96 Corolla Front End Problem

Would anyone be so kind as to give me a few ideas here?

I have a 96 Corolla with 165,000 miles on it that has developed some sort of front end problem. I had new brake pads and rotors put on last May and I've been caring for the car since.

A few days ago it seemed like the steering was getting "stiff." Power steering fluid is ok and I thought maybe it was my imagination. Late this week it snowed here in Colorado and my tires seemed to "drag" a little bit on stopping, I presumed it was clumped up ice and snow around the wheels or mud flaps, but now the snow has melted and I still get this sound just before I come to a complete stop, sort of creaking metal sound. When I say drag I mean a sound similar to is something was catching on a tire every rotation. I can tell it is coming from the front and not the back. The sound is not consistently there on every stop, probably every 4th or 5th. The car does not pull to any one side and I'm a little bit perplexed here.

I have been mulling over a set of struts as the car bounces pretty good over bumps, but it only becomes a problem when my wife is riding in the backseat. Ugh! =)

Can anyone give me a few ideas to narrow down my target list?

Thank you for time and help!

Zach

Reply to
arynday
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The pads are dragging. This can be caused by several possibilities: a) caliper slide rods are not lubricated or rusted. Very common problem, and easy to fix. Take the caliper off the rotor and clean / lubricate the slides with the correct HiTemp grease. b) a rotor is warped. If so you will usually feel a pulsation in the pedal. Replace the rotor. c) worn wheel bearing. This allows the disk to move off alignment, and may feel similar to a) and b). Replace BOTH front wheel bearings, because they've done the same milage. d) strut insulator bearing is jamming. This commonly happens on older vehicles, and causes the coil springs to wind up when you turn. One symptom is the steering does not always return to center properly. Another is an occasional thump (sproing!) sound as the wind up releases. e) worn ball joints can also cause heavy steering.

SD

Reply to
Stewart DIBBS

I believe the brake problem is as Stewart describes. If the steering feels notchy, or easy to turn, then difficult, then easy, the problem may be caused by corrosion on the U-joint on the steering shaft. Replacement of the shaft/U-joint will fix the problem.

Reply to
Ray O

Stewart/Ray

Much much thanks for the help. I regreased the sliding pins on the calipers, they seemed to be well greased and moving OK but the grease was a much darker (dirty?) color than the stuff I replaced it with. No noise or dragging problems since! (knock on wood) I also found the tires to be under-inflated which apparently took care of the slight "stiffiness" in the steering.

Sincerely,

Zach

Reply to
blake18

You're welcome! When you greased the sliding pins on the calipers, also grease the outer diameter of the sleeves the pins pass through if the sleeve does not move in and out to the limit of the dust boots easily. Carefully peel the boots away from the sleeve to remove the sleeve.

Reply to
Ray O

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