hey guys, one of my first posts, one of many to come. I picked up a 94 Camaro a few weeks back, and my first issue has arisen today, I was backing into my driveway, and when the right front came up the little ledge of the curb i heard a large bang. Got out and checked to see what it was, and I couldn't see anything wrong, went for a short drive down the street and my steering wheel was cocked way to the right. I then proceeded to pull into a parking lot, set the wheel straight, got out and looked at the front tires, and now my right front has a lot of toe in. what I've done so far would be jack up the right front and give it a shakedown, there seems to be slight inner tie-rod play, no outer, no upper or lower ball-joint play. i also have had the typical broken front sway bar since i bought the thing.



just a quick pic of the toe in, car is parallel with the curb.

 

A broken sway bar isn't typical on any car under normal driving conditions. If you heard a loud bang then jack it up and get the front wheels off, you had something bust loose.

 

broke or bent something, like said get er up off the ground so you can wiggle the tire back and forth and see if you can spot the issue. look and see if you bent the tie rod end on either side. anything thats out of place as well.

 

Is it the sway bar that is broke or the link? Car will handle MUCH better with that fixed. Of course that is not your current problem.

To check your steering components jack the car from under the lower control arm. This will "unload" your suspension. That means the weight of the car will not be going through your ball joints. Anything loose should show up. If you still can not find anything you should take to a shop that does front end alignment. The fact the wheel has moved as much as you described means the car really should not be driven until you know what is going one. What is a half broken ball joint now could be a totaled car and people hurt on the road.

 

I guess i should start with i knew the swaybar was broken when i got the thing, just to clarify that that isnt what went bang, but gorn, i unloded the front end and there wasnt anything bent or loose, no evident camber change to say a balljoint half broke. Just a very noticeable toe in change, steering was cycled with no load on the right front and nothing let go at that point. I havent driven the car since the initial little stroll to check if anything changed. Which it did, with the toe change. Also the front end was checked prior to the bang and nothing was loose. Although there is slight upper control arm bushing squeek when tugging at the 6 &12 positions.

 

Id just like to add that i looked at it again today and the tire also has alot of camber, iv placed an order for upper & lower balljoints, aswell as inner & outer tierods

 

inner ends rarely go bad. pita to change. ball joints can be tough to change but the lowers wear faster. should be some wear indicators on em. https://camaroforums.com/forum/93-02...20/#post695591

 

Cause and effect, right? But a lot of interesting stuff goes on between the steering wheel and the tires to make this happen.

 

Well, i eneded up picking up a parts car with a known good rack, and upper control arms with balljoints and bushings, so im gonna try swapping those in, hopfully its somthing stupid, and where are these wear indicators on the balljoints, looking at them i cant find nothin