small amount of pull left/right on secondary roads and balljoints question

[miwise]

When I'm on Louisiana State Hwy 8 (a secondary road with those ruts left from loads of 18 wheeler trucks traveling it), my car tends to want to pull left sometimes and right other times. The steering wheel stays pretty much straight, but I can feel the car wanting to go left or right. On newer roads it not so much of a problem, but I can feel it when there its a windy day out even on good roads. I've heard bushings can cause, but the local suspension specialists said they are all OK. I know they checked the control arm bushings, but not sure what else. I've had it aligned (SEARS messed my alignment up when I bought new tires and got them to do a 4 wheel alignment) and it drives much better since. I checked the steering bushings and they feel rubbery around the edges, where I can feel them, and seem to me to be in good condition. I don't know what I'm looking for. The shop did say my driver's strut was leaking oil, though. I didn't fix it b/c they couldn't get the part for several days. Can the strut do this?

Other question. . .both of the boots on my lower control arm ball joints are busted and I believe they are a bit stiff too. Can the ball joints be replaced without replacing the whole control arm?

 

[miwise]

An idea, Maybe the two problems are related. Bad bushings make road noise come into the car, right, and the pulling may also be bad bushings. I guess I need to start looking for some new front lower control arms since I also need the balljoints replaced (b/c of torn boots on them).
:Thinkingof_:

 

[mjhsc400]

you can get replacement boots from energy suspension-- they are more or less just a dust boot -- and you just need to pack grease around them before you put the new boots on them-- the boots don't have to seal when you put them on either-- once the balljoint is tightened to the spindle it will compress and seal and last a long time--

Just install Daizen's and new boots and fuggettaboutit

 

[cribbj]

Not that your suspension components aren't worn, but here's another thought; changing the track of your vehicle with aftermarket wheels of different offsets, putting low profile tires on, changing alignment, etc. can all make your car want to "tramline". Do a Google search on this or "tramlining" and see if the descriptions sound familiar.

Tire Rack concluded (not surprisingly) that different tires can make the biggest difference whether a car tramlines or not.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=47

From experience, I've found that tweaking front end caster settings can greatly affect the "vagueness" of the steering. The more caster you can crank in, the more the car will want to track straight & true. This helps to resist the tramlining.

I own two MKIV Supra's, one with the OEM 17" wheels and standard offsets, with 40 & 45 profile tires, and the other with aftermarket 18" wheels, different offsets, and lower profile 35 & 40 series tires. The Supra with the 17" wheels has no tramlining tendencies at all, however the one with the 18" wheels does. On both cars, I've had the caster tweaked to the maximum available.

 

[stevechumo]

An idea, Maybe the two problems are related. Bad bushings make road noise come into the car, right, and the pulling may also be bad bushings. I guess I need to start looking for some new front lower control arms since I also need the balljoints replaced (b/c of torn boots on them).
:Thinkingof_:

If you don't buy the new boots (Lexus doesn't make new boots) when the balljoint boots are torn, use the Weather Strip silicone, the one that's like yellow cheese. Thoroughly clean all the grease before apply the new grease. Apply this silicone on the torn area inside out and let it really dries out for 24 hours before use. I've been using this silicone for the torn boots for 2 years on my SC and they are still like new. No leak of any grease. This Weather Strip becomes hard but elastic like rubber.

 

[mjhsc400]

Another great idea-- it's just keeping dust out-- so that should work just fine-- There are other flexible glues as well that are very strong yet flexible--

A little experimentation would yield good results-- but there are always the replacement boots too-- and they're only $20

 

[stevechumo]

Another great idea-- it's just keeping dust out-- so that should work just fine-- There are other flexible glues as well that are very strong yet flexible--

A little experimentation would yield good results-- but there are always the replacement boots too-- and they're only $20

Nothing can beat $20 for the new boots. I know someone had to pay for the whole new arms just because of the torn boots.

 

[mjhsc400]

The craziest thing is the boots are removable... They are held on with a twisted piece of wire, and even have a groove the slip over that the wire squeezes like a c-clip-- Somebody shoulda told this guy--