contol arm test

[3bvert]

91 318, 150k miles

is ther a way to test contol arms ?

problem progressivly getting worse

symptons : little vibration from front end getting worse
bad vibration when hitting a bump
today, at speed (65) hitting a bump in pavement car would violently change lanes if I did nt have my hand on wheel and makes a bad clunk and even with my hadn opn wheel I have to correct for cars behavior


what I ahve done so far adn what I know
1)months ago p/s pump went out, im cheap cut the belt, love it without p/s
j2)ack car up, no play in wheels , stearing wheel moves with an equal amount of twist of road wheel left to right ( no slop),
3) on ground can bounce car up and down, no bouncing when let go, no noise either, rock solid front and rear
4) boots on control arms look good ( but thta does not mean anything)
5) all bolts are tight

new/replaced wihtin the past month
replaced contol arm bushings ( they were shot, did help some, )
replaced one tie rod end ( at same time, took out slop in stearing)
replaced rear shock mounts ( got rid of noise and slopy cornering returned car to no bounce in bounce test)
reblanced tires,( got rid of some vibration)

so is there a way to test the control arm ( ball joints) I dont have a bunch of money to replace contol arms yet ( saving that for a day I can do othe rmods) so I dont wnat to replace them and find out that is not the problem


help, I dont want to continue driving it right now and have a accident, but its my dd other then my motorcycle and a truck that gets 8 mpg

thanks

[DRTSRFR]

Pop the ball joints off of the strut and chassis and see if they are tight.

[jlevie]

Using a large pair of channel locks, squeeze each ball joint. If there is any motion what so ever, the control arms (and CABs) need to be replaced. If there is no motion in the ball joints check for worn tie rods by trying to move one wheel while the other rests of the ground with you hands at the 9 & 3 o'clock positions. Also check for worn wheel bearings by trying to move each wheel with your hands at the 12 & 6 o'clock positions.

The symptoms described are a good match for worn out shocks. The "bounce test" doesn't work on a BMW. long before the car will fail a "bounce test" the shocks are completely worn out.

[RobE30]

I was having problems w/ the back of my car (driver side) would want to step out after hitting any sizeable bumps in the road. Turned out my new bilstein sport (drivers rear) was BLOWN. If bjs are good probably your struts

[3bvert]

thanks

its the pass side strut
stinks, as I dont have the money right now, as when I do the struts I wanted to do billy sports and h&r springs