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Weird Suspension Movement

4K views 11 replies 3 participants last post by  rreader 
#1 ·
My 07 Compass has 107,000 miles on it. The old fronts struts were totally shot so I replaced them. Now that the front end is not bouncing and banging around I started noticing under moderate acceleration when it sounds like it's shifting to a higher gear the whole front end seems to slide to the left. The wheels stay straight, it's like the body is shifting. It's a funny feeling for sure. Does it sound like the whole front end is shot?
 
#2 ·
Well I gather this wasn't happening before.

I would double check the bolts and mounting points (top of the tower and bottom) of the struts. Either something is loose or you've missed/have hardware left over putting it back together.
 
#3 ·
No, never happened before. I was able to get an appoinment for tomorrow at the local alignment shop. I guess they can figure it out. After reading a bunch of threads I thought maybe rear trackbar. I will tell the shop to tell me what's wrong so I can decide if I can fix it cheap cheap.
 
#5 ·
Tie rods have been a very high wear item on Compass as well as the A-arm ball joint. Not surprised its gone but I guess you don't know when they were last changed. Also with what? OEM part or aftermarket. The OEM won't last long at all.
 
#7 ·
I think there's still something else wrong here. I should have just changed everything and been done with it. The movement with acceleration and slowing down has been exaggerated with the new tie rod ends. I'll know by tomorrow, alignment at 9am.
 
#8 ·
Don't forget the tires. You could belt separation or some other fault on the pull wheel on the front. Rotate tires front to back as per the manual.
 
#9 ·
They put it on the rack again and lo and behold, a ball joint was bad. He said the control arm bushings were still in good shape so I told him to change the ball joint. My Jeep needs to be on the road. They changed it, aligned it and it drives perfectly now.
 
#10 ·
How could they miss the ball joints. Its a known problem with these from day one. Easiest to check as well and part of the A-arms. Mine seemed to last longer than most but maybe because of the roads or care driving on rough surfaces. Both are aftermarket now.

Inner and outer tie rod ends can go but not nearly as fast as the ball joints. It had to be very bad with the symptoms you had.

Amazing the mechanic did not get reamed by the manager!! Good to hear its done now.
 
#11 ·
I think they were scheming. They were going to suck me in with the tie rod ends and then add ball joint for a bigger payday. Only thing is I told them I would do the tie rod ends. Then they still sucked me in with the ball joint because I needed my Jeep on the road.
 
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