need help, almost wrecked it.

[blazin8556]

last night while leaving the store i was pulling out of the parking lot, during the right hand turn out i accelerated as normal. but upon straighting the steering wheel it wouldn't move. i had to put alot of force to the steering wheel. i almost hit a pole. i got it straightened out and eased back to the house for fear of it doing it again and hitting someone.the next turn was a left into my apartment complex. while turning it felt as if i was tightening a rubber band and it returned to center with some effort.slow rolling in the parking lot i run the steering wheel from one way to the other. same thing the whole time. had a popping sound from under the truck once or twice while doing this. not like a cv but like a bumping sound. it may have come through the column as well. could be a transfer. not sure. backed into the parking spot like i normally would and there was no binding. pulled back out and did a figure 8 and the binding remained. i backed back into the same spot. no binding while backing. put the truck back into drive and held the brake. and gave some gas to apply pressure to the driveline and suspension. binding while turning. havn't looked at it good cause it was dark. gonna look at it all today when the sun comes up.

truck is a 1997 Explorer XLT 5.0 AWD. front drive shaft was removed by previous owner.

anyone else had a similar problem. what was the fix(s).

any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

if there is already a post about this i am sorry as my searches didn't reveal any results. and can someone point me in the right direction. thanks .

 

[96eb96]

did you lose power steering because of a bad pulley? Check your serp belt. I had something similar happen.

 

[blazin8556]

its fixed now. now that its daylight and i can see what is going on. it was the stupidest thing wrong with it that i ever saw.

the truck has a trailer brake controller and a beefed up rear suspension to accommodate a camper trailer that the previous owner had. all the wireing is run throught the steering boot in the fire wall. when i was turning the wires were getting caught in the steering shaft bolt under the brake master cylender causing the rubber band feel and the poping noise. it was breaking and broke some while i was backing up allowing it steer normally. it was enough to throw me off and almost wreck. needless to say all that stuff has been completely removed. thank god it wasn't suspension or driveline problems.

thank you for the power steering suggestion. thats the first thing i thought of but there was no voltage drop on the dash with headlights radio turn signals and brake applied all at one time.

something as small as the wires for an accessory. jeez.

 

[shadowless127]

its fixed now. now that its daylight and i can see what is going on. it was the stupidest thing wrong with it that i ever saw.

the truck has a trailer brake controller and a beefed up rear suspension to accommodate a camper trailer that the previous owner had. all the wireing is run throught the steering boot in the fire wall. when i was turning the wires were getting caught in the steering shaft bolt under the brake master cylender causing the rubber band feel and the poping noise. it was breaking and broke some while i was backing up allowing it steer normally. it was enough to throw me off and almost wreck. needless to say all that stuff has been completely removed. thank god it wasn't suspension or driveline problems.

thank you for the power steering suggestion. thats the first thing i thought of but there was no voltage drop on the dash with headlights radio turn signals and brake applied all at one time.

something as small as the wires for an accessory. jeez.

This is why I am not a huge fan of buying used vehicles with aftermarket accessories; you just never know how it was done, and how STUPIDLY it was done.

I was quite upset that my EB had an Aftermarket radio, and I just found a random switch on teh side of the center console today... Boo!! lol

Glad you got it sorted out, and glad it was an easy/cheap fix.

 

[blazin8556]

i only paid $500 for it. it was not intended to be my everyday driver when i got it. had to do a head gasket job. and almost all new brake system. when i got it i was excited about the stock 6 disc changer. 5.0 with GT40 heads AWD, 31" tires air shocks and over load springs, hidden hitch and didn't mind the brake controller till today.

 

[96eb96]

Glad you solved it. Redneck aftermarket installs suck.

trust me..the pulleys do fail though..many threads on that. Anyone reading this should replace your idler and tensioner pulleys if they are stock. Feels like you described, very hard to turn the wheel, intermittently in the beginning. You don't always see lights. It could happen anytime, on some snowy remote road at 3am without warning.

 

[mr_valingo]

At least they beefed it up. The previous owner of my x thought it was a good idea to cut out the extra leafs to add more flex