Re: Bad vibes

[Chris Newbold <cnewbold@eznet.net>]

treilley wrote:
> 
>      Does it happen only when wet or is it more noticible when wet?  Just
>      off the top of my head:  wheel bearings, steering rack, inner tie rod
>      ends?  Do you ever get a clunk when turning and braking at slow
>      speeds?

I'd say it happens only when wet. Sometimes I think I can feel a
*very, very* slight shimmy when dry, but I'm pretty sure that's
just stiff sidewalls, high pressure and uneven pavement.

No clunking that I'm aware of. The only other odd front-end
behavior is a knocking sound when driving over washboard
pavement and the ambient temp is < 25deg. F. The noise goes
away when the car warms up and has no correlation to water.

Any tips on how to check the bearings, rack, etc? Could I
do this myself?

Thanks to everone else who's responded so far. My other
challenge is how to handle the dealer, who refuses to
do any more work on the car until I can reproduce the 
problem for them... I've tried asking them to check various
things, but I get the distinct impression they've
just blown it off. (They'er the only dealer in the area... :-(

-Chris