AE101 weird goings ons

[spoonza6]

Just bought me an AE101 Levin and whilst driving it back to auckland from whakatane i came across a scary issue

Car has Superstrut suspension

Under acceleration the car pulls to the right on its own.
When brakes are applied it dives to the left.
Light taps of the throttle and i can hear something knocking on the passengers side wheel.

This is my first non GT Starlet so im not too sure what to be looking for.

pulled passenger wheel off and took brake pads out, they had lots of meat on them and even wear, rotor looks in good nick as well.

anything else i need to check before i put it all back together and take the drivers side off and inspect...

cheers for your help

[Leon]

buggered wheel bearing, ball joint, or tie rod end maybe?

[spoonza6]

how could i check those things?
Superstrut suspension is weird

[KinLoud]

Almost certainly a worn joint on the superstrut suspension - been there done that

Cheapest and best option is to get new genuine toyota replacement joints.
Talk to Mark (1I1) here on Toyspeed - he is our Toyota parts go to man
viewtopic.php?t=66290

This is based on my experience with my s/s GTZ and driving other s/s cars with worn s/s joints.

Checking superstrut suspension:
- Jack up front of car, remove front wheels.
- take hold of the spring perch (where the bottom of the spring sits) with both hands.
- try to twist the strut.
If the strut doesn't twist, the superstrut joints on that side are ok.
If the strut twists (you should be able to see movement in the short s/s arm joints)....
- 1-2mm (measured at the edge of the spring perch) means it will probably pass a warrant but will need replacing quite soon. You might be able to just notice the car wandering a bit when driving over changing road camber or when braking/accelerating.
- more than 2 mm it will probably fail a warrant, it will need replacing. The car will wander over changing road surfaces and change direction noticably when accelerating or braking. You will know something is wrong!

S/S joints have a huge load on them, from accelerating, braking and going over bumps. The front s/s control arm has a short arm that connects to the suspension strut. The suspension strut has a ball joint that locates the top of the steering knuckle/hub. If the joints at either end of the short arm become worn the suspension strut can rotate. If it rotates it causes the top of the steering knuckle to move forwards or backwards (due to bumps, accelerating or braking). This causes the wheel to point out a bit or in a bit, causing the car to wander left or right without you moving the steering wheel. This can be very dangerous!

Other suspension noises can be caused by worn swaybar links, small stones getting stuck between the swaybar and the swaybar mounting brackets, loose bolts etc.

Ken

[Kiwi-Corolla]

There's a SuperStrut AE101 Trueno at the Takanini Pick-A-Part yard right now if you need any secondhand parts. Also one down in the Tauranga Pick-A-Part, but that's a bit of a drive, lol.

[spoonza6]

Thanks Ken very informative advice you gave there,

So whats happened this morning...

Jacked car up
Took front wheels off
Drivers side has no movement in the strut at all
Passengers side - has movement, well over 2mm.

Am i after a whole strut to replace til i can get two brand new ones in the near future?

[spoonza6]

Finally fixed thanks to pick a part.

Now to figure out all the weird noises that are emanating from the front

[KinLoud]

Now to figure out all the weird noises that are emanating from the front

Clunking? - swaybar links

[spoonza6]

thats a good point, going to take car into PitStop Newmarket and get my mate to have a look at it on the hoist n that

sounds like a rubbing and clipping sound, wasnt there prior to my repair attempt n that

but all in all soo stoked i got it fixed, actually feels weird not diving left or right on its own accord anymore