shauge

A few months ago my '94 GCL was up on a rack for an oil change and the guy called me out to the garage and said the ball joints on the passenger side were in need of replacing. He showed me the play in the wheel. I decided to wait out the winter and do it myself in the spring when I can work in my driveway (no heated garage). But recently a have noticed what feels like a wobble in that same wheel when i'm turning slowly (like in a parking lot). Don't feel it going straight, and don't notice it when moving faster, even when turning. I looked under it tonight and noticed some grease around the CV boot. Could that be the wobble feel, or is it ball joints?

Illuminator

I would have to recommend jacking the front tires off the ground and looking for play. Look at the tire as if it were a clock and grab it at 12oclock and 6oclock, if the tire pushes in and out the ball joint would probably be bad. Then grab the tire at 3oclock and 9oclock if there's play then you probably have a tie rod end needing replaced. I'm not sure a cv joint would cause a wobble like that. When ever you hear from a shop that something in the frontend needs replaced have them show you the part and how much play is in it, that away you can see how bad it is and that the part really needs replaced.

shauge

I finally found the time to do a little more research. I lifted the front end and did the 12/6 and 3/9 tests. Driver's side no significant movement. Passenger side had some movement at 12/6 (like 1/8" back and forth), and maybe a tad also at 3/9, although hard to tell, having no context for the movement. I'm guessing the diagnosis of ball joints on that side is correct, but I'm wondering if there is more to the story. I've looked at a couple videos about the track bar, and I'm now wondering if that's actually the culprit for the 'wobble' I originally mentioned. I'm going to hoist it up again at take a closer look at that. I also noticed the bushings on the ends of the tie rods looked pretty greasy. Something going on there, too?