I took the dust shield off to have a look at what's back there and I found that if I grab the spindle and yank it, I get a little metallic sounding play both in and out.

I can't see anything obvious that's moving, has anyone ever encountered something like this? This is what I thought was the wheel bearing issue.

thanks,

Joe

Looks like something with the strut-if I grab the lower part of the strut "sleeve" I can feel the slop easily. Does this sound like a bad insert or a bushing?

Cap'n?


Thanks,

Joe

Try to isolate it further. Is there movement between the spindle and strut? If so, then the welds are failing. (Not common, but I've seen it happen. In the middle of an autoX run, to a 1968 911. Not fun.)

Could be the ball joint, the strut itself, the strut mounting. If it's fore and aft play, it could be something to do with the tie rod or steering.

Some of those problems are more serious than others, of course.

--DD

Dave,

Thanks for the reply."l

Its definitely towards the top of the strut, the ball joint seems tight. However, I can't feel any movement/vibration at the top of the insert (where it shows in the trunk). So I kinda gather that there's something going on inside the strut, whether it's the insert or not, I don't know. No slop in the steering, tie rod ends look good.

What are the welds that fail?

Thanks,

Joe

Dave,

Thanks for the reply."l

Its definitely towards the top of the strut, the ball joint seems tight. However, I can't feel any movement/vibration at the top of the insert (where it shows in the trunk). So I kinda gather that there's something going on inside the strut, whether it's the insert or not, I don't know. No slop in the steering, tie rod ends look good.

What are the welds that fail?

Thanks,

Joe

The spindle and its collar are a forging that is welded to the strut tube.
It's possible for the welds holding the spindle collar onto the tube to fail.
And therefore cease holding the car up. And the wheel parallel to the direction of travel.

Damper insert issues are far more common. They are, after all, designed to be replaceable.

Rich,

Where the strut housing goes into the tube is where I have slop. But that must be between the strut and the insert, no?

Joe

I donno I'd be as conclusive as 'must' - but it is something to check.
I've never seen a Boge or Koni strut insert go loose. (Far from it - I was astonished at how hard I had to work to get the last set of DAPO KYB's out of my 911 struts...) But I have heard of it happening with Bilstein inserts - which I more attribute to pilot (installer) error than design, but I really can't say.

In any case, it sounds like a borderline safety issue along with making it impossible to have any stable alignment so IMO you should make plans to pull the strut top and check it out sooner rather than later.

The screw cap that holds your shock/strut into place is loose. Remove the large center nut at the top, compress the strut enough to pivot the top out. Pull the dust cover off and tighten the top cover.

Mark,

Do I need a special tool to get that top nut loose? Is there a generic substitution?

Thanks,
Joe

This'll get me flak from all the 'there's only one right way' folks. But it works and it's in most people's garage.

That was it. Removed the nut, pulled down the strut, and sure enough, that screw cap was loose. Looks like the strut's new; that's the good news.

The bad news is that jackass let the nut drop out of the impact socket.

Right under the gas tank it went.


Guess what the next projects gonna be?

Remove the rock shield from under the steering rack and feel around through the big hole there.

If you have not replaced the hoses under the tank yet, you no longer have an excuse not to.

Mark,

Thanks for the advice. Seems you might know a bit about these cars.

Fortunately, it was the drivers side, so I took off the fuel pump cover, and, using a grabby snake with the special light on the end, was able to grab the nut.

I did have the tank out for last month's fiasco, so they're new.

Joe