pulsing noise and tire kicking
 

hey all,

so there's this awesome pulsing noise when i make sweeping turns at 40+ mph, and it occasionally happens when braking coming off the highway as well. not to mention that there's a lot of noise from the rear of the car when going over a bumpy road at low speeds.

so i get out of the car today, and for some reason was drawn to kick the driver's side rear tire. when i kicked the side of it towards the back of the car, the tire shimmied a little and there was this wonderful metal banging noise. none of the other tires exhibited this behavior.

what do you guys think? tie rod? something else? please tell me it's expensive :rolleyes:

thanks for the continued help,
dan

Have you jacked up the car to take a better look? Could be as simple as loose lug nuts or you may have a broken suspension component or sway bar mount.

haven't jacked up the car yet. nor would i know what i'm looking at if i did :D seriously, tho, thanks for the input. if it were just loose lug nuts, wouldn't it make the same noise no matter which side of the tire i kicked? i've tried it a few times after driving (so the wheel is in a different orientation), and it only makes the noise when kicking the back part of the tire.

Oh I think the top strut mount may be rusted away.

If there exists even the most remote possibility that lug nuts are loose, I suggest you try tightening them before you drive the car another inch. In any event, you should drive with considerable caution until you track down the problem.


dcb

thanks. i'll check the lug nuts before i drive it again. scary thing is i just drove the car 600 miles round trip to chicago this past weekend (problems were occurring before then but hadn't kicked the tire yet). these "you shouldn't drive it until fixed" problems are nerve-racking!

dan

problem solved...
the alignment adjustment bolt (don't know the real name for this) had worked itself loose somehow. funny how badly your car drives when your rear tire is wobbling all over the place! :D