I have an 87 Firebird, and the steering has been feeling vague for quite a while now. I have had new lower ball joints a while ago, and I also recently replaced the rag joint, however it has made no difference.

Yesterday I realised that when the weather is hot, there is also a really bad squeak that starts from the drivers side fron area. Sounds like its coming from slightly in front of the front wheel. I've had a quick visual check, and I can't see any joints that look like they're dried out or anything. I also realised that what I thought was vague steering may in fact be stiff steering, because it seems like its reluctant to self centre sometimes. Also it takes a bit of force almost like you're overcoming a tight spot, to get it to change direction slightly when just keepig the car in a straight line or going round a slight bend.

If you start a journey from cold, the noise and stiff feeling don't start straight away - it takes a while for things to "warm up". So in the mornings its not to bad, but if I leave work on a hot afternoon, by the time I'm half way home right up tillI get home it squeaks real bad and feels horrible.

Are there any joints prone to stiffening/seizing? I was thinking maybe the strut top bearings(although that doesn't follow with the noise coming from the front end of the car)? The squeak sounds rubbery, but surely swaybar bushings wouldn't make the steering stiff to turn?

Has anyone experienced anything similar??

 

I tried to get the plastic cap off of the top of the strut to see if I could see anything sticking, and to see if the centre piston rod would turn, but they seem to be very difficult to move.

Whats the best way to get them off without chewing them up?

 

I would try getting the front of the car up when it's hot and have a helper turn the wheel left and right while it's in the air with you under it so you can see where the squeaking is coming from. It has power steering fluid right?

 

Ball joints are the most likely cause. Jack up the front so the wheels will turn WITH the suspension loaded. You can place jack stands under the a-arms just make sure they stay clear of the ball joints. Pop the tie-rods loose from the spindles and each wheel should turn freely by itself. If one or both binds you can unbolt the strut nut (or the entire strut mount-just mark where it was so it can be re-installed) and have a helper hold it so that is turns with the tire. If it still binds it's the ball joint.

If it now turns freely you can hold the strut rod in place and spin the strut mount on it to check for binding. This isn't a definitive test of the strut mount bearing though as it will see side loading when installed that may be necessary for it to bind. Otherwise try spinning it at different angles to check for grinding.

 

Hey! Got your PM. It sounds like what mine was doing. It has all new front susp. It creeks by the driver front wheel. I'm pretty sure its coming from the gearbox. After all. it has 196k mi on orginal gearbox. Wheres a good place to get a quick ratio replacment? Thanks goodluck

 

There is definitely fluid in the steering. I've got the drivers side strut cap off, and the piston turns 3/4 of the way round freely, with only a slight stiffening on the last 1/4. No creaking etc.

The bottom ball joints both sides were changed about 4k mikes ago and look ok. (The car has done about 175k miles).

I haven't tried jacking the car up yet as its in my (very small) garage. Nex time I get it out I'll try that. I guess if I raise it and still can't find anything binding, it'll have to be the steering box itself. IF it is the box, I have no idea where to find a new one over here in the UK. I expect I'll have to ship one accross from the U.S.
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Did yours squeak when you pushed the car up and down with the wheels straight ahead and (obviously) stationary??

 

I've seen ball joints go bad in less than 1000 miles (or they were bad to start with). The owner swore they were good and was chasing everything but the obvious. It's a simple check.

I can't imagine how the gearbox itself could squeak, but anything is possible. The gearbox is filled with fluid which should mute most noises. It IS POSSIBLE that the frame rail behind the gearbox is cracked and that could be squeaking. This is not an uncommon problem with these vehicles and the factory provided the wonderbar as a brace on some higher end models. You'd have to pull the box out to inspect the frame and a welder could repair most cracks fairly easily.

The best place to find a box, in my experience, is the JY. I've been through quite a few reman boxes and had bad luck with each. A $30 rebuild kit and a $40-50 used box has never failed me.

 

I tried to have a look where the steering boxis bolted to the box section last night with the box in place, and it didn't look like anything had been moving, I obviously don't know whats going on behind the box though.

Seems strange to me that when I put the car in the garage the other other night when it was hot, I pushed down on the front fender and it squeaked as it went down. Now that everythings cold its not doing it.

If the box section where the steering box bolts on was cracked, surely it would only creak when you turn the steering, not when you push down on the fender?

I noticed when I had a quick look the other night that the track rod ends are the type with the grease nipple on them. Am I likely to have other joints on there that are greaseable? I would have thought that they'd be the sealed for life type. I know the (relatively) new bottom ball joints are.

 

There should be grease fittings on each of the tie-rod ends as well as the two center link ends (where they connect to the pitman and idler arm) and the nipple on the idler arm. Are you certain the ball joints were not supposed to have fittings installed and be greased?

If it squeaks with up and down movement, the struts may need to be replaced.

 

No, I'm not sure about the bottom ball joints. They were fitted by the garage where I bought the car. I've never actually studied them, I just assumed that they'd be the sealed type, as thats all we get over here for UK cars. Maybe that's the problem.....

I need to get it in the air, and check it out. It'll be Sunday at the earliest before I get a chance to unfortunately. I hate having to wait to find out what the answer is! I just want to know what it is, and fix it!!

 

I got the car up in the air yesterday and disconnected the steering arm. When I tried to rotate the strut, it felt pretty stiff. Not REALY stiff but stiffer that I would have expected. The car had been on a short run, and hadn't started squeaking too badly as it wasn't that hot.

I checked the bottom ball joints (that were fitted a couple of years ago - 5000m), and there ARE grease nipples on them. All the steering joints looked pretty well greased, however the strut joints were bone dry. I was very suprised as the garage that fitted them didn't mention that they would need greasing.

Most European cars, even the older ones, when you fit replacement joints they tend to be the sealed for life variety even if they wouldn't have been originally, so I wasn't expecting to find grease nipples on them.

Anyway, I greased up all the joints. The strut joints took about 12-14 strokes of the gun before the boots felt full (nothing really came out and it seemed like the boots were sealed to the joint body). I'm assuming that they shouldn't take anywhere near that many(?). I always thought I remembered reading that it should only take 2-3 strokes of the gun. There cenrtainly wasn't any sign of grease around them before I started.

Afterwards when I tried rotating the strut, it still felt a little stiff with no weight on it, but when I raised the bottom wishbone up slightly with a trolley jack to simulate the weight of the car on it, it felt very free and rotated easily. Unfortunately I didn't try this before I greased it to get a true comparison.

I have driven the car to work this morning and it feels much better. The test will be later, on the way home, when it has warmed up more.

 

If the ball joints were empty it will take that much to fill them. The ball joint boots should have a slit on one side to allow excess grease to come out. When installing them it's important to make sure this slit is pointed away from the brake rotor, just in case.

Yes you should check the free movement of the wheel with the suspension loaded (A-Arm jacked up). When it's hanging free the strut is fully extended and will not allow it to turn freely.

Hopefully you've got it, but your ball joints have suffered some wear if they were installed without lube.

 

The car felt much better last night. No squeaks, and much smoother steering. The joints were fitted 10k miles ago. I don't know if there would have been any amount of grease in them when they were supplied, or if the garage put any in, but they haven't been greased since then in any case.

The car has only been used during the dry summer months since they were fitted, and I first noticed the squeaky/stiff symptoms last summer, when I thought it was the RAG joint. I'm kicking myself for not checking this earlier, but as I said above, I've ben so used to having Haynes books mentioning that there are grease points for older cars and finding that the joints have been replaced with the sealed version, that I didn't evenbother to look.

I'll be doing them on a regular basis from now on, and the car goes in for its annual inspection next month, so we'll see if there's been any damage done.

I think there's a lesson to be learn't here........!