Posted by 74merc (IP: 207.157.60.2) on April 26, 1999 at 00:15:56:
My dad helped me find out that it had slack in it after my cousin (works at NTB) found that the tires were cupping. I've had the car lined up 3-4 times in the 2 years that I've owned it. well, good news was the bushing the idler arm mounts to was gone, I replaced it for $6.75 and now, the front tires turn the same direction at the same time!! what a new idea!! The idler arm couldn't hold the centerlink still, so one wheel could turn, while the other stayed straight, making for toe in and toe out varying and eating my friggin tires.
Bad news was not really news to me, I had put an Autozone idler arm on it last year, although the original wasn't really damaged,(mostly I was sick of touching the damn thing and figured I'd just replace all of the front end parts one at a time, that's the only one I got)the autozone idler arm went out within 10k miles. It could've been caused by the idler arm bushing being old and dry rotted, but I've had to replace plenty of Autozone parts at the shop anyway, so I was just waiting for it to happen. Autozone was the only place open when I swapped the idler arm. Moral of this story is I don't like Autozone, although I can't blame this on faulty parts really, just didn't replace the bushing then because I didn't know it could be replaced. I've learned alot since then.
More bad news, the lips or ears or whatever the camber adjustment is moving against broke, I have to fix it before it can be lined up.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel!! She will run with a 5 speed and not eat tires within this millenia! I think I misspelled millenia, but I don't care...hehe...
James
To quote a man that goes by the name of Lunatic, "don't lift your foot till you hit the guardrails..."