CV axles and control arm job

[CMB]

OK, I just ordered two new EMPI axle half shafts ($60 each) and two new MOOG ball joints ($40 each!)from Parts Geek. I already have new OEM control arm inner bushings on hand. I am hoping to get to this font end project this week or the next. I am going to combine inspection and hopefully just re-greasing of wheel bearings. This is being done as a preventative maintenance/with the hopes that the clunk* and/or the slight shudder under acceleration will disappear.

Any heads ups on the job? Looks like the removal and install of inner bushing on the control arm is somewhat involved, based on FSM procedure. Do the control arms themselves ever need replaced on these, from 230k miles of normal driving (looks as previous owner never took it off pavement).

Thanks in advance!

*clunk: when letting out the clutch pedal and engaging the clutch there is a noticeable clunk, if the clutch is not engaged very slowly.
Shudder: slight shudder/vibration felt mostly through the steering wheel when accelerating, particularly when accel up steep grades. (I have ruled out unbalanced wheels/tires because it is only during acceleration)

[Petros]

Great price on the EMPI axles!

fairly straight forward job, but you do not need to remove the steering tie-rod or the brake calibper, just remove the two 14 mm bolts holding on the ball joint and pry the lower end of the strut free. With the large axle nut removed (do that first), you should be able to swing the strut far enough out to clear the spline shaft. Once that is out you can than just unbolt the lower arm. If you do not have a press available I suggest taking the lower arms to a repair shop (Napa might do it, or a Les Schwab tire store), and pay them to press out the bushing and the ball joint. Well worth the cost if you do not have the proper equipment. If the bushings and ball joints are good once you get the lower arm out, I would put the old ones back and save time pulling them out of the arm.

Clunk could be bushings or CV joints, an few other things can cause it too.

[ARCHINSTL]

I would suggest giving the control arm bolt (where it enters its concealed and captive nut) some good squirts of a high-grade penetrant over a couple of days. It's hard to reach, but worth it. A number of folks have had the bolt frozen into the nut.
I removed the bushings myself, using a drill and reciprocating saw, and then a BIG vise and some sockets for installation.
If I had to do it over again, I would follow Petros' suggestion of paying a shop to remove and install the bushings.
Tom M.

[dlb]

*clunk: when letting out the clutch pedal and engaging the clutch there is a noticeable clunk, if the clutch is not engaged very slowly.

i've mentioned this before, not sure how other guys here feel about it but here goes. the clunk you're experiencing is common to tercels and i've found it on almost every one i've driven. i tried a bunch of things but it didn't disappear till i replaced the rack ends and tie rods, a driver side ball joint, a control arm bushing that really didn't need replacing, the strut springs, and the strut mounts. of all those things, the strut mounts were the most obviously worn. they had a ton of play in them. so my theory is this: the 3A engine dampers wore out long ago; the engine torquing is then absorbed by something else; that something else winds up being the strut mounts.

at the very least, if you're doing your front end anyway you might want to remove your struts and check the mounts just in case.

[Petros]

I do not think it is related to the 3a engine damper, I have driven several without one and it did not clunk. The rubber engine mounts have their own dampening affect, that is why most cars do not have the separate engine damper (which makes it odd that only the 3a has one).

When you accelerate, the drive wheels are pushed forward at the ground contact patch. So there is both a rotation and a forward thrust on the suspension, and there is something in this action that has to be loose or sloppy to get a clunk. Everything that holds the wheel in place is suspect, from sway bar mounts (both ends), to lower arm bushings, to steering tie-rod, to steering rack, to ball joints and the upper strut mount. There is nothing else that would cause it except perhaps bad engine mounts, which is not related to the acceleration per se, but to the torque load on the mounts.

First place I would look to is the sway bar mounts, and the ball joints or steering tie rod ends, these wear out the most. Of course I have also seen sloppy steering racks, and bad strut top mounts also cause clunking, but I suspect this is less common.

One other thing too is if your strut towers and front subframe is full of cracks and broken spot welds, like mine!

[dlb]

the reason i started thinking that the stop/go/shifting clunk is, at the root of it, related to the engine damper is that tom mentioned when he made his own damper that it smoothed shifting out considerably. he said it didn't feel like new but it was a big improvement, and my stop/go/shifting clunk disappeared completely after replacing the strut mounts, so i think the damper helps to control the engine's torquing that causes premature wearing of other parts. it is weird that the 3A has this damper when most other engines don't but while i used to think it was useless, after what tom said i've come to believe that it was put there for a good reason.

i agree that all front end components must be checked when trying to diagnose clunks and whatnot, i'm just saying don't neglect the strut mounts. no one had mentioned them in any conversations i had seen regarding mystery clunks but they were the key in solving mine so i think they're worthwhile to check. pretty easy too, once you have the front hub off it's just three more little nuts.

carson: $60 for brand new CV's? remans are $150 up here! i can't find new passenger side CV's anywhere in canada and am still living with my 3rd clunking reman because of it.

[ARCHINSTL]

Well - and someone here (forget who ) mentioned that the damper was only used by Toy on Gen I and Gen II Tercels because the engine was over the trans and was a consequently tall package. I can't vouch for the dynamics of the engine movement, but it seems logical.
Again - when I made my damper, it did not give "like new performance," but it definitely smoothed out the operation, even with a 180K mile OE clutch with God-knows what kind usage prior to smoothie moi.
I still get a bit of a "judder" when the clutch is cold and I don't slip it, but it's OE with 180K, so I cut it some slack.

My strut mounts, inserts, springs, ball joints, and ALL front susp bushings have been replaced. Also both of the steering rack mounts and all inner and outer tie rods. Also both CV axles with GSP new ones.
Every now and then, depending on the exit angle over certain local parking lot ramps, I get a subdued "clunk" from the right side (and only the right side); since evverthang else has been renewed, I just presume it is from the rack's internals - and just live with it.

I would still wholeheartedly endorse making up a damper; although to be candid, I've never driven Goldie without a damper, whether the wornout OE one or my fabrication.
Tom M.