So_Cali

So I went to my local Sears auto center to get a tire evaluation and possibly an alignment if needed since I was seeing some vibration in the steering wheel while driving. They said an alignment isn't possible because my ball joints are worn, I get that part since the car has over 130K miles on it then he went on saying I have the wrong tire size in front, that kinda threw me off 0_o I'm running 18's all around, front tires are 255/45-18's. I've seen people on here with much larger tires than that on this site. I hate not knowing much about suspension related stuff but, is what this guy said accurate?

Any suspension/steering help is greatly appreciated here :/

S stang

I wood take to another shop . I have that size on my 06 gt no probums can't spell today.

Art161

Other than being 18", what size are the rear tires? What width are the rims, front and rear?

waykooljr

That size tire is ok, might be a problem if you're running wheels with the wrong offset but I highly doubt that.

I would look into replacing the lower control arms, then an alignment. If you still have vibration in the wheel, look to balancing wheels and tires.

If you have custom wheels it's possible that your wheels aren't hub-centric, which means your wheels are being centered by the lugs. You can get vibrations because the wheel isn't exactly centered.

See here...

Hub Centric Rings

So_Cali

18X9s in front, 18X10s out back

I don't think the offset is the issue. I was just going to replace the Ball joints, never thought about the LCA's, are there any you would recommend? I'm not really too sure about the hub-centric thing...

Definetly, I don't think SEARS is too experienced with custom suspensions, I'm going to another shop a friend recommended sometime this week.

red96v6

Not a "wrong" tire size, just different than stock. His reference material probably only lists the factory tire sizes.

As for the lower control arms:
http://www.americanmuscle.com/ford-f...ms-0511gt.html

Havent done it myself yet, but I believe Ive read the easiest way to replace the lower ball joints is to go ahead and replace the whole control arm.

Derf00

My guess is that since you're running a different size than factory stock (235-55 18) they won't touch them. Some shops are picky about non OEM/Factory stuff. Costco for example will only let you get sizes that are available from the factory even if the size you want is perfectly fine like say a 255 45 R18 instead of 235-55 18. Since 255 was not an option for a Mustang GT, they won't put it on.

Got to another shop.

waykooljr

Right on!

I'm planning to replace mine in the near future, I've had the clunk noise for a while now and replacing the lower control arms is a possible cure.

So_Cali

Thanks for the input everyone! I did search for LCA's and also saw the ones that red96V6 posted, those are probably gonna be my best option. Might as well spend the extra $$$ and replace the whole part rather than just the joints. I'm for sure gonna check out a few more shops to get some more opinions, the gentleman there at SEARS just recommeded replacing the ball joints and getting the "correct" tires for my car.