Help! Front suspension/steering problem

[bronzit89]

Ok I'll get straight to the point. I had my tires changed and now when I turn right I hear a loud knocking sound. When turning left there is no sound. I suspect its coming from the front right strut area. The tires are identical to the ones I replaced except they're new. I thought they might b rubbing the fender or inner wall so I checked and got the fender rolled. That wasn't the problem. It was also pointed out to me that my wheels slightly move when shook left and right but are solid up and down. Wheel bearing? Control arms and bushings? Rack and Pinion? Brakes? Strut? My car also has an upper front strut bar. Could this be the culprit? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Oh and this happened after my car was lifted and the tires were changed. Maybe something came loose?

[jlevie]

Movement along the horizontal axis will ususally be worn tie rods. Movement along the vertical axis will usually be worn wheel bearings or bad upper strut mounts. But either can be from worn control arms/bushings. Get tthe car up in the air and inspect the suspension:

To check ball joints, squeeze the joint with a large (as in 24") pair of
channel locks and pry on the joint. Any motion whatsoever in a ball joint is
cause for replacement. Check rubber bushings by prying on them with a 24" pry
bar. More motion than there should be (this is where experience comes in play)
or any cracks are cause for replacement. You can figure on bushings being good
for about 6 years or 80k.

The rear suspension of an E30 isn't adjustable. Worn Rear Trailing Arm
Bushings or bad subframe bushings will result in improper alignment of the
rear wheels. In addition to degraded handling, problems there will accelerate
wear of the rear tires.

With the car up in the air, grab each front wheel at 9 & 3 o'clock and try to
wiggle the wheel. Motion along that line will be worn tie rods. Motion when
wiggling the wheel at 6 & 12 o'clock will be bearings or control arm ball
joints. Spin each wheel and listen for roughness in the bearings. If the
brakes drag, remove the caliper (and on the rear wheels the parking brake
shoes) to eliminate sounds from dragging brakes. Any roughness when spinning
the wheel is cause for bearing replacement.

Shocks have a more limited life than will be apparent from the way the car
feels. Figure on about 60k for OE type shocks and perhaps 80k from
Bilsteins. Koni SA shocks will go a lot further as rebound can be adjusted to
compensate for wear. Upper strut/shock mounts can only be assessed for wear
out of the car, but they will normally outlast the shocks. When replacing
shocks, just replace the upper mounts and you won't have to worry about them.

The rear shock mounts on an E30 or E36 are a weak item. I always replace them
with uprated mounts from Rouge engineering.

[bronzit89]

Ok I'll start the troubleshooting and see what I learn and where I end up. Thanks alot, it's much appreciated!