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, Thu, 1 Dec 2011 14:16:58
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To test the ball joints, the upper control arm needs to be shimmed to relieve the spring pressure on the joints.
If you don't have a Bentley manual, do yourself a favor and pick one up (try eEuroparts.com).
Okay, put the car on jackstands, pull the wheels, then place a jack directly beneath a lower ball joint -- not mid-way on the control arm, and be careful not to crush the brake disk backing plate -- and jack it up until you have about 3/4 inch between the *bottom* of the *upper* control arm and the car body. Now shove a couple blocks of wood a few inches long and of similar thickness in that gap (watch your fingers!), then slowly lower the jack. Ignore the cracking sound; it's just the wood, and you're not hurting anything. Now take a big pliers and clamp down on the now-relieved ball joints (lowers more likely bad than uppers) to see if there's up/down play; do the same with a pry bar, side-to-side. Also inspect the boots for tearing -- a bad boot is a good sign that something bad's afoot. Don't tear a boot while diagnosing. Remember to remove the blocks when done. Repeat on the other side.
85 base models did not have sway bars, so unless someone retrofitted your car, you're perhaps looking at a control arm bushing??
Your initial in-air diagnosis rules out tie rod ends. But is the steering rack tightly bolted to the car? A loose rack bolt can cause a clunk.
Have you inspected the upper control arm bushings on the RH side? Lower control arm bushings under the car?
The lower shock mounts have a big washer that can make the bushing hard to inspect; are you certain you don't have a wrecked bushing? Be careful with those lower mount bolts: the threads on the control arm are pretty easy to strip.
posted by 24.22.13...
, Thu, 1 Dec 2011 14:16:58, Sat, 3 Dec 2011 03:17:54
, Thu, 1 Dec 2011 18:18:49
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