Felt like a tire was out of balance .. the car shook slightly at highway speeds & there was a steering wheel shimmy. Later on the steering felt loose, especially over bumps.
Turns out the right front ball joint is failing. Repair shop said it's pretty normal at 112k especially since the car was driven regularly over a mile-long stretch of dirt road with lots of washboard for 60k miles of its life. They also said the rubber boot on that side had ripped & that had probably contributed to the problem.
Found cheap ball joint replacement parts on www. rockauto.com ($117 upper, $30 lower) & carparts.com ($187 upper, $40 lower).
Felt like a tire was out of balance .. the car shook slightly at highway speeds & there was a steering wheel shimmy. Later on the steering felt loose, especially over bumps.
Turns out the right front ball joint is failing. Repair shop said it's pretty normal at 112k especially since the car was driven regularly over a mile-long stretch of dirt road with lots of washboard for 60k miles of its life. They also said the rubber boot on that side had ripped & that had probably contributed to the problem.
Found cheap ball joint replacement parts on www. rockauto.com ($117 upper, $30 lower) & carparts.com ($187 upper, $40 lower).
- Mike W., South Hero, VT, US