Civic EG

on my beater, if I grab the front wheel when when the car is up like this:



I can feel a slight play from side to side.

but if I grab top and bottom and wiggle like this:



there is no play.

Is this due to a worn tie rod end?

yes. Inner tie rod. Mine does that too....

mine too

Greasedmonkey wrote:yes. Inner tie rod. Mine does that too....

x2. I have the same issue, but I'm going to wait to part with some cash to install a DC2 rack

That's how I do my safety inspections every day. Make sure you're just jerking it back and forth and not doing sustained pulls which are just going to move your steering wheel. Watch the opposite side as you shake it. If it moves the same, then don't worry about it. If just one wheel moves independently, have someone shake it while you poke around with a flashlight and find what's moving. Like someone said it's most likely your tie rod. But wheel bearing failure is pretty common too. BTW if there's more than 1/8 inch of play I fail your car, although that's just a general rule and I don't know what Honda's spec is.

If you're going to replace the inners and you have a manual rack, replace the rack-end bushing. Did that on mine and haven't looked back.

A better way to test your balljoints and bushings is to put the jack on the lower control arm, jack the wheel up just a couple inches. Then use a pry bar against the ground and try to move the wheel up and down. If it moves w/out compressing the spring then look for where it's loose.

its the inner tie rod end,mine is bad on the right side.