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Originally Posted by psfred
Brian:
Jack one front wheel off the ground and see if you have any play in the steering mechanism. Loss of milage, hard pull on brakeing, and occasionall noise can be several things, but a bad tie rod end is easy to check for.
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The tie rods were replaced on the initial trip from Florida to NY. The right side tie rod was bent.
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Originally Posted by psfred
I'd also check for bad track rod bushings -- they will allow the wheel to move to the rear on braking, this will change the toe on one side, guess what happens!
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This I have to do. Do you have a recommended procedure to check for this. I am strongly leaning to this as the problem. However, it would seem to me that an alignment rack with a pit is required to check it. Roll the vehicle onto the rack and hit the brakes while watching the front wheel and the track rod bushing??
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Originally Posted by psfred
Knocking on full deflection means the shocks are probably worn out. Bilsteins have a nitrogen filled "compensating piston" in the bottom that keeps the oil chamber under pressure. It will slowly rise as the oil leaks out past the piston rod seal, and when the working piston hits the compensating piston, it clonks rather noticably. It will also give a rough ride as the nitrogen pressure is fairly high. You can test the shocks by removing them and completely compressing them. Clearance between the lower rubber retainer ring (on the shaft) and the body of the shock should be less than 25 mm. If more, too much oil has leaked out, replace.
Peter
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This was my initial conclusion as well. Both shocks were replaced with Bilstein comforts. No change in noise. My current thought is that there is a possibility that the shock reaches the end of its travel when the suspension rebounds. When installing the new shocks, I noticed that the distance between the lower arm and the mounting point on the inner fenderwell is larger than the fully extended shock. When lowering the vehicle onto its wheel, this clearance is taken up, however, I do believe that there is not enough travel in the shock to allow the wheel to travel close to its lower limit. The fenderwell height is exceptionally high at 28" off the pavement. This is compounded by the weak rear springs which allow the rear fenderwell to be at 25" off the pavement.