Header-Supra for your time.
So for a long time, the dearest of Escort’s have had some slop in the front suspension. It’d randomly decide to pull gently to one side, you could feel the steering was... off when doing roundabouts cause the tracking would dynamically change with cornering forces. It’s been this way and slowly getting worse for a good half year.
2 months or so ago i found out one of the front dampers was really stiff compared to the other, like it had frozen up/gone bad. After all the engine-bits were sorted i tackled the front struts, somehow broke an ABS sensor underway. Still pulls randomly...
Well then, align it to spec(0°20'), rock the steering from side to side, check alignment. Why is it now reading 2°. Back on the lift, rock everything, hard to find anything, eventually, after much turning the wheels back and forth i find it. Lower balljoint has slop in it. Turn wheels slightly again and it locks up, can’t force the slop by hand anymore. No damn wonder i haven’t found it before since it’s been in a locked up position everytime i’ve tried to check.
Now the fun part: It’s the side i changed balljoint in just a few months ago for the excact same slop. Was it a bad part? No.
Turns out it’s the hole into the bottom of the hub that’s damn worn straight out.
So i cheap out, take the easy way out, drill the hub for the next size bolt up, crank that sucker till it squeezes the balljoint tightly, seemsGood.jpg.
Except it’s not. I just spent 2 hours doing alignment and setting the wheel straight while going straight. 1km up the road i crest a hilltop, something goes *clonk* and we have the same slop back again.
(Why isn’t throwing a car into the harbour legal)
So now do i risk it with a junkyard hub spindle and hope the bearing is ok after sitting for a few years? Or just throw the money at it to have a new bearing so i know that’s good...
As for the ABS fault, since the light is on from turn-key without rotation, i’d guess bad connection in the plugs from when i did struts or a broken wire.
You made it this far? thanks, have a fancy junkyard find
(Eclipse, MR2 infront, Maserati in the back i think)