HI. New Member Here. I am sure this is a basic question to most but I am learning as I go. ...I just bought a 1985 Trans Am. All stock but old.

I have a Haynes book for the car but I am a bit unsure how to properly check the front end...meaning checking ball joints, tie rods, idler arms, etc...the car drives straight but when I did an oil change recently, I rocked the front wheels and I felt some small play up and down, side by side...not much but a bit..

Is there any step by step on how to check all these front end parts on your own? Again newbie here so sorry if this is too basic of a question....I would like to learn and do all the repairs myself going forward ...Thanks.

 

Yes; the Factory Service Manual. Aftermarket manuals are not recommended; all of them leave out far more stuff than they include, and can lead a beginner down a rabbit hole.


All the more reason to get a copy of the FSM before you do anything else. There is at least one of them for sale on ebay right now.

 

I don't know of any "manual" that really talks about how to "check" that sort of thing. Certainly not Chilton's, Haynes, or any of that sort of thing. They're not even intended for that.

First thing you need to do is a brake job. You don't "check" that; you JUST DO IT. All 4 wheels. Include replacing the calipers, rubber hoses, wheel cylinders (you might be able to rebuild those if they're not too trashed), and master cylinder. Don't forget to "bench bleed" the MC before you put it on: if you don't, you will NEVER EVER get all the air out of it, and you'll have a soft low spongy brake pedal with poor stopping power FOREVER until you DO bench bleed it.

Clean and grease, or replace, the front wheel bearings. Put in new seals. Correct wheel bearing adjustment is to tighten the nut slowly until all the play is gone, and the torque required to turn the wheel rises rapidly to make 2 or 3 ft-lbs; then back the nut off until the torque goes away, then tighten it back again to about 2 - 3 ft-lbs on the wheel, then tighten to the first available cotter pin hole line-up. Torque to turn the wheel should be no more than 3 ft-lbs (36 in-lbs). All of this with the caliper not installed of course.

Then you can check ball joints by putting your floor jack under the control arm near the ball joint (but not "on" the ball joint) and raising the tire about 2" off the ground; then put about a 4' 2x4 under the tire and having your assistant lever up and down on the tire with it while you watch the BJ and see if its parts move with respect to each other. You can check the condition of the strut in terms of alignment and the strut bearing by pushing and pulling on the top of the tire at the same time to see how far it moves in and out.

Check the steering by lowering the car back to sitting on the ground, and having your assistant sit in the car and shake the wheel back and forth from one end of its "easy" travel to the other. (should be less than a quarter turn of the wheel, ideally ALOT less but who knows, might be ALOT more if the car has been allowed to get REALLY sloppy) Have them do it back and forth like that while you look at all the steering parts, starting at the gearbox, watching for lost motion. Look at how far the steering column turns before the pitman arm starts to move, how far the pitman arm moves before the center link starts to move, how far the center link moves before the tie rods start to move, how far the tie rods move while the spindle sits still. Look at the idler arm and see if it moves up and down or otherwise has play in it.

Your struts & shocks and springs are wore out. Period. They always are. Front and rear. Just replace them.

Same for sway bar end links and bushings. Replace with poly. You can get Energy Suspension and Prothane at your local parts store or speed shop, sponsors of this forum, or Summit/Jeg's etc., or even Amazon. Measure the bar with an open-end wrench right next to the bushing, and buy the next smaller size, as long as it's no more than 1/16" smaller. For 85 Trans Am the most likely combo will probably be either 32mm front and 19mm rear, or 34/22. End links most likely will want to be 2¼" (the length of the little tube thing in the middle). All of the rear parts, and the front sway bar parts, you can easily do yourself in your driveway, with a floor jack and a pair of jack stands. Front springs & struts are a bit more work.

Ang get the FSM. You'll get PLENTY of use out of it even if not so much for this project.