Hey folks, My wife had a problem with the 1992 Roadmaster today and I am trying to diagnose it over the phone based on her description so I can buy parts here in the city.(we live an hour away and it is hard to make it home then to an auto parts store before they close) She said there was some clunking noise when she turned right and when she got home she said the top of the right front wheel is tipped "in" and the bottom is tipped "out" so it is sitting at an angle. My first thought is a collapsed ball joint. I am going to buy 4 ball joints. What else might it be? Thanks in advance!
Chris, If the ball joint went, she wouldn't be driving the car. The tire would hit the inner fender and stop the car. Might be something as simple as the control arm shaft bolts loose, and or missing. Sometimes they work themselves loose, and the shims go flying. That's my guess.
If your luck is like mine, no matter which part you buy, it will be the wrong one. I dont know what it is, but I always need to go to the auto parts store twice. Jason
Yeah, in both of my ball joint stories, the story ends with the ball joint breaking, and the car being trailered- no driving afterwards. I had a lower control arm wear out at the bushings once, and that had some of the symptoms you describe, Chris, but I should hope that a car that new wouldn't wear the arms out just yet. Good luck, and tell us what happened.
Roadmaster is rear wheel drive, so it could be the outer wheel bearing on the right front. Should have noticed this earlier though. It would probably need a spindle too if the wheel bearing was that bad.
DIAGNOSIS chris, my advice is, no. 1 dont try diagnosing this problem over the phone. people call our shop all the time wanting a quick diagnosis. a doctor doesnt diagnose his patients over the phone. have the car checked out, then buy the parts.
To all those that said Upper control arm shaft mounting bolts and nuts, you are a winner! The front bolt broke in half, but both halves were there and all of the shims were still in place even though the upper control arm shaft was about 3/4" further inward than it should be, bending and stressing the rear bolt. Well, maybe I should say in quarter because the "new" stressed area of the break was about half the diameter of the bolt. The rest looks old and rusty, inside the bolt. Ahh, a bolt of suspect quality, perhaps? I replaced all 4 bolts and nuts, torqued them to spec and brought it to my buddy for an alignment. Back on the road! Nobody was hurt and all the wheels stayed attached to the car! Most days I would rather be lucky than good! Thanks for all your advice, what a board!
i have seen about 5 chevy/gmc full-sized 2 wheel drive trucks made from 1990-94 have the same problem. strange thing is, they all have had the problem on the right side and no problems on the left.uzzled: maybe its from the extra abose the right side takes.. running off the edge of the road, tagging curbs, edges of rural roads being rougher, etc.
