The thing sounded like complete garbage when they were driving it around, attempting to h00n it. "Your mamma's so stupid, she bought a stick-shift Cadillac!" used to be a popular insult when I was growing up in the inner-city, due to the fact they didn't exist during that time period. I'm thinking they might have had "3 on the tree" versions back in the 1930's or something, but as far as I know otherwise, that is a very recent thing.
@@averagecarguy420 '04-'07 CTS-V are all manuals. 2nd generation CTS-V manuals are rare. All third Generation CTS-V's are automatic. ATS-V's with manuals are rare. Probably 2000 ATS-V' total produced with less than 10% manuals.
I got my truck not too long ago and went to do an oil change on it and the last person that did an oil change must've been some shop like that because the drain bolt was so tight it just rounded off with the tightest fitting socket on it and a breaker bar that was a foot and a half long, still didn't even turn.
Great video, very informative. I will be replacing the same parts on a 2014 ATS soon for my best friend. I like to soak the threads on the outer tie rods and any connection joints at least 5 to 10 minutes before trying to remove them. It actually helps. Thanks, again for a great vid!!!😊
On my 2010 Equinox, I too had to replace sway bar links. I bought the cheapo's from RA and they all sucked. Eventually I bought Moog parts and that did it. When the lower control arm ball joint let go shortly there after I didn't screw around and go aftermarket. I bought a GM control arm. Thankfully the truck rides like new after all 4 struts/shocks, sway bar links in front, new front control arm and new left rear control arm that was rotted out (thanks MA for the awesome road salt).
As an automotive machinist (retired) I prefer the universal torque spec of "Tighten untill the fastener breaks, then back of 1\2 turn" this works with every size fastener and never fails. The fasteners will break everyt ime at one point or another so it is perfect. Seriously a great channel Mr Finger. but I need another fiero fix soon
Yeah... just went through this on my 08 GMC sierra. Replace the inner one as well. Its rather floppy. My truck has 230K on it. I rebuilt the whole front end and it rides nice! My stuff wasn't even crusty as we are in TX. I had the inner and outer tie road and the inner tie rod tool sitting next to me. I struggled with the same getting the outer one off for about 10 minutes until I busted out the angle grinder and minute later it was off. The inner came out harder with a good map gas heating and big adjustable wrench (its a 40mm span). Then I used the tool to torque it. I had the second side done in like 20 minutes! I didn't both trying to get the end off. I just hit that with the grinder and the inner came off way easier than the other side.
I also got a clunking in my e39 and after changing the sway bar links also disappeared... 20€ the front couple. I think is very common in heavy cars. By the way, being manual if you turn the boost up, that can be a very bad ass car.
the torque speck on my moms equinox is 145 ft lbs, so says the tire shop. i was like what?? seems crazy tight to me. you can hardly get the lug nuts off by hand. i would have wire brushed the threads on the steering rack before the anti seize. i always use molybdenum grease as anti seize. i got the idea from a guy who works on motorcycles. he said he coats every fastener on it. it's very thick, not easily washed away, high pressure and high temperature tolerant and best of all cheap. :D
I have this exact car, color and all.. and I think I'm having this, or a similar issue. Vibrations in the steering wheel at speed and it can be felt in the seat as well. I was thinking wheel bearing but now I think it's more than that
I got new swaybar links for my car too. I have not dared to changed them yet. Im really scared for that operation :) having clonkings myself. Also my car is very unstable on the road. Kind of walking by it self over the road. Har to drive straight. Really annoying. Springs, shocks and lower control arms are allready replaced.
I replaced the tie rod ends on my 2013 Crosstrek recently, and getting them off required a torch for me as well. the neverending scourge of road salt. :|
Just came across you’re video currently dealing with a clunky noise on both sides of my front end on this exact same car was the clunking noise only on uneven roads or bumps or was it happening on smooth roads aswell
"yeah, looks like the sway bar end links need to be replaced" *stabs with a screwdriver* "oh and this tie rod boot is torn so that will need replacing, you'll need a wheel alignment after that too"
Shops don't care about wheel nuts. If ever i've had a car go into the shop for new tyre (I do that all myself now however), I always break out the breaker bar after getting home, in order that I can actually get the damn things off in the future if I have a flat on the side of the road..
I have a 15 years old GM (European equivalent of Malibu Maxx - the Opel Signum) and I live in a snow-in-winter country, yet my suspension does not show so much rust we've seen here. Was this ATS customized for Florida by not having any rust protection underneath?
Actually the problem is not about being plastic, is about the contact between the plastic and steel. It should come with more parts as is with the wipers. It uses the same idea but with a rubber end instead of plastic.
@@revolutionday1 the one thing that i hate about rockauto is the shipping cost. theres have been many things that the part was like $25 less on rockauto than amazon but shipping was over $50 vs free. When i replaced the swaybar endlinks, inner/outer tie rods, track bar it wouldve been over $100 more on rockauto due to the shipping.
i have a 13 ats manual I had to replace all the control arms after hitting a gigantic pothole ( it was dark didn't see it in time) long story short cost me 3500 bucks because they don't sell just the bushings
was surprised to see plastic replacement links for 2007 opel astra. the old ones were made of steel and were later used to temporarily weld one thing to another. i love those old links so much now... :) P.S. oh man... those clean suspension parts on the used daily cars... are the roads over there get washed with soap every day?
Bro no lie i live in CT and I bought my car from an old couple who lived by shore and my 20 year old camry doesn't even have that much rust on the original shocks
I would have thought that the Datsun was a more reliable car. I think that I saw video of the guys who worked on it. What does he not trust their automotive skills?
@@zacharyball8009 There's no other reasonable explanation. I thought maybe that the plastic was expected to have a desirable amount of flex to it, but it's just too stupid to make the ends of the piece out of plastic too. Has to be planned obsolescence.
A lotta' unkind adjectives are coming into my mind about how you didn't do the tie rod ends on BOTH sides of the car..........especially if you're going to spring for the cost of a professional alignment after doing this job.
I would have pickle-forked these pieces of shit, as the boot was already fucked. I'm wondering what exactly he thought the other side (he seemingly didn't do) was made of, that the one he had to replace wasn't....
Oh god! Mevotech is garbage!!!! Absolutely garbage. I installed control arms with those blue boots(mevotech) and the boots fell apart! Installed poly boots and no issues
@@revolutionday1 OE is the best company for balljoints as well as aftermarket ac delco and moog. It wasn’t something i did, they tore. I replaced them with poly boots, on the mevotech control arms. We’ll see if they last a year or two. (The control arms and balljoints, the new boots will last forever) Do you know why OE is so expensive? Because it lasts 18 years on average, not 2 They are far from the best companies...their control arms and balljoints are rebranded crap sourced from china. Thx for playing
Uh oh! We'll have to keep an eye on that. From the brief research I did it sounded like that was the best brand out of the options available. Poly boots are a good go-to and I have started switching to them when possible
@@FuzzyDiceProjects I hope mine (and yours) last... not impressed with initial impressions. I returned the mevotech control arms for my bmw and went with Moog metal bushing balljoint control arms instead (like oe m3 arms which are insanely expensive. The mevotechs had nylon bushing balljoints...that wasn’t gonna cut it) My dodge got the mevotechs which proceeded to grenade the boots. From what I read, others who used mevotech control arms said they don’t last more than a couple of years. We’ll see i guess, watching mine like a hawk. Lessons learned, especially after having to drop the cradle brace on the dodge to change the control arms out. Don’t want to be doing that again anytime soon Also, one of the control arms for the dodge came with a fractured casting out of the box, and i had to exchange and ship back the arm at my expense (thx rockauto...🤦🏻♂️) Oh!!! Forgot to mention... the machining on the mevotechs for my m3 was WRONG. They didn’t machine off enough metal in the rear “spindles” that are supposed to slip into the rear lower control arm bushings. Result: i couldn’t bolt them up. I measured the OE arms and sure enough 1/4” machining error in the mevotechs. That’s when I decided to do some research and went with 95 style moog control arms with a oversized metal bush outer balljoint, a standard metal bush inner and offset bushings for castor vs 96+ OE style control arms with castor built in and centered bushings. Put the OE control arms in a box and I’ll rebuild them with new OE balljoints and a lick of paint in the future. Can’t make this stuff up. After all that, this is why I do not trust mevotech.
A Cadillac with a manual transmission? Rare beast indeed.
Yeah
Many CTS-Vs and ATS-Vs had manuals, in fact I think the automatic ones are rarer than the manual ones.
The thing sounded like complete garbage when they were driving it around, attempting to h00n it.
"Your mamma's so stupid, she bought a stick-shift Cadillac!" used to be a popular insult when I was growing up in the inner-city, due to the fact they didn't exist during that time period.
I'm thinking they might have had "3 on the tree" versions back in the 1930's or something, but as far as I know otherwise, that is a very recent thing.
@@averagecarguy420 '04-'07 CTS-V are all manuals. 2nd generation CTS-V manuals are rare. All third Generation CTS-V's are automatic. ATS-V's with manuals are rare. Probably 2000 ATS-V' total produced with less than 10% manuals.
I own two Cadillacs with manual trans, one just like this ATS and a 2022…
I have a 2014 ATS and it has been the best vehicle I've ever owned. I even tow a small travel trailer with it!
Shops
"oh an oil drain plug? better tighten to 100 foot pound."
"oh tire lug nuts? better tighten to 100 foot pound"
I got my truck not too long ago and went to do an oil change on it and the last person that did an oil change must've been some shop like that because the drain bolt was so tight it just rounded off with the tightest fitting socket on it and a breaker bar that was a foot and a half long, still didn't even turn.
100 lb/ft is probably pretty close to the spec for the lug nuts.
@@Lykoloo just a joke man change the number to whatever that is too tight
@@countkrunk "lug nuts? Better hold the impact on for at least 10 seconds"
Great video, very informative. I will be replacing the same parts on a 2014 ATS soon for my best friend. I like to soak the threads on the outer tie rods and any connection joints at least 5 to 10 minutes before trying to remove them. It actually helps. Thanks, again for a great vid!!!😊
I am in need of firebird content!!!!
On my 2010 Equinox, I too had to replace sway bar links. I bought the cheapo's from RA and they all sucked. Eventually I bought Moog parts and that did it. When the lower control arm ball joint let go shortly there after I didn't screw around and go aftermarket. I bought a GM control arm. Thankfully the truck rides like new after all 4 struts/shocks, sway bar links in front, new front control arm and new left rear control arm that was rotted out (thanks MA for the awesome road salt).
As an automotive machinist (retired) I prefer the universal torque spec of "Tighten untill the fastener breaks, then back of 1\2 turn" this works with every size fastener and never fails. The fasteners will break everyt ime at one point or another so it is perfect.
Seriously a great channel Mr Finger. but I need another fiero fix soon
Ol' Reliable:
45 foot-pounds
Yeah... just went through this on my 08 GMC sierra. Replace the inner one as well. Its rather floppy. My truck has 230K on it. I rebuilt the whole front end and it rides nice! My stuff wasn't even crusty as we are in TX. I had the inner and outer tie road and the inner tie rod tool sitting next to me. I struggled with the same getting the outer one off for about 10 minutes until I busted out the angle grinder and minute later it was off. The inner came out harder with a good map gas heating and big adjustable wrench (its a 40mm span). Then I used the tool to torque it. I had the second side done in like 20 minutes! I didn't both trying to get the end off. I just hit that with the grinder and the inner came off way easier than the other side.
that style of sway bar endlinks are notorious for clunking when they get old. my trailblazer had the same issues
Good vid, though I would not recommend using Ultra Power tie rod ends unless you don't mind doing it again in a year or two.
Thanks for the video. I drive a CTS with the exact problems except both Tie rods are torn.
I just changed pass t rod as well…kinda of a beeotch…eventually got it loose. Ty. Btw there are cut outs of where the jack points are.
Great job
I also got a clunking in my e39 and after changing the sway bar links also disappeared... 20€ the front couple. I think is very common in heavy cars.
By the way, being manual if you turn the boost up, that can be a very bad ass car.
Going to be doing this to my ats to hopefully fix its clunking soon!
Is that a plastic sway bar link?
Why?
Cause... General Motors.
GM spent all their money on those brakes...
The gm cars in the UK have plastic ones
But they lasted for some time
Someone said cost, but actually they're lighter. Some increase in ride quality and decrease in noise and vibrations :)
Have you tried PB Blaster? I like to use WD-40 for cleaning and PB Blaster for breaking lubricant.
the torque speck on my moms equinox is 145 ft lbs, so says the tire shop. i was like what?? seems crazy tight to me. you can hardly get the lug nuts off by hand. i would have wire brushed the threads on the steering rack before the anti seize. i always use molybdenum grease as anti seize. i got the idea from a guy who works on motorcycles. he said he coats every fastener on it. it's very thick, not easily washed away, high pressure and high temperature tolerant and best of all cheap. :D
I have this exact car, color and all.. and I think I'm having this, or a similar issue. Vibrations in the steering wheel at speed and it can be felt in the seat as well. I was thinking wheel bearing but now I think it's more than that
I got new swaybar links for my car too. I have not dared to changed them yet. Im really scared for that operation :) having clonkings myself. Also my car is very unstable on the road. Kind of walking by it self over the road. Har to drive straight. Really annoying. Springs, shocks and lower control arms are allready replaced.
Huh, I've never heard reliable and Cadillac in the same sentence in a long time.
I replaced the tie rod ends on my 2013 Crosstrek recently, and getting them off required a torch for me as well. the neverending scourge of road salt. :|
Nice timing
Just came across you’re video currently dealing with a clunky noise on both sides of my front end on this exact same car was the clunking noise only on uneven roads or bumps or was it happening on smooth roads aswell
Got a video of a clunking noise to compare to my clunking noise in my 14 ats4 2.0t?
If you buy factory replacements for the sway bars, do they just snap on to the lower mount? That way you only have to remove the top nut.
"yeah, looks like the sway bar end links need to be replaced"
*stabs with a screwdriver*
"oh and this tie rod boot is torn so that will need replacing, you'll need a wheel alignment after that too"
What’s with the giant chunk of sidewall that’s missing on the front right tire??
Shops don't care about wheel nuts. If ever i've had a car go into the shop for new tyre (I do that all myself now however), I always break out the breaker bar after getting home, in order that I can actually get the damn things off in the future if I have a flat on the side of the road..
One of the best ways to check for suspension clunks is to get 2 helpers to rock the car side to side by pushing on the roof.
what do you do for a living to afford all the cars and turbos
Good video
Gotta get to those bad tie rods early before they break. Don't ask me how I know. frown emoji.
Did you need new pants?
@@jayyoung5627 I was surprisingly calm. Luckily I was also driving really slow at the time. Lol
@@StevenBuchanan I saw a guy's upper control arm let go while he was doing 60... not good
I have a 15 years old GM (European equivalent of Malibu Maxx - the Opel Signum) and I live in a snow-in-winter country, yet my suspension does not show so much rust we've seen here. Was this ATS customized for Florida by not having any rust protection underneath?
Eastern US and Canada use a TON of road salt, all winter, non stop, even with no ice and snow. They keep spreading it
Heck yeah
Actually the problem is not about being plastic, is about the contact between the plastic and steel. It should come with more parts as is with the wipers. It uses the same idea but with a rubber end instead of plastic.
Whats the wheel nut size i cant get mins out
Sway bar links can wear prematurely if the sway bar is seized in the mounting bushings.
Referring to the sway bar links, who would've guessed china parts would actually work as an improvement for once
I fux with all kinda' "Ultra-Power" branded parts. I believe a lot of them are actually just repackaged name brand parts that get returned etc.
@@revolutionday1 you do W H A T with those parts? xd
@@nickaa827 I'm just talkin' about BALL joints, baby.... ;-)
Unfortunately you'll be replacing those end links within a years time. Always use ACdelco or better. Always use the best parts for a Caddy.
Wow,60 bucks in parts saved 300+ from the auto shop.
I'm a RockAuto addict. My refrigerator, toolbox etc. are absolutely covered in the lil' magnets they send you with each order.
@@revolutionday1 the one thing that i hate about rockauto is the shipping cost. theres have been many things that the part was like $25 less on rockauto than amazon but shipping was over $50 vs free. When i replaced the swaybar endlinks, inner/outer tie rods, track bar it wouldve been over $100 more on rockauto due to the shipping.
@@Bingo1Dog Well, that'd be when you buy locally.
Had to replace those same parts on my 2014 Jeep
I knew as soon as it started making noise exactly what it was.
What part of maryland are you from?
i have a 13 ats manual I had to replace all the control arms after hitting a gigantic pothole ( it was dark didn't see it in time) long story short cost me 3500 bucks because they don't sell just the bushings
was surprised to see plastic replacement links for 2007 opel astra. the old ones were made of steel and were later used to temporarily weld one thing to another. i love those old links so much now... :)
P.S. oh man... those clean suspension parts on the used daily cars... are the roads over there get washed with soap every day?
Plastic sway bar link? Geesh. GM what were you thinking?
Why don't they build it from paper
Spit & chickenwire.....
That gash on the passenger tire might be a clue as to the torn boot. Plastic sway bar links..... 😆.
I'm sure it had nothing to do with asian guy and his..........."drifting".
Planned obsolescence on the links by suing plastic. thanks GM
Funny enough I just fixed a suspension clunk on my wife's jeep liberty. It too was the sway bar end links
this is why i did the sway bar delete on my truck XD
I can see it now we will all be driving Lego cars in the future with the way steel is being substituted for hard plastics nowadays.
Those rusty struts would concern me
Bro no lie i live in CT and I bought my car from an old couple who lived by shore and my 20 year old camry doesn't even have that much rust on the original shocks
"Rust Struts" is my stripper name when I'm dancing down at the Fudge Palace.
I have a vw golf i got new sway bar links my old ones were plastic i could literally bend a little bit with my hand so imagine under 2000lbs
2000lbs?
Btw the ford escape has this problem at a few 150k miles
Lol I’m more interested in the 280z if that is what i see 🙈
I remember Scotty saying that cars like this had plastic parts all over them but I didn't think it would be for parts like that
So, has this thing been parked in a swamp or was rust protection not one of GM's priorities?
salted roads are hell on cars.
East coast cars.
I would have thought that the Datsun was a more reliable car. I think that I saw video of the guys who worked on it. What does he not trust their automotive skills?
if there is a clunk in the suspension 9 out of 10 times its the sway bar link. Plastic ones have existed for along time
....or a control arm bushing etc.
I never would have guessed that they used plastic sway bar end links. I'm a gm guy, but that's pretty dumb. "Let's save 3 cents per vehicle."
A hundred bucks for a wheel alignment? They're half that price here in Australia and still overpriced!
That boot looks like it got caught on a box cutter. A cut like that doesn’t just happen with normal operation
Shop probably did it.
That boot damage looks
...a lil garbage.
... suspect.
...like the inspection shop tore it to get the job replacing it.
using- sorry for the typo
I'm starting to get this symptom in my 05 grand am
Gotta' be the least of your worries with that POS.
Plastic. What were they thinking?
@@zacharyball8009 There's no other reasonable explanation. I thought maybe that the plastic was expected to have a desirable amount of flex to it, but it's just too stupid to make the ends of the piece out of plastic too. Has to be planned obsolescence.
First view first like...Cool. Thanks guys.
Every time someone comments how they're "fUrSt!" on a video like this, in my head I imagine them looking exactly like Chip F00se.
A lotta' unkind adjectives are coming into my mind about how you didn't do the tie rod ends on BOTH sides of the car..........especially if you're going to spring for the cost of a professional alignment after doing this job.
Tie rod wasn't worn out; it had boot damage.
"oopsie a curb" maybe?
They make sockets for outer tie rod removal. Damn rust. Alot easier to unthread with impact gun.
You should use at least a 3lb hammer when trying to remove tie rod ends... not a ball peen.
I would have pickle-forked these pieces of shit, as the boot was already fucked. I'm wondering what exactly he thought the other side (he seemingly didn't do) was made of, that the one he had to replace wasn't....
GM's cars are better than ford's cars
Cadillac.... reliable.... LOL
No clue why i watched this video i know how to do this and i cant afford a cadi
I would have opted for a non made in China end link, steel or not.
Yeah, Moog parts.
Made to fail.
Seriously, a steel ball in a plastic socket. GM quality for you.
....then they'll use some jackass term like "self-lubricating!" *facepalm*
I thought I’d seen every crappy GM cost cutting measure, but this was a new one.
Wtf 100 ft/lb on alloy wheels? Here we use 100nm on alloy and 120nm on steelies.
Yes. Depending on the size of the lugs, GM cars either torque to 110 or 100 ft-lbs on alloy or steel wheels.
@@thomasmiddlebrooke1012 seems like too much
@@alexstromberg7696 Wait until you find out that most GM pickup trucks and larger SUVs are 140 ft-lbs (~190 nm)
@@alexstromberg7696 You're crazy, dude.
@@Tmaxx101399 I can understand SUVs and trucks. But this was a normal sedan
Oh god! Mevotech is garbage!!!! Absolutely garbage.
I installed control arms with those blue boots(mevotech) and the boots fell apart! Installed poly boots and no issues
Must have been something you did. One of the absolute best companies out there. Just did their suspension webinar a couple of days ago....
@@revolutionday1 OE is the best company for balljoints as well as aftermarket ac delco and moog.
It wasn’t something i did, they tore. I replaced them with poly boots, on the mevotech control arms. We’ll see if they last a year or two. (The control arms and balljoints, the new boots will last forever)
Do you know why OE is so expensive? Because it lasts 18 years on average, not 2
They are far from the best companies...their control arms and balljoints are rebranded crap sourced from china. Thx for playing
Uh oh! We'll have to keep an eye on that. From the brief research I did it sounded like that was the best brand out of the options available. Poly boots are a good go-to and I have started switching to them when possible
@@FuzzyDiceProjects I hope mine (and yours) last... not impressed with initial impressions. I returned the mevotech control arms for my bmw and went with Moog metal bushing balljoint control arms instead (like oe m3 arms which are insanely expensive. The mevotechs had nylon bushing balljoints...that wasn’t gonna cut it) My dodge got the mevotechs which proceeded to grenade the boots. From what I read, others who used mevotech control arms said they don’t last more than a couple of years. We’ll see i guess, watching mine like a hawk.
Lessons learned, especially after having to drop the cradle brace on the dodge to change the control arms out. Don’t want to be doing that again anytime soon
Also, one of the control arms for the dodge came with a fractured casting out of the box, and i had to exchange and ship back the arm at my expense (thx rockauto...🤦🏻♂️)
Oh!!! Forgot to mention... the machining on the mevotechs for my m3 was WRONG. They didn’t machine off enough metal in the rear “spindles” that are supposed to slip into the rear lower control arm bushings.
Result: i couldn’t bolt them up. I measured the OE arms and sure enough 1/4” machining error in the mevotechs.
That’s when I decided to do some research and went with 95 style moog control arms with a oversized metal bush outer balljoint, a standard metal bush inner and offset bushings for castor vs 96+ OE style control arms with castor built in and centered bushings.
Put the OE control arms in a box and I’ll rebuild them with new OE balljoints and a lick of paint in the future.
Can’t make this stuff up. After all that, this is why I do not trust mevotech.
not talking shit but buy some better quality parts lol