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Automobiles: Mechanical related steering question

Magna

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
Question for anyone who may have some knowledge about the steering system on a vehicle. What is the likely issue based on the following?

Front wheels, mainly (or even exclusively but not sure) the right front wheel area makes a "wump, wump, wump" sound when making a turn. Also, could be related (or not), but going over bumps, hitting a small pothole, etc and the wheel makes kind of a "thunk" sound.
 
Could be a worn bearing or a suspension link causing excessive travel making the wheel rub against the wheel arch. There's a small chance it could be mud build up on the wheel or the splash shield that protects the brake disc rubbing.

If the sound seems like it's coming from the wheel itself it could be these things, if it's not it could be low power steering fluid or a problem with the pump.

There's a whole host of other things that could cause what you described but I'd say they were the main ones.

A worn Constant Velocity joint could cause similar sounds particularly if the rubber boot has gotten twisted up and the joint is shifting backwards and forwards up the drive shaft.

Either way, I'd get it checked out as losing steering can be very dangerous.
 
Worn inner CV joints make clunking noises when going straight.
Outer CV joints make clicking noises when making tight turns.
Worn wheel bearings make growling noises when the chassis places side loads on their pitted races.

The first place I would look would be the the tires then the lower ball joints.
They will generally make heavy noises when they are in desperate need of replacement.

Loose wheels make a clunking sound that gets more pronounced when side loaded.
At slow speeds they generally make creaking noises.


Most McPherson strut front ends have a pivot bearing at the top of the spring assembly.
Those will clatter on washboard road surfaces and sometimes pop when the suspension goes thru full travel.

Brake shields that pick up a small stone will make squealing noises.

Outer tie rod ends don't generally make a lot of noise unless they are subjected to washboard road surfaces.
Inner ones can make heavier sounds as the noise gets transmitted thru the chassis.


We had a mini Chevrolet Blazer in my shop one time that was making what appeared to be suspension noises on washboard roads.
Heavy clunking you could feel in the floorboards.
Lower ball joints were a problem on those and the customer's were iffy but not shot.
We went ahead and did them as a precaution, but during the test drive the clunk was still there.

I pulled a shock absorber from the driver's side.
Still noisy.
I isolated the anti-sway bar from the equation, no dice.
Went over the entire front suspension and came up with nothing.
Assured my customer that it was safe to take it on vacation, but also wanted it back when she returned.
She left.
Ten minutes later, I typed the issue into an international professional support group to see if any other techs could give me some pointers.
Five minutes later, a tech from France told me about a silent recall for a worn hood hinge bolt.
The hood would rattle up and down on the worn bolts and transmitted the noise to the floor by your feet.
I called the customer back up and asked her to bring it back down.

After installing a couple of plastic drain plug gaskets into the hinges, the problem was solved.

I don't often share this, but my racing habits were usually funded by doing repair work for others.
I have been actively wrenching for over 50 years now.

There were quite a few years that I actually specialized in chassis and suspension work and had a Hunter 4 wheel alignment machine.

One of my claims to fame was my ability to set up correct Ackerman effect on front ends.
Stretch limos would destroy their front tires about every 2,000 miles because the chassis mods were done without taking into consideration the effect on the front end.
The formula was actually very simple, and something that has to be spot on on a racecar, so I used my mech engineering skills combined with my fabrication skills to make the proper corrections.
I did the first stretch for free and told the owner to get back to me after 2.000 miles.
Guess what?
It quit shredding tires.
Lots of referrals for me to perform my "magic" on other limos was the end result.

There were several hundred stretch limos I fixed and countless numbers of older street rods with Mustang II front ends I corrected.
 

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