Is my tie-rod end shot?

"BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich) 04/18/2016 at 10:26 • Filed to: None

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Back on Saturday, when pulling out of the neighborhood, my wife and I heard a bad sounding knocking/thunking noise coming from, as near as I can figure, was the front driver’s side corner of the car. It happened right when we were pulling out - while cornering and accelerating. I thought I had previously heard some sort of similar (but much quieter) on a few previous occasions. Given how loud it was this time, I immediately pulled over and tried to check things out. We ended up going back home and switching cars, just to be on the safe side.

Later that day, I swapped off the winter tires and while I was at it, had a good look around. I couldn’t see anything really obvious that would be causing noise other than one thing. The spring seemed properly seated. Lower control arm bushings seemed fine. Sway bar end links were all in place. The only thing that looked a bit off was the boot on the tie rod end. Given that I just had these replaced a year or so ago, this doesn’t exactly thrill me. It does look like the boot is slightly torn, but no sign of grease (that could be a good thing or a bad thing). So... any guesses on whether the tie rod end is what caused the noise?

Pic I took of it this morning:

It also seems to be at a bit of an odd angle relative to the one on the opposite side, almost like it’s slightly twisted.

Jcarr > BaconSandwich is tasty. 04/18/2016 at 10:33

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Do you have any left-right (3 o’clock/9 o’clock) play in the wheel? If so, that usually means tie rod. Even if you don’t, once that boot is torn you’re going to get crap in there that will foul things up.

jimz > BaconSandwich is tasty. 04/18/2016 at 10:33

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get a pair of channel-lock pliers, grab the joint at the top and bottom, and try to squeeze it with the pliers. if there’s any play, it’s shot. The angle of the tie-rod end relative to the knuckle doesn’t really tell you anything since it’s a ball-and-socket- joint and it’s supposed to be able to move that way.

BigBlock440 > BaconSandwich is tasty. 04/18/2016 at 10:34

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Grab the tire and shake it back and forth. If it moves independently of the rest of the steering, it’s bad, if it doesn’t, it’s good. Could be a different ball joint though, I had a similar noise that I thought was the tie rod end but discovered it was the upper ball joint when I took the tire off to change it.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > BaconSandwich is tasty. 04/18/2016 at 10:35

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(a) I would not expect a cornering/acceleration clunk to necessarily be a tie rod end. Can also be a ball joint, a control arm bushing, or several other things. None of them good, obviously, but the ball joint and tie rod are the ones that will actually try to kill you so try to rule them out.

(b) A funny angle on a tie rod end means pretty much nothing.

(c) Can you jack up that corner of the car? Do that, and move the wheel back and forth horizontally. If you hear funny sounds, it’s likely a tie rod end. If you move it back and forth vertically and get sounds, it may be a ball joint - though a lot of cars make this hard due to having a load on the ball joint when the car is raised. An all-around noise-making could be a wheel bearing. If there is a funny noise or motion when you attempt to *roll* the wheel, it could be a CV axle.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > BaconSandwich is tasty. 04/18/2016 at 10:37

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Looks like a small tear in the boot which means I’d replace it because it’ll get worse.

You should do the wheel wiggle tests recommended by others though, to see if it’s something else.

for example on the Milan I have 3 control arms per side (1 upper 2 lower) plus I have a tie rod, plus I have sway bar links. all have them can make sounds and have little boots on em.

Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever > BaconSandwich is tasty. 04/18/2016 at 10:41

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What type of car is it?

Another fairly common culprit of knocking/thumping while cornering is an outer CV joint giving up the ghost on a FWD car, which would also fit the “heard it before, just not as pronounced on previous occasion” statement.

CalzoneGolem > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 04/18/2016 at 11:17

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So much wiggle.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > CalzoneGolem 04/18/2016 at 11:24

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BaconSandwich is tasty. > Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever 04/18/2016 at 11:50

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2001 Civic, 4 door. I’ve never replaced the CV joints, and it’s got 249,000 km on it, so that’s certainly a possibility. I’m also wondering if I heard it more before swapping tires as the winter tires might put a bit more stress/strain on things with the bigger lugs. The all-seasons that I run for 3/4 seasons are Michelin Defenders, which don’t have quite as an aggressive tread pattern.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 04/18/2016 at 11:50

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Yeah, unfortunately I forgot to do the wiggle test when I had that corner up on the jack. I’ll hopefully be able to try that out tonight.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 04/18/2016 at 11:53

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I suspect it isn’t the ball joint or control arm bushing - both were replaced last year. (Honda, in all their grand knowledge, press fits the lower control arm bushing into the control arm, meaning that in order to replace just the bushing, you either need to replace the entire control arm or you have to own a hydraulic press and press them in/out, which pretty much no one does.

I’ll try jacking that corner up tonight, and trying to move things around.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Jcarr 04/18/2016 at 11:53

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No play in the wheel as it is right now. But yeah, torn boot = not good in the long run.

Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever > BaconSandwich is tasty. 04/18/2016 at 11:58

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Pretty easy to check, poke around the bellows of the outer joint, you’ll probably find some grease seeping out of a crack in the (presumably) dryrotted rubber. Might even find axle grease flung into the inner portion of the wheel via centrifugal force. Fairly easy and inexpensive fix; more often than not it’s an easier task to buy a reman axle shaft complete than attempt to re-boot the outer joint.