Steering Wheel Shimmy

[gavin]

So I think my steering gear is toast, but wanted to verify.

I went through this thread: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169840
a while back, the loose steering? thread. Already replaced the lower steering joint.

I recently got my 33's put back on, and no when driving down the road, not only does it consistently pull to the right (alignment has been checked numerous times, and is good). It did the same pull with the old tires. Not a tire pressure issue either.

Now, not only that, but I also have a "shimmy" in the steering wheel. It bounces around (as in, turns left and right).

Finally got off my lazy butt and jacked up 1 tire on my truck. I can turn the tires quite a bit by hand, with 1 in the air.

Only the driver's side in the air, and I can (fairly) easily turn it to the right. With only the passenger's side in the air, I can (fairly) easily rotate it either way.

Almost as if the gears are skipping.

But, how much play would be "normal"?

 

[gavin]

I'll add a couple thing to this...

not sure if it's getting worse or not, but at times after a slow turn and straightening the wheels, I get a "clunk" of sorts, somewhere from the front-end. I also feel this in the steering wheel.

At times, when coming to a stop, or accelerating from a stop, I get a similar "clunk" from the front end.

I have checked:
balljoints: uppers and lowers good.
sway bar end links: replaced last summer (I believe), still good.
bearing/hub assy's: rotate freely.
inner and outer tierods: good. Replaced last summer, and 1 outer tie-rod replaced earlier this summer due to a pin-hole in the boot.
control arm bushings: should be good; LCAs replaced last summer, UCAs not that old.
checked steering gear to frame bolts: tight as can be.
lower steering shaft: replaced last summer

anything left to check before I replace the steering gear? :scratch:

oh yeah, and the "shimmy" I feel, is "smooth" for lack of being able to think of a better word. As in, it's not shaking violently, it's a fluid left-to-right movement.

 

[Turdle]

go grab your inner cv on each side and see if there is any slop movement--checking the differential bearings-

 

[gavin]

go grab your inner cv on each side and see if there is any slop movement--checking the differential bearings-

didn't think of that for some reason... will check that this weekend.

 

[gavin]

so I've been completely unmotivated these last couple weekends to do anything.

will be checking for play in the cv's this weekend.

but what about the unusual movement in the steering wheel?
and it's not just the steering wheel, as I'm always having to fight the steering.

does it sound like a bad rack?

 

[gavin]

very very tiny amount of movement on the pass. side; but that could possibly be due to the intermediate shaft that goes from the diff to CV, no?
driver's side was tight.
The only real movement was a slight in/out, which isn't unusual.

decided to flush my power steering best I could... Was going to replace the rack, as I did purchase a remanu'ed unit. Got the flare-nut/crows-feet wrenches, but can't figure out how the eff to get the return line loose. The other one you could probably just remove from the cooler instead.
Good thing though, as my dad needs my help tomorrow. Maybe another weekend I'll try again...

removed return hose; no rubber plugs, but I had a bunch of those foam ear plugs that works great!

return hose in a coke bottle tied up, to catch old fluid.

filled up the reservoir, cranked the truck and let it run for just a second and shut it off. Re-filled reservoir, cranked the truck and let it run for just a second. Repeat as necessary.

old fluid, and no, it's not coke!:

Ran out of extra power steering fluid, so couldn't get it as clean as I wanted.
But the end result:

edit: oh yeah, and in hunting for what could be causing a clunk, I decided to push on the tires to find out if anything had some play in it. In doing this, I started hearing an odd clanking sound. It's definitely coming from the front end, but I cannot for the life of me figure out where. Unfortunately I don't have anybody to help me, and the noise is only there when the truck has a good shake going. I crawled underneath to listen at the front diffy, but I couldn't give enough umph on the tire.

 

[gavin]

may have found the source of the clunk... passenger's side upper shock mount was a bit loose; I was able to move the stud around a bit by hand. Did my best to tighten it, but couldn't get a wrench to fit, and I don't have any spanner wrenches.

haven't driven it since I did that... but I did swap the front and rear tires on the driver's side to see if that would change anything; not much, if any change.

next weekend I may go ahead and swap around the dri. side rear with the pass. side front.
still gotta get the one out of round tire replaced... dude I've been working with at the only shop that can do it, has never done one before, and I've currently been left high-and-dry. They sent the RGA paperwork in to Interco well over a month ago. Called 'em up week before last, they tell me that somebody from Interco was supposed to be getting in touch with me, but they will follow up :scratch:
still never heard anything; got in touch with Interco, to find out they're waiting on the shop to get the DOT numbers cut out of the sidewall; needless to say, I don't think they ordered me up new tires.

ugh.

 

[gavin]

ok.... so the pass. side upper shock mount was not the source of the clunk.

but... I found another possibility, which could have also caused the issues I was having with the steering wheel shimmy. It could also explain why the damn truck still pulls to the right, even though after the last alignment, everything was back in spec...

rotating my tires when I got home from work, decided to check for any play at the tires again. Upon placing a prybar underneath the pass. side front tire and pulling up, I heard the clunk!
nothing apparent stuck out as I repeated.

placed a finger on the UCA's rear mount, and guess what? There's the effin play.

The UCAs are not THAT old (3 years or so?), so I doubt the bushings are toast. Also since there is little to no play, other than what I found.
Tightened the nut down a bit, and no more clunk and no more movement.

but now that just means I need an alignment.... again
hopefully that's the source of my issues though!

 

[99SportX]

So this clunk was all because of a wimpy alignment tech? lol I better check my suspension out as well.

 

[gavin]

So this clunk was all because of a wimpy alignment tech? lol I better check my suspension out as well.

well, it's a very good possibility that was the source of the clunk. Not 100% positive yet though.

 

[gavin]

well I don't think that was it. But I should check the bolt again.
and the clunk seems to only happen when making right-hand turns.
gonna see if the clunk happens without the truck even moving this weekend.

 

[gavin]

ok, so the pass. side UCA was not the culprit.
and I've now determined it's suspension related, as on my way home from work yesterday, I hit a bump on the pass. side and heard the clunk.

wasn't it the early 2nd gens (95-97/98) that had torsion keys with the kevlar pad on the top of it? I'm thinking that's the culprit of the noise.

And the steering wheel shimmy I had, appears to have gone away.

I also finally FINALLY got my 2 out of round tires replaced, so I'm now running on 4 good tires.

still have that horrible pull to the right; gonna have to go get an alignment done again, since that damn UCA bolt was loose.