

 

I just repacked my bearings that were loose, loose enough to walk the front end of the car. Are the outer bearings supposed to be plastic lined? I packed them the old fasion way, (if you don't have blisters you did not do it right). Put everything back together and wala the front is tight.

 

When I pulled my front bearing out to, I was surprised to see the bearing cage made of plastic