Identification of nut location (Page 1/2)
WonderBoy SEP 04, 11:07 AM
So I've been having front suspension problems after hitting and going over a pig sized raccoon months ago (slight vibe in the steering wheel at highway speeds). I know the inner tie rods have about an inch of play with the steering wheel locked when I wiggle the driver and passenger side tires when jacked up, along with seeing the bellow boots push upwards. Got new inners and outers coming from Rodney. However, today driving I REALLY need to over compensate when steering. Like the rear of the car wants to get ahead of me and drift. Death wiggle. Only after leaving the driveway a few hundred feet, I was going straight, but steering wheel turned way towards the left. Backed into a driveway to return home, I heard what sounded like metal hitting/falling onto the pavement. Went and made my quick 1mile errand while learning to drive this way and heard the same noise again of metal falling near by (my windows were down). Upon returning home and parking, I looked under the rear of the car and found this:



Its an 18mm nut threaded on an Allen threaded rod. Maybe it doesn't go to my Fiero and I'm being paranoid.
But... any idea where this might go?

------------------
Curtis

1987 Pontiac Fiero GT:
<Drives like a Go-Kart, handles like a roller coaster>

PFF AI Bot SEP 04, 11:07 AM
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fieroguru SEP 04, 11:46 AM
18mm is a common nut for suspension parts - bushings and tie rods.
The hex on the end isn't present in any of the OEM bushing bolts and would more likely be from aftermarket tie rod ends.
Check the nuts on all the tie rod ends - Rear inners and front outers.

Start with the rear - there are tabs on the lower control arm that limit how far the wheel can turn in the event of a tie rod failure, and those tab will push the dust shield against the rotor and make a metal scraping sound.
WonderBoy SEP 04, 11:46 AM
Now that rear is jacked up, I see the rear passenger side wheel is loose at the tie rod mount. Looks like that nut goes to the back side of that location.

Damn, just replaced a failed alternator 3 weeks ago and never touched that area, other than pop the outer rod from the knuckle to remove/install alternator. Looks like I'm not going to be 'Driving Excitement' for a while.

Would too much front vibration cause that rear one to snap? When I had an all wheel alignment done after doing total suspension upgrade (2018, struts/shocks, 1” lower springs along with all poly, knuckles and control arms blasted and coated) I had the mechanics install all new tie rods front and back that I got from the Fiero store. Cheap metal? I'll admit there are some railroad tracks I go over pretty rough.

(Edited to add 2018 year suspension/alignment done)

[This message has been edited by WonderBoy (edited 09-04-2023).]

pmbrunelle SEP 04, 11:48 AM
For information, nuts are designated by their thread size, not the wrench size.

Because of the stub with an Allen socket, it looks like the end of a MacPherson strut rod which was broken off.

If both your struts still have their nuts, this may be a piece that remained from a previous strut replacement job.
fredtoast SEP 04, 12:26 PM

quote
Originally posted by pmbrunelle:

, it looks like the end of a MacPherson strut rod which was broken off.


This is serious. My dad always told me that "You can't have a strut if you got no nuts."
Raydar SEP 04, 12:38 PM
Is it possible that the "pig sized raccoon" was also hit by the rear of the car?
Still... the car is at least 36 years old, by now. It's not too outrageous to believe that the rear toe link/tierod succumbed to metal fatigue, if it's still original. Especially if it sees a bunch of rough terrain.
Regardless of whether the nut and washer came from there or not, if the wheel/knuckle is loose, that's at least part of your (new) problem, whatever else is causing it.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 09-04-2023).]

fierofool SEP 04, 12:52 PM

quote
Originally posted by pmbrunelle:

For information, nuts are designated by their thread size, not the wrench size.

Because of the stub with an Allen socket, it looks like the end of a MacPherson strut rod which was broken off.

If both your struts still have their nuts, this may be a piece that remained from a previous strut replacement job.



This is what I was thinking, too. But the fresh wear on the nut and washer indicates that it's a fresh separation and not something left over from previous work.

WonderBoy SEP 04, 01:30 PM
I know I still need to get the bump stops cut down for the 1" lowering I did. Been waiting till I got a new daily driver/commuter.

That nut definitely sheared off the rear passenger inner.

Looks like I'm heading back to Rodney's for more parts.
WonderBoy SEP 10, 03:48 PM
So most of my goodies have arrived from RD, I started removing the front inner/outer tie rods. Judging by the rusty muddy brown watery grease (ha! Doubt any grease was even there) in the boots, I decided to remove the entire rack to see how bad it was. Since I got a bushing and seal from RD on the way along with the rear tie rods, I had to take it out anyways. Took it apart and man, it was ugly. Got the parts mostly cleaned up with wire wheel, cleaned the inside of the rack housing like packing a musket using 20 shop paper towels soaked in degreaser till they came out clean.

Lots of pitting on the rack shaft where there's no direct contact with anything and a bit in the gearing teeth.

Now, the bad?

The roller bearing seems descent, haven't popped it out yet, but this one on the pinion has a lot of play. Normal? Is this welded on, and if so, has anyone tried to replace it? I've got TFF on standby if they've got another rack available.

Salvageable?

Also having a hell of a time getting the old bushing out.