QuestionThis is not a question but an answer for all those people that think its their power steering that makes it hard to turn a corner. ITS NOT. My car did the same thing. A couple weeks ago I was driving my 95 eclipse gs and the pasenger lower ball joint broke causing my front axel to bend. Got it fixed right away and no more powersteering problems. And yes i even went in to Mitsubishi dealership and they also said it dealt with the powersteering. They were wrong.
AnswerThanks for additional info Tom. Indeed, badly worn lower outer ball joints can cause hard steering and loud popping noises during turns. Ball joints typically wear out due to torn boots. Those boots are packed with grease that keep the joint lubricated and free from rust. If that boot tears, the grease will come out, dirt and water will enter the joint area, and will cause premature failure. Hard corning is the least of your problems if the joint goes bad. Your front end will come out of alignment. That will cause your car to veer to one side, cause extreme wear to the inner and outter edges of your tires, and possible cause a blow out. If the car is aligned with a bad ball joint, it won't be long until the alignment is again thrown off. Most garage that perform alignments will check for bad ball joints.
If you're having steering problems, always looks for the easy/inexpensive fixes first:
- low power steering fluid
- broke power steering belt
- bad ball joints
- worn tie-rods
- seized power steering pump
- broke power steering rack
This order of repairs is typically followed by most mechanics and some will stop if the problem is not related to the first couple possible causes. I've had problems with all of these items, and there is only one I would not fix. If you guessed the $800 power steering rack, you'd be right ;-)
Thanks again for the tip Tom.
