Well I went to do my Emissions yesterday, swapped my catted stock downpipe back and when he put it on the dyno he said he couldn't do the test cause the car moved around too much on the dyno. He said the alignment might cause issues, however I just had the car aligned about 3 weeks ago. It pisses me off cause it wasn't moving that much around from what I can tell....

Anyway, anyone here passed emission with their car lowered? Lately its been wandering on the highway and its been hard to keep the car from jerking back and forth at highway speeds. I got under the car on Sunday when I did my oil change and I didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary.

Any insight?

 

The only thing that I've had this cause wandering on the freeway is really shitty tires

 

I have Nitto Motivo all seasons with great tread left.

 

Lowering your car will throw off your alignment and cause it to become a little unstable at highway speeds (this is fixable - get an alignment done if you haven't already or you will eat your tires up in a hurry), but not to the extent you're describing. You might also have worn bushings depending on your mileage and how long you've been lowered.

Question is, does your emissions not just read through the OBD port? I know all places differ, but I thought most were just doing computer scans and using sniffers and such as a back up.

 

no they put it on a dyno and put a sniffer in the tailpipe and drive it at certain RPM. He said it was too unstable on the dyno.

Been lowered about 30k+ miles. I put Moog Endlinks on about 2 years ago, right after I lowered and I also got Powell CABs

 

Curious - did the car start bucking a lot once you started rolling or only wobbly once it was going at speed?

 

They dont let me drive it on the dyno.

It doesn't buck. it just wanders hard. I thought maybe lower ball joints but it all checks out

 

Interesting. Worn struts, end links, sway bar bushings, etc can all contribute to instability at speed. Some more than others. How many miles do you have on the car, and of those how many with springs? As a comparison, I lowered my car with the same springs at 40k, and at 80k I basically replaced the whole suspension. Struts, shocks, all bushings, end links. It made a world of difference.

 

85k miles. I've owned it since 53k. I assume its all factory suspension. I planned on replacing shocks/struts at 100k.

Dealership just called. they said my alignment is way off and that my endlinks are shot. ugh

 

The CM springs drop it pretty good, so your suspension is probably pretty worn out as well. Let us know how it goes after they fix the issues.

 

If you're remotely handy with a wrench just buy Moog endlinks off Rockauto.com (or anywhere you can get them) and swap them out yourself. The Moogs are better than stock and much likely cheaper than the dealer's price as well. It shouldn't take more than 30 minutes or so do to them. You pull the wheel, and it's just two simple bolts. Save some $$$.

 

He said he already has Moogs.

 

but the dealer said they are bad.

 

Update

So im pissed. I took it to the Chevy dealer and they told me the alignment was off and the camber was off. They needed to grind down the strut to even it out. I told them that's fine since they can't dyno it anyway. I ordered new Moog end links from O'reiley's and was going to pick them up after work.

My oil filter cap has been leaking and its only 15 bucks from them, so i Told them to just change the oil filter cap. she said ok.

I get there. they did an oil change, I had JUST done an oil change on Sunday so that was a waste of 30 bucks. got a new oil filter cap.

225 bucks for oil change, alignment and grinding down my strut for camber. Positive is the car actually feels great. I declined their replacement of end links for 300 bucks. I've done it before.

Drive over to the Emissions place. Guy notices I have 40 size tires. Says they don't dyno 40 size tires because it can damage the rims. and they will have me pull off to the side and do the sniffer test. I passed it fine.

Spent 300 bucks for no ******* reason. Oh well, guess I can replace the endlinks now and the car doesn't pull anymore.

 

Yep, I missed that. I just saw him say they were bad, and I'm surprised a set of Moogs would ever go bad. I assume if they're greased properly they should last forever, give or take a day or two.

 

I agree. OP, how many miles are on your Moogs?

 

30 bucks for a fully synthetic oil change?

 

A 5 quart of synthetic of your choice is $25 at Wal Mart.

 

Yep, 5 quart Mobil 1 5w-30 High Mileage is 25.94 or something at walmart. Add a puralator oil filter for 4 bucks.

I have 85k miles on my car, about 30k miles on the Moogs. I never greased them, I tried but I dont think I bought the correct grease fitting. going to replace them this weekend and then make sure I grease them.

 

This is why. They need to be greased before you ever drive on them, and regularly thereafter (not super often, maybe every other oil change or whatever you feel comfortable with).

Also, they come with fittings but they are a bitch to get on. I think they might be self-tapping, and a small wrench definitely helps. I greased mine up with just a standard grease gun, no other parts were purchased (except the grease of course). Good luck

 

ah, which one did you buy? I bought one from amazon but it didn'tseem to fit correctly

 

I got the cheapest mini-grease gun I could find at Autozone. This is probably the closest match on Amazon -
To attach to the end of the fitting, push it on at a bit of an angle and it should kind of snap into place. It will still wiggle a bit once it's connected, but don't worry. Just push the grease through until it starts to bleed out the other side of the end link, then disconnect and wipe clean.

 

ok cool. I will test it on the new endlinks that I put on this weekend.

 

Right on, and I should clarify - not the other side of the actual end link but the other side of the rubber where it meets the central rod. So each end of each link will be greased separately, 4 in total.

 

Pull the grease fitting STRAIGHT off the zerk do not bend up or down I broke one right off