Bumping in front end on 85 hatchback

[tackhammer]

All right I just bought my Son his 1st. car 85 tercel w/ auto trans. 81K miles, one owner. Noticed that when turning curve while applying throttle ther was a bumping you could fill in the steering and here, sounds like the right side. No big deal right? Checked the shaft and had a bad boot on outer joint, took to the dealership. because I didn't have time to fix right now and they replaced the axle on right, said that it was bad.
Today my son told me that it was doing the same thing again. I called the dealership that done the work and they said they didn't know what it was could be a bearing hard to tell price about $300.00 to replace and on that model they couldn't tell if bearing was bad with out taking it out of car and that would destroy it.
I just sold an 84 tercel SR 5 4WD wagon with 267K on it and never had to replace anything but the boots on the axles, and steering so I can't figure out why this thing is so much, is this a bearing or hub assembly in this car. A bearing is only $40.00

[unisoul]

In my opinion this does sound like a wheel bearing issue. It is common when having ball joint issues, that it will also impact the wheel bearing and cause wear. It is very plausible that if you had ball joint issues, that you will later have wheel bearing issues at the same time or later down the road.

In your situation, there was a bad boot on the outer joint, which could explain why the ball joint may have been bad. In turn the axel was replaced because in this model you cant simply replace the ball joint, the whole axel assembly has to go. But you are still getting bump when turning

There is a small possibility that the problem always was with the wheel bearing and that you didnt need to replace the axel. When they replaced the axel, they simply said, "It is bad" but they didnt specify if the ball joint was worn, because they probably didnt inspect the ball joint. More than likely, not to bash the mechanic who replaced the axel was just in it for the money and was lazy. What a real mechanic should have done is inspect the ball joint before replacing the axel. This is very simple to do. If no wear is detected, replace boot, regrease, and replace the wheel bearing, as it is a cheaper fix. Test the car, and if that doesnt resolve the issue, then the ball joint could need replacing.

Also the worse case senario, is that the transmission is going out, due to not checking the transmission fluid enough/ wear ect. But by your description it more sounds like a wheel bearning was installed incorrectly, or is worn and needs replaced. Should cost $40 for the part $60 for labor, estimate around $100 - $120.

I would suggest to first replace the wheel bearing (more than likely it will have to be machine press installed). If replacing the wheel bearing doesnt fix the issue, to take it to a transmission specialist.

[tackhammer]

Found the bumping finally, it was the inside joint on the driverside axle, missing one ball inside. Replace axle and no more problemsin the drivetrain. Now when it warms up I will replace valve stem seals to stop startup smoke then should be ok. Thanks for reply

Originally Posted by unisoul

In my opinion this does sound like a wheel bearing issue. It is common when having ball joint issues, that it will also impact the wheel bearing and cause wear. It is very plausible that if you had ball joint issues, that you will later have wheel bearing issues at the same time or later down the road.

In your situation, there was a bad boot on the outer joint, which could explain why the ball joint may have been bad. In turn the axel was replaced because in this model you cant simply replace the ball joint, the whole axel assembly has to go. But you are still getting bump when turning

There is a small possibility that the problem always was with the wheel bearing and that you didnt need to replace the axel. When they replaced the axel, they simply said, "It is bad" but they didnt specify if the ball joint was worn, because they probably didnt inspect the ball joint. More than likely, not to bash the mechanic who replaced the axel was just in it for the money and was lazy. What a real mechanic should have done is inspect the ball joint before replacing the axel. This is very simple to do. If no wear is detected, replace boot, regrease, and replace the wheel bearing, as it is a cheaper fix. Test the car, and if that doesnt resolve the issue, then the ball joint could need replacing.

Also the worse case senario, is that the transmission is going out, due to not checking the transmission fluid enough/ wear ect. But by your description it more sounds like a wheel bearning was installed incorrectly, or is worn and needs replaced. Should cost $40 for the part $60 for labor, estimate around $100 - $120.

I would suggest to first replace the wheel bearing (more than likely it will have to be machine press installed). If replacing the wheel bearing doesnt fix the issue, to take it to a transmission specialist.

[97cavalier]

Originally Posted by tackhammer

Found the bumping finally, it was the inside joint on the driverside axle, missing one ball inside. Replace axle and no more problemsin the drivetrain. Now when it warms up I will replace valve stem seals to stop startup smoke then should be ok. Thanks for reply

keep a eye on oil leaks because thoes cars are know for oil pan leaks. I replaced 2 oil pan seals so far.