Ok so i am a recent owner of a used pontiac g8 gt 2009. It is the liquid red color. So the problem i am having just started a couple days ago. The previous owner had changed the lower control arms on both sides of the car in the front. It has two arms that make up the control assembly and i am not sure if did all of them or not. But anyways, when i am driving at highway speeds and the roads curves to the right, my wheel (front left), shakes like it has some play in the wheel or something. In order to check the LCA’s, I have to jack it up and push and see if the wheel gives. It feels like it has lateral play when i am turning on the highway. This only happens when i am turning the steering wheel right, doe not do it at lower speeds or when i am turning left. The front left sounds as if there is something loose or something when i go over pot holes etc.
I dont know if the wheel bearing are bad or what. From what i read the cv joint, ball joint, and LCA’s could all be possible suspects. If anyone could help me narrow this down i would greatly appreciate it.
I am not sure what i have to do to fix it, but i do not want to drive it unless i have to until i get this fixed. .
2008-2009 G-8s Had Special Warranty Coverage (10 Years/120,000 miles) On Front Lower Control Arm Ball Joints Because Of Problematic Seals Allowing Damage To Joints.
CSA
So could a bad tie-rod end. So could a loose strut-to-knuckle bolts. So could a bad strut. This is a rear wheel drive car so you don’t have CV joints at the front. Upper strut mounts and/or steer bearings can have issues as well. The mount and its attachment is kind of a cruddy design IMHO but its been around for a long time (about 30 years in Opels and other GM cars).
If the ball joint and the tie-rod end have no looseness, you’ll need to remove the strut and spring assembly and take that apart (using a spring compressor) to see if that is the problem.
Here’s a way to think about it OP. The wheel isn’t bolted to the car’s body, right? Instead the wheel is attached to the car body by springs. Since only springs attach it to the body, without something else to hold the wheel in the correct orientation to the body, the wheel would wobble on the springs like crazy, going every which direction. What keeps it from wobbling is the control arms. The control arms aren’t a direct attachment of the wheel to the body, just enough to keep the wheel pointed in the correct orientation, using ball joints and bushings to allow for the motion between the wheel and the body but preventing the wheel from wobbling. So as posted above, it is likely something is wrong with those attachment gadgets.
Edit: Note that many suspension systems have two control arms per wheel, and upper and a lower. So the lower one could be ok but the upper one could fail, that’s another possibility for your car.
My second guess – and the above is only a guess as you probably expect since no one here has ever actually seen your actual car – the second guess would be the wheel bearing, which doesn’t hold the wheel to the body, but is part of what holds the wheel steady to the axel. If a wheel bearing started to fail the wheel might start to feel wobbly. But there’s usually a noise associated with that, so the first ideas are where to start.
front radius arm and rearward control arm. Sounds like a few bushings that might wear. Is the g8 known for tight suspensions when new? Might be a case of sketchy when new and lousy when slightly worn.