O.T. Lumina wandering down road

I

IA Roy

Well-known Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

99 Lumina 262K. My car tends to wander down the road, regardless of wind conditions. I replaced the ball joints and one front wheel bearing within the last 2 years. The outer tie rod ends seem tight. About all that leaves is inner tie rod ends that I am not sure about. Are these replacible without special tools and other parts?
Any other ideas?
Thanks, Roy

 

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

Are you awake and sober when it does it????????
How much freeplay is in the steering wheel? Does it have inner ends, or is it a steering rack that has to be replaced. Check you're freeplay, if it's tight, drink some coffee and/or take a nap and try again :roll: The rearend isn't wandering is it??

 

D

David G

Well-known Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

I am with Dave 2, gotta lay off the sauce.

 

jon f mn

Well-known Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

Are the tires low? Did it start with new tires? Some tires will do that too, even properly inflated.

 

D

Dick2

Well-known Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

262K on a Lumina? Sounds like it si ready to be recycled.

We put the Lumina's in the fleet in the auction by the time they hit 100K - some sooner than that.

 

D

Duner Wi

Well-known Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

If you live where cars rust check the bars that control the rear suspension.

 

R

Revredneck

Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

Jack up the front end and work the wheels by hand to see if there is any play in the tie rods. It does have inner tie rods, and it does require a special tool to replace them. Autozone has a deal where you buy the tool and when the job is done, return it and they refund the money. It's really a secured loaner program.
You said you replace the ball joints. Did you get a good 4 wheel alignment afterwards? I suspect you'll find a worn outer tie rod end, most likely.
Good Luck and God Bless

 

M

MCOHIO

Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

Check the condition of the shocks and struts. You would be suprised by the amount of control the rear shocks provide for driving.

 

C

cd1

Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

struts and shocks

 

K

Kyle in KY

Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

Struts!

 

O

old

Well-known Member

Location

Camdenton Missouri

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

First of push down hard on the front end and let it go. If it bounces more them once you have bad stunts and that is most likely where your problem is

 

S

ShadetreeRet

Well-known Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

Has an alignment been performed lately? Most autos today require front AND rear alignment. I bought a car a few years ago that wanted to "wander" and it was the devil to handle on a wet road. The dealer had replaced the steering rack but obviously did not check the alignment. My favorite front end man took care of the problem.

 

E

EricInSEI

Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

I wondered about that.

 

G

gab

Well-known Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

If you think the frt end is tight check the rear end, two bars from each wheel to the center get bent, arm from each wheel forward the brkt. rusts out of the body.

 

S

SDE

Well-known Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

Son drove ours for a month with the left rear side of the axle dettached from the body. I knew what the problem was as soon as I moved the car. Got out pushed on the tire with my foot and it moved about a bit. Drilled a hole through the body, attached it with a long bolt and washers. Got under it and welded it some and it was good to go.

 

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

100,000?? why?? I have a lumina that has had 3 or 4 deer crashes. One time the car was totaled. We bought it back and fixed it. It is now headed toward 310,000 and still drives as straight as it did when it was new.

 

F

farmerjohn

Well-known Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

I put 215K on my lumina before I traded it, it was a great car.

 

showcrop

Well-known Member

• Oct 25, 2012

• #1

I'm with Duner WI....Check those rear arms. I had a Lumina a long time ago but after it was partially fixed after my wife got into an accident with it we traded it for something else. I had an Expedition that developed problems with those arms in the rear.

 

OP

OP

I

IA Roy

Well-known Member

• Oct 27, 2012

• #1

New rear struts in August this year. I bounced the front bumper tonight before I came in and the front struts seemed pretty tight. I checked the rear suspension links when I put the rear struts on. They seemed tight. Tires are getting pretty skinny. I need to get better ones before show flies. I didn"t see anything but surface rust near the link brackets.
I will do some more checking this weekend. Some other projects ahead of this. I also need to take care of the 3 and 6 year old granddaughters tomorrow, at least part of the day.