Hi everyone, I've been a lurker for a while but earlier this morning something alarming happened which prompted me to post about it.

So I recently got my tires replaced and I remember the tire shop mentioning something about tie-rod end, but I didn't think to much of it until now.

Here's the symptoms I'm experiencing.
- "Loose" or play in the steering wheel which affects the car in 60+ mph conditions.
- The "resistance" is gone from the steering wheel, meaning that it does not feel as stiff and true to the road as before... and yes i have bump-steer, especially this morning. I remember reading a thread about riding-on-rails and I would love to get that feeling back but I don't recall if there was an actual solution to restore that factory feel...

If this helps, I have a 07 Acura TL w/ 60K miles. Could anyone point me in the right direction for troubleshooting?

I'm fairly comfortable with DIY's... I did my armrest cushion replacement and it came out damn near perfect.

 

its fairly easy to spot something broken or something that is about to break.
if you can find some time to look under the car and look at a few suspension components; i bet you could spot the broken or worn out piece. you have the other side to compare to.
Most likely it will be a ball joint that is leaking or on the verge of looking like its going to break.

 

I'm going to see if I can take some pictures on my phone and post them here, I'm not an expert mechanic but I can definitely tell you that something is wrong here. I honestly thought I was going to hit a guard rail or something...

Do you know what parts specifically I should be looking at, that is known to premature wear out on our 3G TL's?

 

axles go out. pretty common..
its a moderate powered front wheel drive car.
the front suspension takes a beating.

inspect ball joints. they shouldnt be leaking, and should not look like its rotting.

I'm fairly certain once you get underneath your vehicle, you'll spot something out of place or broken or leaking.
like mentioned above, you can compare it to the other side to make sure.

if nothing seems out of place; then would need to head to a mechanic to inspect it.

 

Good mechanic time...Shouldn't be a big deal, but usually these suspension wear items require special equipment.

 

could it be the control arms?just a suggestion

 

I would look at the tie rod ends - both inner & outer.

 

You just gave advice on a thread over five years old; I'm thinking the OP has long since gotten the problem sorted.

 

Rookie mistake. Guess I didn't check the date. New member, new to posting replies, etc. Thx for pointing this out.