I am still tracking down a slight vibration in the steering wheel at speeds over 35mph while on a smooth road. How common is it to replace the tie rod inner ball joints?

I cansee and hear freeplay in the drivers side tie rodinner ball joint.This is the ball joint which connects the tie rod to the steering rack, not the outer tie rod ball joint. The freeplay allows about 3-4mm of movement along the tie rod.Passenger side is slightly less, but there issome movement as well. It does seem like a lot of movement, but I have replaced nearly all my other suspensions bits, and have Roadforce balanced new tires... so I am searching here.




My theory is the freeplay is allowing wheels to shimmy, or flutter on their vertical axis. This motioncan be dupicatedwith the car jacked up and pulling back and forth at the 9:3 positions on the tire. I am confident it is not the wheel bearings. gordo

 

What kind of car?

 

1997 XK8 Convertible. 65,000 miles. Suspension work for front end vibration to date:

Four (4) new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 245x50 x17�

Balanced on Hunter Roadforce GSP 9700 balancer

Dial indicator hub runout: less than .05 inch
Rotor runout: less than .07 inch
Wheel runout at the rim: .020 inch

Upper control arm bushings, OEM four (4) each, both sides

Ball joint lower w/ wishbone (rear control arm) bushing, both sides

Shock absorber lower bushing, both sides

Checked all bolts and fasteners for tightness

I have ordered to Upper[/b] ball joints and Lower front [/b]control arm bushings. These pieces do not show diagnostic faults, however, I am replacing them anyway.

Which brings us to the point of this question: Inner Tie Rod Ball Joints….

 

Theoretically, it could cause a shimmy.

 

I have inner tie rods for $115 each. Jaguar does not sell them separately. They come with the rack only from the dealer.

 

I like that fact Ken....lol. Easy money for us techs to replace the rack.....

 

No doubt about it. Pain in the xxx to get to inner tie rods. It's easier to do the whole thing. I hear ya, brother!

 

Ha! While it may be easier for you "Techs" to replace the whole steering rack ... it is much easier for us DiY'rs to pay for onlythe parts we need. Word:Ebay $189 pair.

My Question was: Is this a common cause of front wheel shimmy?I guess the answer to which is No.

 

It happens yes, but not common. Common-ness doesn't reflext at all on whether or not your problem is caused by this.

 

Thanks FJT... The question was posed as such, because I wanted to decide whether to first replace the lastpairof control arm bushings and the upper ball joints... OR... replace the inner tie rod ends. Ifthe inner tie rod endshad a reputation for failure, and causing the shakes,I would replace themfirst.

What the heck. I'm this far into it right now... That I'll probably replace both groups. At least I'll have confidence of a rebuilt front suspension minus the wheel bearings.

 

lol....let us know. This is known as the shotgun method.

 

I just ordered ALL the parts. This is known as the"Buy it now... You'll probably need it later;comprehensive (Cover All the Bases)" procurement method.

ButI will replace these items in logical stages; and report back on their successin eliminating the dreaded wheel shimmy.

What bothers me is the shake is pretty obvious. It's not dramatic. But it's there,and pretty much a constant. Yetexcept for the minimal amount of inner tie rod slop; there is no evidence of freeplay in any of the diagnostic procedures I have undertaken. I am replacing parts now, on the theory that the shake occurs only while driving under loaded suspension conditions.

This is called the OCD method. gordo

 

Just out of curiousity, what kind of tires do you have? I had a guy with a 98 XK.....had a shimmy that really only he could feel. He had brand new tires, Dunlops of some sort, and we balanced them a couple times. Then we put on michelin pilots. Not the aggressive ones. The shimmy went away, but still slight nibble. Ended up he needed wheel bearing. There was no play in it. No noise. He went 300 mile trip and came back and there was a lot of play in the wheel bearing then. Replaced it and is perfect.

 

I have four (4)brandnew Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 245x50 x17�that were balanced on a Hunter Roadforce GSP 9700 balancer. One of the tires was out-of round and replaced byTireRack. So they are all within the Hunter spec limits(less than 19lbs) and balanced out to zero.

My symptoms are a little more obvious. I think anyone driving the car would be able to detect the shimmy. However,the wheel bearings are on my list of suspects. Since theyshow no outward signs offreeplay; I'll replace these next two (2) groups of itemsfirst. Then they are next.

 

Updating this thread. As it turned out, the eBay Store selling the inner tie rod socket was out of stock. Just as well, because after I pulled back the rubber tie rod boot, I could see that the socket was OK. The freeplay is in the rack itself. Not bad, but about 6-7mm on driver's side and 3-4mm on passenger's side. I think this is within the acceptable limits of normal freeplay, and not the cause of my shimmy.

So I replaced the upper ball joint and the front lower control arm bushing. The replacement of these parts completes the front suspension rebuild all the bushings and ball joints are new OEM. The only significant component not replaced is thewheel bearing, which is easy to diagnose and shows no signs of failure.

At this juncture, I am moving to the shocks. The right front seems to have lost some damper which would account for a bouncy judder over washboard roads. Otherwise ride is smooth. Most average drivers would find the ride acceptable, but I can feel the twitchyness in situations where the platform should be more stable. The quest continues. gordo

I am looking at replacing these units in another thread.

 

have done lots up here in canada .. for vibe

 

What have you done lots of? Inner Tie Rods? or Shocks?