Bad Tie Rod End/Lower Ball Joint?

[heatsink]

My steering wheel got a very strange problem. It swings clockwise and counter clockwise even under very low car speed. Also, If I lift my hand and let the steering wheel run freely, it will turn 30 degree clockwise and my car will pull to the right.
I checked the tyres, tie rod ends and lower ball joints and found that all the boots of passenger side tie rob end and lower ball joint are broken.
Are the swing and alignment problems coming from the bad tie rod end/lower ball joint?
Thanks!

[therieldeal]

certainly could be the problem. if you jack the car up and wiggle the wheel around by hand, can you feel any slop?

[heatsink]

I will do a check again this weekend.

Can any other thing cause the swing problem?

[mannydingo]

I checked the tyres, tie rod ends and lower ball joints and found that all the boots of passenger side tie rob end and lower ball joint are broken.

Even if those weren't the problem, they would obviously cause other problems since the boots are broken and don't have the same lubrication anymore. Your best bet is to replace those with new ones and have an alignment done afterward. Don't have the car aligned at the same place and buy alignment with warranty. That way, if you have to replace yet another part, you can go back and get another alignment free. If this doesn't correct the steering problem, you move on to the next thing. Some things throw the alignment off when replaced. Oh, and you MUST do both sides even if the other side doesn't have them broken unless you know for a FACT they were replaced not too long ago. If steering problem remains after that, move on to the next possible culprit by coming back here to the forum. You wouldn't have wasted money on parts that needed replacing anyway. Just call every auto parts store and buy the cheapest new ones you can find.

[therieldeal]

if your ball joints or tie rod ends are worn from torn boots, theres no sense in replacing the other side if they are tight and the boots are intact. often the boot tearing is what leads to a premature failure.

-jon

[heatsink]

It was rainning hard last weekend.
Here is the update from yesterday. I checked tires again and found a bump on the driver side tire. I remembered that my passenger side tire was worn out last October like this. Therefore, I went to Walmart this morning and had the driver side tire changed. Now, all the symptom in my first post are gone.
Thank you for your suggestions.

One more question. I still want to change the tie rod end and lower ball joint. However, which parts do you recommend?
OEM parts or after market parts (from parts stores like autozone, napa?). The OEM parts are little bit expensive.