My 02 type S's steering just doesnt feel tight and crisp anymore like it used to. It feels like it has a little extra play in the steering wheel. I was told that my drivers side upper ball joint had excess play and needed replacing.... would this make the STEERING loose?

If not, what parts of the suspension, bushings, etc should I check? I have springs, shocks, sways already.

 

any suspension related parts could make it sloppy if they in fact are bad

 

Im going to replace the balljoint first. I have been toying with the idea of replacing lower control arms and various bushings, but wasnt' sure which ones I should go with (assuming I don't find wear on mine). I'm at almost 150k by the way

 

loose balljoints will ruin your steering. once you replace it youll notice tighter steering and maybe less bounce when driving over dips/bumps

 

Get that replaced right away. If that fails, your wheels fall off...

And check the tie rods ends also. They control steering and have a ball joint similar to the upper ball joint.

 

Will do... thanks!

 

do the ball joint and check everything else
Its a pretty common wearout part and will mess the steering because it controls the input to the whells

 

Could be your tires. I had the same problem. My left upper ball joint was loose. I replaced it but the steering still felt the same. Then I replaced the front tires and the looseness was gone.

 

that would be from the ball joint wearing out the tires, and both repairs had to be made before the problem and its effects are resolved

 

if an upper wore out- replace the lower while you are there

 

I have one upper (spc camber correcting ball joint) gone bad....... so I should replace the lower too? Maybe even replace the other side upper and lower? Sounds pricey, but I'll do it if you think I will notice a difference. The lowers ARE 150k old

 

if the upper on one side is bad its been putting extra load on its lower, so replace both
Mostly its the labor getting to the part, the cheap bit is the extra part~
A good shop would stop and ask- why dont you want the other one done??

If the other side is ok dont worry about them till one gets worn- monitor at oil changes--look all the suspension over
lowered cars put more wear on those type parts in general

The TL will go well past 300 if you maintain it when it needs- see fsttyms1 threads on his hyper high mileage 00, now with cl-s/6speed!

 

what if a mechanic [or two] actually got under there, looked around, pushed, pulled, turned and twisted some suspension parts around, but said that the tie rods, and balljoints are still good... is there a chance that its actually bad, just not easily seen? something they missed?

ive got the clunking issue on my tein basics... as theres been numerous threads on this topic. but im just curious if mayb they cant tell the balljoint is bad by playing with it... just something you have to change without it looking bad...?