So i did my homework by searching on here several times. 1993 sentra se-r. here is my problem:

When I drive the car and hit any bump in the road, no matter how small or big, the car will un-expectedly swerve to the left or right. But, under acceleration, it moves a little, but for the most part stays in a straight line. When the car is sitting still while the engine is running and i turn the wheel to the right, the front of the car dips about 2 inches. If i turn the wheel to the left, it raises about 1 inch.

From searching, I found most people leaned towards the steering rack. Some mentioned the bushings, or the entire rack itself is bad. Others said it could be the ball joints. I dont know exactly what they meant by balljoints. I inspected my steering rack bushings and they seemed to be in good shape. No cracks or tears or missing parts. They didnt really look worn.

Can anyone give me some info on my questions? I got an alignment yesterday, and it did not fix the problem at all.

-Where is a ball joint located, and what connects to it?
-How hard is it to change a steering rack?
-Can you think of anything else that would cause this problem?

ball joint connected to the lower control arms, which connects to the hubs.

steering rack is a pita. Why do you think we all hate doing steering rack bushings ;)


Heres how the setup goes..

wheel - lugs - hubs - outer tie rod - inner tie rod - steering rack (then repeat other side)

and wheel - lugs - hubs - ball joints - control arm



.. I'd say your bushings are shot somewhere. Whether they be control arms, rack bushings, or ball joints.

thanks liupj. im gonna take the wheel off tommorrow and check for my ball joints, control bushings and tie rod bushings.

I just remembered, while under the car saturday I noticed that half of my tie rod bushing on the passenger side was missing. I didnt inspect driver side. Could this also be a problem?

Could be a number of things. I say its time to move to ES front bushing set :D

other opinions still accepted!

Psh, you dont need them. I'M all that matters!

j/k.

Listen to ^^^him^^^. He knows what he's talking about.

First things first, did you check tire pressure? Did you check your tie rods? No such thing as a tie end bushing. Are you talking about the rubber boot? If the rubber boot for the outer tie end is torn or even missing, Id replace the boot asap and fill it with grease. If you mean the rack boot, replace but little grease. Have you checked your lower ball joints?

maybe i got it confused with something else then while i was under the car looking at it. i know i saw something attached to the control arm with a bushing that was broken in half.

tire pressure are ok.
alignment done.
rubber boots on tie-rods are ok.
bushings on the steering rack mounts looked to be in perfect shape. no cracks tears or missing peices or any signs of wearing.

What is the 'ball joint"? where is that located? if someone could give a pic, i'd really really appreciate it.

btw, is this what i need for the front? i dont need sway-bar bushings or motor mount inserts. im doing one thing at a time eliminating it off the list of possibilities. http://cgi.ebay.com/Front-Control-Arm-Bushings-Nissan-Sentra-91-99-200SX_W0QQitemZ8029042426QQcategoryZ33583QQcmdZVie wItem

It is probably the ball joints like I mentioned in your alignment thread. Here is a pic of a b13 front control arm. The ball joint is on the far right end on the arm:

http://www.johnandtracey.com/gallery/albums/es_bushings/aad.sized.jpg (http://www.johnandtracey.com/gallery/albums/es_bushings/aad.jpg)

Here is another shot, of the control arm installed on the car. The ball joint is in the lower part of the picture. It is just to the right of the disc brake rotor:

http://www.johnandtracey.com/gallery/albums/transmission_swap/ada.sized.jpg (http://www.johnandtracey.com/gallery/albums/transmission_swap/ada.jpg)

johnand to the rescue again!!! thanks dude, those pictures really helped. that was the bushing i was talking about. it was the lower bushing of the ball joint that was broken in half. i'm going to get new struts, and the ES bushing kit and see if they fix the problem. if not, gonna move on to the steering rack :(

UPDATES


It is my swar bar bushing on the bottom passenger side that is broken in half / missing half of it. The ball joint bushings dont look BAD but i would give it an 'average'.

Would (half) of my sway bar bushing on the passenger side cause the car to swerve violently without any steering wheel input when i hit a bump?

Sorry if i'm asking too many questions, because there could be a shitload of different things and this could be a very costly costly repair if i try to replace every single suspension component. just trying to narrow it down. thanks guys

bump

i would imagine that would cause some issues for sure but not the height of the car changing when you turn the wheel, olny thing that could do something like that would be control arm bushings i would think.