Thrust arm question

[saj3n]

I have bad shocks in the front, getting replaced soon, however, when I am driving and go over a few of philadelphia's fine pot holes, the steering wheel shakes, if turning a corner while going over some rough areas, I have to grasp firm onto the wheel in order to not lose control.... is this due to thrust arms?

[Scott H]

Do you get any clunking when braking hard? 55mph shimmy? If your arms are that bad, you may be able to check by jacking up the front of the car securely and trying to move the wheel back and forth in the wheel well. If the wheel moves back and forth in any noticeable amount, chances are the upper thrust arms bushings are gone. The ball joints at the strut assembly side can go bad as well. Check the boots on the ball joints of both lower and upper arms. Otherwise you have to try to visually inspect the things.

When was the last time these parts were changed and how many miles are on the current ones?

Also what do the tie rod ends and center link look like in the steering?



I have bad shocks in the front, getting replaced soon, however, when I am driving and go over a few of philadelphia's fine pot holes, the steering wheel shakes, if turning a corner while going over some rough areas, I have to grasp firm onto the wheel in order to not lose control.... is this due to thrust arms?

[saj3n]

Do you get any clunking when braking hard? 55mph shimmy? If your arms are that bad, you may be able to check by jacking up the front of the car securely and trying to move the wheel back and forth in the wheel well. If the wheel moves back and forth in any noticeable amount, chances are the upper thrust arms bushings are gone. The ball joints at the strut assembly side can go bad as well. Check the boots on the ball joints of both lower and upper arms. Otherwise you have to try to visually inspect the things.

When was the last time these parts were changed and how many miles are on the current ones?

Also what do the tie rod ends and center link look like in the steering?

No 55mph shimmy, no clunking when braking hard.... I do remember having the under carriage checked in april, the Mech stated that there was a little give when moving the wheel back and forth.

[kring]

I had similar symptoms awhile back. New front shocks cleared it right up. If you know your front shocks are bad then it seems that is likely to be your problem, too.

Of course, now (a year or more later) I have a 55 mph shimmy and a violent braking vibration around 40mph. New thrust arms from BMA arrived today; I hope to give that a go this weekend.

[saj3n]

I had similar symptoms awhile back. New front shocks cleared it right up. If you know your front shocks are bad then it seems that is likely to be your problem, too.

Of course, now (a year or more later) I have a 55 mph shimmy and a violent braking vibration around 40mph. New thrust arms from BMA arrived today; I hope to give that a go this weekend.

Replaced struts... I believe the bushings are bad in the front, will be replaced soon.

[GoldenOne]

When was the last time these parts were changed and how many miles are on the current ones?

Also what do the tie rod ends and center link look like in the steering?

scott h, according to the service records, back in 02 (~60k ago) I had strut inserts, lower control arm, right control arm, control arms, tie rod assy l/f, center link, and the idler arm replaced but I notice a significant shimmy between 45-60 mph and the clunking sound under hard breaking. How long do these parts last before they need to be replaced? I would have assumed that they would last longer then 60k miles.

[bfd]

<according to the service records, back in 02 (~60k ago) I had strut inserts, lower control arm, right control arm, control arms, tie rod assy l/f, center link, and the idler arm replaced but I notice a significant shimmy between 45-60 mph and the clunking sound under hard breaking. How long do these parts last before they need to be replaced? I would have assumed that they would last longer then 60k miles.>

Do the cheapest, make sure your wheels are balanced. and tires are round. If not, that can cause the shimmy you're feeling.

Alternatively, did you use lemforder parts. If you used cheapie parts like Febi or Meyle then 60K is about it.

[zhandax]

Lemforder is the way to go on control arms, but for other parts, I have never found Febi (fully known as Febi Bilstein) to be 'cheapie' parts for BMW or Mercedes.