Ok, this started recently tonight. When on the highway, and I get on the gas the car jerks to the right, and then when i get off the gas the car jerks hard to the left. No difference when coasting. Potential diagnosis:
1) Missing bolts on the A-arms - but I crawled under the car and the four are there and they look tight.
2) Prothane bushings, maybe the fat one fell out - nope.
3) Caliper sticking - wheels aren't hot.
4) Axles - maybe I broke a CV joint, but the car still moves under accel and decel, and there's no horrible noise coming from the front.
5) Broke a motor mount - engine doesn't shake violently, the upper mount looks fine, lower mount looks fine, tranny mount I assume is ok.
6) Anything else worth glancing at underneath the car - everything looks in place.
The biggest thing is that this hard jerking doesn't occur at low speeds. Only occurs at 50+ mph on the highway, when getting on and off the gas. Any takers?
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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
Listening...
Mine does this too. I also have prothanes installed.. I always just thought that was my V6 torque kickin in...
Maybe no though..
The front lower control arm bolts are not torqued down.
Yea, thats what I was thinking, maybe they're there but not tight.
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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
Hmm makes sense because my left tire seems to have migrated towards the back of the car after I had an alignment a couple hundred miles ago. I will have to check that out
I had the same thing on my last car and it was the control arm bushing went bad, I'd check that the CA's are properly torqued down like Tom said.
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had this happen to me, and it was a control arm bolt not tightened down.
Desert Tuners
“When you come across a big kettle of crazy, it’s best not to stir it.”
I shall let you guys know what it is, I also think its the control arm bolt, but the weird thing is it doesn't happen at low speeds.
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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
what about a broken stabilizer link?
Is a big jerk in the steering similar to a loose nut behind the wheel?
Also check your strut to spindle bolts. It could be the torque steer being multiplied by a combo of tires/alignment/bolts. Although, that would be weird because the right axle is longer. It is possible though, since I've had it happen before.
take a closer look at the bushings too. One could be torn and you cant really see it without taking it out. But deffinately check the bolts first. Mine has done that before and the passenger bolt was completely out, only reason it was still in the hole was because the lower dogbone was holding it in.
Go Go OG Traction!!
(Tom) S/C Fire wrote:The front lower control arm bolts are not torqued down.
this was happening to me too and I just tightened them to th correct spec. hasn't done it since.
Getting "better built" for the '08...
does anyone know what the exact spec is?
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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
turn it 'till it breaks, then back it off a quarter turn!
But no, I don't remember the spec on that. sorry.
Go Go OG Traction!!
if I remeber correctly it's around 85 ft lbs.
Tighten the control arm front mounting bolt (5) (front bushing) with the vehicle at curb height to 100 N·m plus 90 degrees rotation (74 lb ft).
Tighten the control arm rear mounting bolt (4) (rear vertical bushing) to 170 N·m (125 lb ft).
I <3 GM SI
14.330 @ 96.37mph
My Cavy is starting to do this now as well...
I'll check the bolts and see but wanted to see if that fixed yours?
Eh...old man with a Corvette now...it was bound to happen sooner rather than later right?
Ah yes, driver side front bolt was looooooooooose.
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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
Well thanks to this thread...I no longer have the problem in my steering!
Both bolts were loose...odd?
So I guess I'll ask...do the aftermarket bushings do this?
I tighted to the correct foot pounds so guess we'll see...just odd as I followed the Helms manual the first time and same this time...guess we'll see.
Eh...old man with a Corvette now...it was bound to happen sooner rather than later right?
After doing CA bushings mine backed off too, the front bolt on the passenger side. Not fun.
Odd...so guess that's a side effect to having the aftermarket bushings....
Not hard but not fun either....not like you just need to tighten up a bolt! Driver's side you have to take the brace off to get to the front bolt...passenger's side you have to take the lower mount out (well on end of it) to get the front bolt not to mention the fender liner!
So...not a 3 minute job but not tough either...just odd to me that this many folks have had it happen.
I'll check mine again in a month or so...see if they are coming back out!
Torqued to the specs...second time...so who knows?
Eh...old man with a Corvette now...it was bound to happen sooner rather than later right?
Maybe some yellow/white thread-locker? Or a double-nut setup?
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2002 Sunfire -->
- Ractive steering wheel
- ASA 17" EM9 + Nexen N5000 215/45/17 (steelies for winter)
- D-Spec Lowering kit @ 1.4" (issues currently
)
- Rockford P250.1 + MTX MZS1004 + Panasonic CQ-C8313U head unit
- Barely legal tint.
Mine did it once, never again though. Would like to say I used thread locker though, don't recall.
