On Tue, 2006-04-04 at 19:11 -0700, andrew kelley wrote:
> I have a 97 dodge neon that hit the wrong side of the guard rail on
> the passengers side.  The body is all fixed, but the frame was off by
> 2" lengthwise of the car.  The frame has been straightened, K frame, A
> frames, and rack and pinion replaced, driveaxle on passenger's side
> replaced.  When the steering wheel is turned to the left, and when the
> transmission is in gear, there is a noise that sounds like a *loud*
> chatter and the vehicle shakes (assuming its the CV joint slipping
> apart and the tripod chattering in and out of 2 of the 3 sides),
> whether or not the vehicle is moving.  When not in gear, the steering
> "pops" when you hit a certain point.  At first it didn't do it, but
> after driving up a slight incline doing a 3pt turn, it chatters every
> time.  Any ideas as to what it could be?  The dealer is confused but
> thinks the frame could still be out of alignment.  The frame shop said
> the frame was straightened to 1/8" which is pretty close. Out of all
> of the cars I've owned this Neon has been the worst to fix from a
> collision.

Hmm, unfortunately in a normal situation there are only a few possible
causes of this sort of problem, but when you throw "bent frame" and
"collision" into the equation the possibilities increase tremendously.

First off, before you go ahead with any diagnosis I would get a wheel
alignment. A 2 wheel alignment would suffice, but a 4 wheel would make
me feel better.

Now, offhand, ignoring frame/collision problems the first place I'd
check are the strut tower bearings. On the top of the strut there is a
bearing that allows the strut to rotate freely when you turn the
steering. If they are either rusted, worn out or otherwise damaged it
can manifest as the problem you describe.

You mention you've got a new steering rack and control arms, are you
sure they are the correct ones? Something like a wrong part can easily
cause the problem you describe (and the alignment people would likely
notice something like that).

That's all that comes to mind right now. Unfortunately I have zero
experience when it comes to "bent frame" possible problems. TTYL

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