I replaced my CVjoints, now my car bounces

This past weekend I replaced my two broken CV Joints. I have a 1993 Accord w/ Manual Tranny and ABS.

The car was sitting for about a month while I was away on business. I tackled the repair job (didn't drive the car until after joints were replaced) and now have a problem with suspension. The car bounces up and down about 4 or 5 times over small bumps, and over large bumps there is a painful THUD! I don't know if my car is bottoming-out here or not.

I heard that one should tighten the ball joints while the wheels are on the ground and I intend to try that, but generally I don't know what could cause this problem. I don't know to suspect my shocks, bushings, or ball joints. The bushing on my steering arm looked bad (what does bad look like anyway?) but I don't have a problem with steering. If my bushings are suspect, how can I tell if they look bad?

Thanks for any advice!!

Reply to
scube
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Think back when you replaced - what items had you disconnected to remove the CV joints - Perhaps loosened the struts!!!!

Reply to
Backbone

Dissasembly:

1) I loosened the lugs and the large 36mm nut (spindle?) and jacked the tire off the ground. 2) I removed the tire, the caliper+brake pads and the caliper mount. 3) I loosened the bolt for the wishbone (I actually removed the bolt, but put it back in to get the LCA ball joint off) 4) I removed the castle nut of the Lower Cotrol Arm off and popped off the ball joint associated with the LCA. 5) I pulled out the loosened bolt for the wishbone.

This allowed me to move the hub out of the way and pull the CV Axle from it.

Reassembly:( After I got the old shaft out and put the new shaft in)

1) Put weight on the LCA and lifted up on the wheel hub to get the ball joint bolt back into the hole it came from. 2) Applied pressure to the wheel hub (now loosely attached to the LCA ball joint) and re-inserted the bolt for the wishbone. 3) tightened down both wishbone bolt/nut and LCA castle nut and re-inserted cotter pin. 4) put tire back on, finger tightened the lugs 5) lowered car and torqued down the 36mm nut and lug nuts.

Maybe I did loosen the struts (those spring/shock things?), but how could I tighten them back?

Thanks!

Reply to
scube

"scube" wrote

Springs hold the car up, and allow it to "bounce" over bumps. Struts (just big shock absorbers), control and dampen the bounces. Worn out struts/shocks = bouncebouncebouncebouncebouncebounce.

Probably just a coincidence that they went bad at the same time you were working on the joints. Maybe they were marginal to start with, and being fully extended while off the ground finally killed them?

Reply to
MasterBlaster

From your description it sounds like your shocks are shot. Did you notice either one of them leaking fluid?

-------------- Alex

Reply to
Alex Rodriguez

Well, I removed the tire on the passenger side first and did a visual inspection of the CV Boots. None were torn, so I proceeded to change out the driverside CV Joint. Both boots were ripped to hell and completly off the axle exposing the bearings. Axle was EVERYWHERE, so it's hard to tell if there is a leak in my strut/shock. I drove the car after this axle change to see how it sounded/handled and that is when I noticed the 'bounce'. I have some questions for anyone who can help which could clear up some misconceptions/misunderstandings I have.

1) When replacing the LCA ball joint I needed to tug up and down on the knuckle and the LCA, could I have dislodged the strut assembly somehow? 2) where would I want to look to see if I can see oil leaking from the shock? Top or bottom? 3) I've read that one should tighten the LCA joint while the vehicle is on the ground, which I did not. Could I have seated the ball joint improperly when I put the hub assembly back together which would cause these problems? How would I tell if my shocks were just 'loose'? 4) It is my understanding that the shock and strut is a combo deal, meaning they are replaced together as a single part that's purchased, correct? 5) After I replaced the driver side CV Joint I noticed the passenger side was popping, so I replaced that as well. I did not notice any difference w/ the shock-absorption after I disassembled the passenger side hub assembly. Could only my driver side shock be bad? Should I replace both?

Thank you all for your comments!!

Reply to
scube

If you know so little about the working of a car's suspension, you really shouldn't be working on it yourself.

Hint: shocks. Nothing else does vertical dampening. How the f*ck you came to the conclusion that bushings have anything to do with vertical dampening is a mystery to me.

Reply to
AZ Nomad

touche'.. though my reasoning is that if the LCA didn't join correctly to the knuckle, the fork attached to it maybe lower than normal which could mean an extended shock (now this may be complete nonsense, I am no mechanic...). I know quite well what suspensions do, but from a mechanical point of view there are quite a few variations. I am far from an expert (obviously), but as long as you can get to a part, why fear replacing it? Plus, the terms shock and strut seem to be so interchangeable it is causing confusion in my mind. Thanks for the reply...

Reply to
scube

from my decades of working on machinery...I used to have a saying: If you don't know what you're doing, then don't do it.

Mostly my customers would attempt a repair before they would call me to tell me their machines were broken. So I would have to undo their damage before I could even begin to work on the original problem.

In this way, I learned about the machines in a hurry. There was no going home until they were repaired correctly. I would ask them, what did you do? Some would say the guy on the other shift did something and they didn't know. Anyhow, you see the point: unintended consequences.

Keep in mind, there is little that can't be fixed if you have enough money to throw at it. Then again, there comes a time to wipe the slate clean and start over, with a different machine. What is this going to cost to get repaired by a pro, vs. how much for a *new/used vehicle.

Were I in your situation, I would have only done one side of the car, and waited a while to be sure it was done correctly, using the other side of the car as a mirror reflection of the way things should be. I could go back and forth between what I was doing and the *good side* to make sure I was doing things right.

You've got 2 options now: bring it in to have a pro fix it. buy another car. I think if you're still asking questions at this point, confused between a strut and a shock ( a strut is the combo spring/shock in one unit ), then having another go at it is a waste of time and money.

Everyone can't do everything. Bring it in and let someone with the proper tools and experience give you an estimate on the repair price.

Lg

Reply to
Lawrence Glickman

The ball joint is usually tightened after using a floor jack underneath the lower control arm to compress the suspension to its normal ride height.

Eric

Reply to
Eric

Well, bad bushings can certainly cause the "thud"

Reply to
Jon C

My experience is that it pays to spend $20 on a repair manual. A mechanic charges up to $100 an hour....do the math.

I looked in my Hilton's and '93 Accords have struts, that means that the shock absorbers are an integral part of the sustention. The half shafts and CV joints are in DRIVE TRAIN section 7 and the SUSPENSION AND STEERING is in Section 8. There is a Cookbook directions on how to remove and repair the CV joints on page 7-7. I see nothing that should have effected the Struts.

Reply to
Charlie S

More like $100 for the shop manual. That $20 chilton's is generally a complete waste of money.

How much is your own time worth? Have you ever replaced bushings? It takes about 4 hours for an experienced home mechanic. Add $120 for the bushing kit and if your time is worth ten bucks an hour, you just pissed away $160 for no real benefit.

Reply to
AZ Nomad

Yeah, a good shop manual is a bit pricey. This would be a weekend venture, so my time in a sense is "free". I've got 18 hours or so to spend on this, and worse case my car is still not driveable. I have not replaced bushings before (not these bushings), though as I said, if I can get to it why fear replacing it? It's just a car...a machine for transportation from point A to point B, and it drives on the ground=It doesn't fly in the air! If anything, I figure I should be able to tow it to a shop and it would be less in labor costs since they won't have to remove it ;-) (okay, no comments are necessary on this statement...)

Thanks for the suggestion Eric. I took your info and raised up on the LCA and then tightened the castle nut for the ball joint. When I lowered the control arm(s) the shocks made an interesting hiss. This helped out generally and I have determined that the front driver side is bad. The shock(s) has been making noise for a while though. Usually when it was cold out they would make a slight creaking noise when going over slight bumps.

I will look into a manual and further inspection of the strut and bushings this weekend. I can borrow a spring compressor if I get that far, we'll see. I'll keep this thread posted on my trials and tribulations, as well as look for more advice :-)

Thanks all for the suggestions, comments and understanding that not everyone can be a mechanics apprentice. Somewhere, sometime, someone has to learn it w/out a master by their side.

Reply to
scube

well all,

it took me just about 5 hours to complete a driver-side front strut. In about an hour I had the strut off and purchased a new one/rented a spring compressor. In another hour I removed the old strut assembly from the coil spring and ate dinner. Next 2+ hours I wrestled with getting the shock/spring back together and putting it back on the car. I could have dramatically reduced the time it took if I had a vise Compressing that spring took forever having to hold it for support and screw the bolts down on the compressor. I just moved to another state and all my tools/crap is still in storage, so I needed to buy some tools as well.

I found some great links for manuals. Here's where I went,

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Total cost came to: Strut: $52, metric hex keys: $8, set of open-end wrenches: $17, spring compressor: free upon return, taxes and about 4 hours of my time.

Rides great now! Thank you all that gave me good advice. Poo-poo on you nay sayers... It was easier than the CV Joints by far, IMO.

Reply to
scube

I really didn't want to get into the minor fray while you still had the challenge ahead of you, but I feel the only way we make progress is to reach a little farther each time. Before you had not changed a strut; now you have. For everybody there is a first time for everything. There are some things that are outside our abilities (I stay out of auto trannies and differentials and shy away from exhaust systems), but posting in fora like these is enough to find out if there are any "heavens, no!" warnings. Yes - poo-poo on the nay sayers.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

4 hours for an experienced mechanic to replace bushings?

Damn... it took me about 4 hours to replace mine, and that's including the trip to my buddy's house to use his press.

Reply to
Jon C

experienced HOME mechanic.

Reply to
AZ Nomad

Jon C just proved your point, and right on the nose, too!

I always get a kick out of work speed comparisons, especially on something as wildly variant as "replacing a bushing". What make? Model? Which suspension component? What tools are at your disposal? How much corrosion? etc...

Toyota MDT in MO

Reply to
Comboverfish

Good job, I was going to say, to get an idea of your shocks condion push down on your car it should bounce up-down-and-stop if the shocks are good. If not, boing boing boing boing. LOL Did you use one of those screw down spring compressors to disassemble your strut? I did once, good grief, next time I will pull the strut and pay a shop a couple bucks, or buy my buddy at the tire place dinner, and have them throw it on their hydraulic spring compressor.

Those springs are DANGEROUS when compressed, a vice is not the tool to use for compression, but for holding things while you use the compressor they work well.

If you havent done something before, take your time. For me a Haynes manual (15$) is essential as a general reference. . . when i did my timing belt, they told me to take off my cruise control. . . . which is on the other side of the engine bay from the timing belt. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Reply to
andrewmcnown

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