G1 suspension and steering: the largest area

Incorrect: 14 is the year code, not the age in years.

Correct: 4214 means week 42 of 2014; in November 2024 the tire is 10 years old, the age at which many tire and vehicle makers call for replacement regardless of tread.

Incorrect: 2 years misreads the code; the first two digits are the week, not the year.

Incorrect: 8 years is a miscount; 2014 to 2024 is 10 years.

Incorrect: 4 years would mean a 2020 tire; the last two digits, 14, are the year.

Incorrect: The inflation pressure is correct, and low pressure wears both shoulders evenly rather than in cups.

Incorrect: Incorrect camber wears one shoulder smoothly, not in scallops.

Correct: Worn shock absorbers let the tire bounce on the road, wearing scalloped cups around the tread.

Incorrect: Caster affects steering return and stability and has little effect on tread wear.

Incorrect: Excessive toe wears a feathered edge across the tread, not cups.

Incorrect: Balancing corrects weight distribution, not a wobbling wheel.

Incorrect: Machining a rim flange is not a recognized repair and weakens the wheel.

Incorrect: A wheel shim is not a fix for a bent wheel and can upset lug clamping.

Correct: At 0.090 in., the lateral runout is twice the 0.045 in. maximum, and a bent steel wheel rim is replaced.

Incorrect: Re-seating the bead fixes runout from a poorly seated tire; this measurement is of the wheel itself.

Incorrect: An external string plug alone is not an approved permanent repair anywhere on the tire.

Incorrect: An inner tube in a tubeless passenger tire is not an approved fix for a shoulder puncture.

Correct: Tire industry repair standards limit repairs to the tread area; a puncture in the shoulder cannot be repaired, so the tire must be scrapped.

Incorrect: A patch and plug is the correct repair inside the tread area, not in the shoulder.

Incorrect: A hot vulcanizing patch does not make a shoulder puncture repairable; the location rules out any repair.

Incorrect: Technician A is wrong: wheel studs are installed clean and dry unless the manufacturer specifies otherwise.

Correct: Technician B is right: oil on the threads lowers friction, so the specified torque stretches the stud further and changes the clamping force.

Incorrect: Oiling studs is not an accepted practice, so both cannot be correct.

Incorrect: Technician B's point about torque and clamping force is correct, so rejecting both is wrong.

Incorrect: Replacing a tie rod end is a repair, not a first check, and nothing shows it is loose.

Incorrect: Low power steering fluid causes noise or heavy steering, not a steady pull.

Correct: Low pressure or a tire with an internal defect (radial pull) is the most common, cheapest cause of a pull and is checked before any alignment.

Incorrect: Alignment angles are measured after the tires are confirmed good, since a bad tire pulls even on a correct alignment.

Incorrect: Steering gear adjustment affects play and centering and comes later than a tire check.

Correct: 0.09 mm is about 0.0035 in., inside the 0.001–0.005 in. range, so the end play is within spec.

Incorrect: 0.09 mm converts to about 0.0035 in., below the 0.005 in. maximum, so the end play is not excessive.

Incorrect: The reading is in spec, so there is no reason to replace the hub assembly.

Incorrect: Resurfacing the wheel hub has nothing to do with bearing end play.

Incorrect: A bearing with measurable end play has no preload, so the preload cannot be too high.

Incorrect: Cupped tread wear comes from worn shocks or imbalance, not from toe settings.

Incorrect: Brake pedal pulsation comes from the rotors, not from toe.

Incorrect: Steering alignment has no effect on transmission shifting.

Incorrect: Toe error causes tire wear and possibly an off-center wheel, not a steering wheel vibration.

Correct: New tie rod ends change toe unless it is reset to spec, and incorrect toe scrubs the tread sideways into a feathered pattern quickly.

Incorrect: Rotating the boot moves the tear; it does not seal it.

Incorrect: Silicone does not hold on a flexing boot and does not remove dirt already inside.

Incorrect: Waiting for looseness lets a contaminated joint wear out; the torn boot is the reason to act now.

Correct: Once the dust boot is torn, water and grit get into the joint and wear it quickly, so the tie-rod end is replaced even before play appears.

Incorrect: Fresh chassis grease washes out through the tear and carries dirt in.

Correct: Technician A is right: bent suspension arms are replaced, because heating and straightening weaken the steel.

Incorrect: Technician B is wrong: heat changes the steel's temper, and a straightened arm can crack or bend again.

Incorrect: Heating and straightening is not an accepted repair, so both cannot be correct.

Incorrect: Technician A's replacement is the correct repair, so rejecting both is wrong.

Incorrect: On a serviceable bearing, end play is adjusted; the hub assembly does not need replacing.

Incorrect: Machining the brake rotor has nothing to do with bearing end play.

Incorrect: Brake fluid service does not affect wheel bearing adjustment.

Correct: A serviceable tapered bearing with clean grease and no damage is readjusted; 0.010 in. of end play is twice the 0.005 in. maximum in the specification.

Incorrect: The bearings show no damage and the grease is clean, so the bearings do not need replacing.

Incorrect: Thread locking fluid is not used on a cotter-pinned adjusting nut; the pin locks it.

Correct: After seating, the nut is backed off and the cotter pin slot is lined up by backing off, never by tightening, to set the final end play.

Incorrect: Seating torque is applied earlier to seat the bearings; it is not the last step before the cotter pin.

Incorrect: Running the nut with an impact wrench would crush the bearing and destroy the adjustment.

Incorrect: A lock washer does not replace the cotter pin, and the nut still has to be set.

Incorrect: Technician A is right about cause and correction, but Technician B's verification step belongs in the record too.

Incorrect: Technician B is right that verification is recorded, but Technician A's cause and correction are also required.

Correct: Both are right: a complete entry records the concern's cause, the correction and how the repair was verified, so the next technician knows what was done.

Incorrect: Each technician names a required part of a repair record, so rejecting both is wrong.

Incorrect: Stop-leak additive can swell seals and is not a repair for a hose crimp.

Incorrect: The threaded connection is dry, so tightening the hose fittings cannot affect seepage at the factory crimp.

Correct: A damp, dark film on the crimp band with no droplets and a full reservoir is seepage, not an active leak, so the condition is noted and monitored at each service.

Incorrect: The residue is at the hose crimp, not the steering gear; nothing points to the gear.

Incorrect: A flush of the power steering system replaces fluid but does nothing about a seeping crimp.

Correct: Worn bushings let alignment angles shift while driving, so the pre-alignment inspection stops the job until the bushings are repaired.

Incorrect: A thrust angle alignment still depends on solid bushings; worn ones make it meaningless.

Incorrect: Proceeding with the alignment over worn bushings gives settings that change as soon as the vehicle moves.

Incorrect: Toe cannot make up for play; the angles still shift with the worn bushings.

Incorrect: Tightening the control arm bolts does not remove play inside a worn bushing.

Correct: A coil spring that has lost tension lets that corner sit low with equal tires and pressures.

Incorrect: A seized brake caliper piston causes drag; it does not change ride height.

Incorrect: A sway bar link only connects the bar to the suspension; the spring holds the corner up.

Incorrect: A worn control arm bushing causes clunks and alignment shifts, not a lower corner.

Incorrect: A leaking strut cartridge loses damping but does not carry the vehicle's weight, so ride height stays.

Incorrect: Differential carrier bearing noise changes with acceleration and coast, not with turning direction.

Correct: Turning left shifts weight onto the right-side bearings, so a growl that grows in left turns and fades in right turns points to the right front wheel bearing.

Incorrect: Tire tread noise changes with road surface, and here it does not.

Incorrect: A warped brake rotor pulses during braking, not while turning.

Incorrect: A worn outer CV joint clicks in tight turns; it does not growl.

Incorrect: Adjusting the steering gear without a finding can make steering bind and does not follow a diagnosis.

Incorrect: Replacing the other tie rod end repeats a repair that has already failed to change the symptom.

Correct: The repair did not change the symptom, so the original diagnosis was wrong; the technician restarts the diagnostic process and verifies the concern instead of replacing more parts.

Incorrect: A steering damper masks wander instead of finding its cause.

Incorrect: Replacing the rack and pinion is guessing on a large scale without new test results.

Correct: Bushings tightened with the suspension hanging are twisted when the vehicle settles to ride height, and that constant preload tears them early; final torque is done at ride height.

Incorrect: Bushing torque does not affect the brakes, so there is no brake pedal pulsation from this mistake.

Incorrect: Tire wear follows alignment angles, which bushing preload changes very little.

Incorrect: Ball joints are not clamped by the bushing bolts, so torquing at droop does not wear them early.

Incorrect: Bushing preload does not move the steering linkage, so the steering wheel does not go off-center.

Incorrect: Aligning the front wheels over a worn tie rod end gives settings that will not hold; the joint is replaced first.

Incorrect: The play is in the tie rod end socket, not in the steering box.

Incorrect: Lubricating a worn joint does not remove its play.

Incorrect: Tire balance affects vibration, not linkage play or wander.

Correct: Vertical movement in the socket under dry-park load is wear in the tie rod end, which causes wander and is fixed by replacement (followed by a toe check).