Hicas Burn In Hell (part 2)

[Wogan]

Hey.. thought i'd steal the thread name of the last guy who has HICAS issues. (since it shares my sentiments)

Here's my story (and i hope it's not too confusing)

I took my car to Hyperdrive a while ago and they pointed out a joint in my hicas which has play in it... if you jack the car up, you can rock the wheel diagonally holding front top and bottom right.

I bought a joint from Jap Performance Parts in Ozzy park which (through my description) they thought was the issue.

I then took the car to a 3rd garage (yeah i'm a garage whore), who told me i bought the wrong joint, and that i need the ball joint on the tie-rod of the HICAS arm.

On returning to Jap Performance Parts they told me that the joint in question is not a ball joint but is solid... so now i have no idea what's going on...

here is the "joint" in question:

You can kinda see that the rubber boot on it appears to have split.. is this a ball joint? .. could it have play in it even if it isn't? .. could this be moving but the problem be elsewhere?

[Ashy Larry]

I may be experiencing the same issue.

BTW your rear sub frame bushes should be done.

[Wogan]

I may be experiencing the same issue.

BTW your rear sub frame bushes should be done.

yeah i need a lot of work.. haha

[Ashy Larry]

Oh and the garden hose needs to be wound up, that's a trip hazard!

[suburban drifter]

Oh and the garden hose needs to be wound up, that's a trip hazard!

hahah keen eyes mate

[Levi_]

Take the rubber boot off and have a look to see what's going on under there.

Then just go buy a HICAS lock bar.

But seriosuly, have a look for yourself, those boots are easy to get on/off... figure out where the problem is, if it's on the HICAS unit, you could get a lockbar and be done with it... or you could have my HICAS unit, it's in my garage.

[Wogan]

yeah I've got a lockbar, but if this joint has play, the lock bar won't fix that.

[Boss-zilla]

Id have a look at someone elses to see if its the same amount of play or bring it round and ill check it for you. It sounds to me like the ball joint (oposite end to what you have circuled).

[Wogan]

is the circled joint a ball joint? .. i assume it is some sort of joint...

[djr81]

Well if you think about it the other end is attached to the wheel hub so it is going to have to articulate....

Anyway here is a grotty photo with a HICAS stopper installed.

[Wogan]

Well i jacked it up on the weekend and took the boot off.. it's most definitely a ball joint under there and it definitely has play in it.

Is one of those Tie Rod's easy to get new or should i go back to JPC and tell him that he was wrong and ask if i can get one from him?

[heller44]

I originally bought a pair of tie rod's (ie the bit you are looking for not the tie rod ends) for my front steering setup as the original mechanic reckonned they were an issue. The only place I found was through nissan spares and they were damn pricey. Ended up being the tie rod ends instead so I have the new inners still wrapped up in my shed (fronts though so no help for you unfortunately).

Talk to brad at WA suspensions. Great bloke, sauwa member and he rectified my suspension problems. He should be able to help you, even take it ther and get a check before you decide to order any bits and ask what he reckons.

[iz32]

Tie rods (i been referring to them as hicas arms) are cheap as. KYP sold me one for 33bux. piece of piss to change but you need a bearing puller to make it easy. i spent 2 days trying to get it off the outer end joint (wheel hub end) and the bearing puller did it in seconds. you also need to drop the rear section of your exhaust and its all there infront of you. then you need a wheel alignment.

if you decide to do it yourself you can borrow my bearing puller cos i know first hand now how much of a pain in the arse it is.