2000 Monty, new snow tires today, bad bump steer! Why?

[84FLH]

2000 Mountaineer. 4.0 SOHC. Stock.

Put on 4 Goodyear Ultra Grip Winter, 235/75R/15, today. Alignment also. Picked it up after work. On way home this happened:

1) Hit a bump while in a curve doing about 25-30. Steering wheel shook violently and front wheels wobbled. Felt like right front wheel.* My heart stopped. Had to almost stop before steering wheel/front wheels stopped wobbling.

2) Went over railroad tracks (very smooth pavement) about 20-25 mph. Steering wheel/front tires shook again. Not as bad as when I was in the curve. Another scare.

3) When making slow turns in parking lot, steering wheel shimmies and engine revs slow to almost stalling.


*When I got home I noticed inside of front passenger side tire had three big wheel weights right next to each other! Two of them about 3" long. Third about 2" long. Not sure of weights but from what little I know, if you need that many weights the rim's no good or you don't know how to balance tires. The rim was good when I brought the vehicle to them and there's no reason it should be bad now.


Jam nuts on tie rod ends looked snug enough, but it was dark and cold out (New England) and I have no garage. No bulges on sidewalls inside or out.


My old tires were worn out Firestone Destination LE2. Had 55,000 miles and were near/at life end. Never had any of the 3 problems listed above, ever, with the Firestone's, Michelin's, or any other tire I've had in 343,929 miles. I had the Firestone's tossed today. Figured I'd buy summer/all season tires when this New England winter is over.


upper/lower ball joints, front wheel bearings, outer tie rod ends all good. One inner tie rod has some play. Sway bar end links fair, should be replaced as matter of course. Other sway bar bushings good. Again, never had any problems with any tires before today.


Looking forward to input. The knowledge base on this forum is unmatched. Always get good insight and answers here.


Here's the only thing wrong I know of. I had the work done at Town Fair Tire! A guy at work has gotten low prices there for other guys at work. My first thought was "no way, not Town Fair Tire!" But the other guys at work had good luck. Finally, the the cheap price sucked me in. Everything for $390.35 out the door.


When I picked it up the troubles started. Every single lug nut needed tightening, some almost a full quarter turn. My steering wheel was filthy. And the steering wheel's slightly turned left, not straight. I tightened the nuts myself, cleaned the steering wheel filth, and headed home, 25 miles away.


I'll be going back tomorrow to get this mess straightened out.


Looking forward to hearing from the guys here.


THANK YOU ALL!

 

[FijiBill]

Air in power steering lines.

Go to a big parking lot and do 10 or so figure eights, lock to lock. That should purge the air out and no more shakes. Really easy to get air in there if you move the wheels at all with the engine off.

 

[84FLH]

Air in power steering lines.

Go to a big parking lot and do 10 or so figure eights, lock to lock. That should purge the air out and no more shakes. Really easy to get air in there if you move the wheels at all with the engine off.

Hey Bill;

Thanks for answering. Air in p/s may explain why the steering wheel trembles when turning in supermart parking lot tonight. But how or why would the tire shop turn my steering wheel with motor off? Doesn't make sense. If air in p/s is causing my trouble then it's not too, too bad.

The crooked steering wheel after alignment, and the filth on my steering wheel (mechanic must've had really grimy hands), and the 3 huge wheel weights are bad.

Will post resolution when/if I get one.

Thanks again.

 

[CDW6212R]

The worn inner TRE bothers me, a shop should not do an alignment if they find any play in anything. I'd want the TRE replaced and a good alignment after but you may decide to change it and set the toe yourself, which is possible.

The wobbling could be from air in the PS, but it would go away with plenty of lock to lock movement. Any wobbling then suggests looseness in the steering parts, a death wobble which is common in Wranglers.

That severe wobbling can ruin TRE's immediately, I had to replace all four in my sister's Jeep a month after I did them before. Hers was the track bar worn, also the first part she had changed at a Firestone place.

The heavy wheel weights point to either a bad wheel, or a very bad tire. I'd want it re-balanced, taken loose of the wheel and moved to another position, then re-balanced.

So you may have a couple of things wrong there. The steering wheel being off is a fine reason to go back, the rest they should look into and inspect more carefully. Good luck,

 

[84FLH]

The worn inner TRE bothers me, a shop should not do an alignment if they find any play in anything. I'd want the TRE replaced and a good alignment after but you may decide to change it and set the toe yourself, which is possible.

The wobbling could be from air in the PS, but it would go away with plenty of lock to lock movement. Any wobbling then suggests looseness in the steering parts, a death wobble which is common in Wranglers.

That sever wobbling can ruin TRE's immediately, I had to replace all four in my sister's Jeep a month after I did them before. Hers was the track bar worn, also the first part she had changed at a Firestone place.

The heavy wheel weights point to either a bad wheel, or a very bad tire. I'd want it re-balanced, taken loose of the wheel and moved to another position, then re-balanced.

So you may have a couple of things wrong there. The steering wheel being off is a fine reason to go back, the rest they should look into and inspect more carefully. Good luck,

Thanks CDW;

I had alignment done knowing slight inner tie rod wear. So it was my call. Will replace ITR when I can find time.

When you said, "taken loose of the wheel and moved to anothe rposition, then rebalanced", do you mean remove/replace tire on the wheel, but rotating tire 180 degrees or so, before remounting on the wheel?

 

[CDW6212R]

Yes, some better shops will do that if the wheel weight required is high. The larger weights often have some imbalance felt at certain speeds.

BTW, a Road Force balancer does a better job of tire balancing, and part of it is that the machine identifies the best orientation of the tires. The machine will display where each tire should be on that rim, so the operator can mark the tire and wheel as the machine points to them, take the tire off and move the tire so the marks line up. That reduces the amount of wheel weights needed. I've only had two sets of tires done that way, and only two tires of one set needed moved a little. Those were $175+ tires, which are usually very well made.

Also, if you own a very large pair of Channel Locks, you can check your outer TRE's by squeezing them gently. If they compress at all, they are bad. The joints should not move at all if they are good.

 

[Gary Crist]

I had a customer come in with the same symptoms.
Tires had been balanced every way possible.
One tire had a big slug of water in it!

When you hit a bump a dam is created and the water stops
tire is out of balance...

 

[blakshukvw]

A tire with that much wheel weight indicates to me that you need to take your vehicle somewhere else to get the tires road forced balanced.
Otherwise Fijbill is right n with air n them power steering.

 

[boominXplorer]

Air in power steering, tech turned it while engine wasn't running. Top off power steering and do figure 8's at idle engine speed.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Agree it’s most likely air. Had this in the Mounty and it was VIOLENT. I didn’t drive mine, but just turned the wheel lock to lock after warmed up and the idle dropped to low.