Car feels jumpy

[Nationalmilkman]

Car feels jumpy and seems to follow every rut and uneven spot of the road. I do have a "clunk" in the front when I leave the driveway (curb) and found a tie rod end that could be replaced. Any ideas?

[Polygon]

There are a few reasons that cars will follow ruts in the road.

1. Worn suspension or steering components.
2. Wide and or sticky tires.
3. Deviation from stock offset.
4. Alignment.

A worn tie rod could contribute to that. However, clunking when hitting a bump would usually be a problem on the strut. Normally it would be caused by the strut itself or the strut bearing.

[DocWalt]

Replace the tie rod end(s) first, then check for any play in any part of the front suspension. I think more people have worn out lower control arm bushings than people think. Any looseness could cause a clunk.

[Nationalmilkman]

1. I was thinking lower control arm could be my "clunk"
2. 265/35/18 Toyo R888 tires
3. +24 offset 18x9 rims
4. Had the front aligned but the back is still out a little bit.
5. Adjustable coils on stock non-ECS struts

I think new control arm bushings would help alot.

[drew0u812]

It's probably has more to do with the 265/35's.
I run the same size on a 9" rim with a 42 offset and my car also followed the ruts...reducing the camber did help a bit but swapping to my winter tires in the 245 45 17 on the same offset got rid of that problem.

Also the stiffer the sidewall the more pronounce the effect.

I think that's a price we pay for running pretty meaty tires on the front on shitty roads.

[Keyan]

Worn sway bar end links can also clunk. Mine were.

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[IPD]

tie rod ends is always the first thing i look for when it feels like it's tracking intermittantly left or right. if it STAYS tracking off in one direction, i'd say it's probably alignment or something else. also....check the wheel bearings & lower control arms. i had my tie-rods replaced--only to find out that my control arm bushings were SHOT. it's a simple fix; just need to buy new bushings for ~$40 or so, and have a mechanic press-fit them. a LOT of shops won't want to do it though...so be sure to hunt around. seems like there's a lot of places who will only install complete parts (i.e. an entire control arm) and won't do piecemeal replacement.

wider tires WILL make a difference. 285's feel nothing like 225's; but the increased grip more than > the difference in ride.

[Nationalmilkman]

I worked in a shop for a few years so they would do it for me. I haven't checked sway bar links but the wheel bearing felt tight. Lower control arm bushings don't look great so I think that's part of it.

[DocWalt]

Lower control arm bushings don't require a press, I did them with simple hand tools. They're a pain in the ass though unless you take the front of the LCA off the subframe too.

[IPD]

Lower control arm bushings don't require a press, I did them with simple hand tools. They're a pain in the ass though unless you take the front of the LCA off the subframe too.

i'll take your word for it. i had a shop do mine. i'd just installed my new coilovers & the car needed an alignment anyways. since it was the same shop doing the alignment--it seemed like a no-brainer.