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Car wobble at low speeds....What is it???

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Old Dec 6, 2007 | 03:28 PM
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Default Car wobble at low speeds....What is it???

I have changed all the rotors and have had the tires rotated and balanced several times. It also has had the alignment recently. At low speeds, from stopped to about 30 and decelerating form 30 to a stop the car wobbles left and right really badly. All the tires are torqued down correctly too. I can't figure out what it is at this point. Can it be some kind of bushing that is bad or the control arms? That plus the code I've been dealing with.
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Old Dec 6, 2007 | 03:57 PM
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Default Yup

I was reading and it sounds like bad tie rod ends...
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Old Dec 6, 2007 | 04:33 PM
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Who ever did your alignment should have caught bad tie rod ends.
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Old Dec 6, 2007 | 05:25 PM
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Default

Why?
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Old Dec 6, 2007 | 05:27 PM
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Default Would it be tie rods. I go to a special alignment guy who I trust and he didnt say anything about

bad tie rod ends. From searching it sounds like that is the culprit. Can you tell if inner or outer tie rod ends need replacing?
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Old Dec 6, 2007 | 05:55 PM
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Default When I had an alignment done, the mech told me right away that I had a bad outer TR end and wanted

to wait until it was replaced to finish the alignment. Now I'm no expert, but to tell I would jack up the front of the car, lock the steering wheel and grab each front wheel to see if there is any play in and out as the wheel would turn. Then also check by releasing the steering wheel and just turning in a tiny bit, good TR ends will turn the wheels right away, bad ends will need more turning to move the wheel resulting in more play in the steering. You can also turn the wheels all the way in each direction and try to inspect the end visually, but it is harder to tell and see the wear.

You may have them going bad which is why they weren't caught, but I would think if it is wondering at low speeds it would do it ever more at high speeds.
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Old Dec 6, 2007 | 07:38 PM
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Default Drive shaft and/or U-joint?

Are you sure the wobble is coming from the wheels? Vibration from pending drive shaft and U-joint failure can result in a noticeable wobble below 30 MPH. Just a thought...
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Old Dec 7, 2007 | 04:00 AM
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Default I had the same problem that drove me nuts for a while to figure out

I changed all control arms tie rods (outer) and thought wheels , tires etc. I finally found out it was the inner tie rod. I replaces those and that fixed the issue. Not bad to do but you will need a large wrench to do it with.. But overall it is a easy job.
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Old Dec 7, 2007 | 04:30 AM
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Default Wobble at low speeds is ussually associated with tires or wheels

A bad tire can make this happen, if a radial ply tears can do this. Make sure that your tires are not expired first, then check them for bubbles. Ussualy this happens to tires that are under-rated to the car you have them on. (like speed and weight).
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Old Dec 7, 2007 | 10:29 AM
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Default Strangely, there is a slight vibration around 75 mph and up...

So I guess that would be the problem.
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