2016 Sport Steering Issues | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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2016 Sport Steering Issues

Fentress24

Well-Known Member
Joined
December 18, 2015
Messages
206
Reaction score
25
City, State
Maryland
Year, Model & Trim Level
2016 Ford Explorer Sport
2016 Sport is having a steering issue and I wanted to see if anyone on here has had a similar experience prior to taking it to the dealer. I'll do my best to explain what is happening:

When under partial acceleration the truck seems to be wandering to the right. It is not torque steer, I am half throttle at most. The truck will begin to move to the right for 1/2 seconds and steering goes soft. I naturally turn the wheel to the left to counter the slide/pull right and then the steering feeling returns, except now the wheel is off center when driving straight. Stays like this until a full stop or off/on cycle. Does it 100% of the time under partial acceleration or more. Symptoms feel like torque steer but I can say with 100% confidence it is not torque steer.

Truck has 61k miles and just started around 60k. Was also in a FB discussion with a few other owners who have experienced this, but no known cause or fix was known.
 



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I can get the most slide out of it during the 2/3 shift at like quarter to half throttle. Truck has never done this until recently.
 






Sounds as though it could be an issue with Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) system. Check out point #4 under Pros and Cons. Power Steering (EPAS) Failure

Peter
 






Peter, that is what it feels like. Feels like the truck is compensating for torque steer when it actually isn't getting any.

I am going to make an appointment to get it to Ford soon. It's such a pain to drop it off and leave it with them. Of course I am just outside of my warranty. I will update this thread once they diagnose the problem.
 






Did you ever get this fixed? Mine is doing the exact same thing!
 






How is your tire pressure? Alignment? Bent wheel?
 






35x4, alignment has been checked 3 or 4 times. No bent rims, or broken belts in the tires. They are also all worn evenly. Mine pulls to the right at about 1700 rpms, until I let off the gas.
 












Dealership has rotated them 4 times trying to get it figured out.
 






sorry, never came back and updated my post. Took it to a family mechanic that we trust and he said it was a bad lower control arm. Fixed and out the door for less than $200.
 






sorry, never came back and updated my post. Took it to a family mechanic that we trust and he said it was a bad lower control arm. Fixed and out the door for less than $200.

So, the lower control arms were replaced? What exactly was wrong with them, that seems strange to me. Any advice on what to look for?
 






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