Bad Vibrations

[jlppimb]

Had the steering rack on my '97 X XLT 4x4 repaired yesterday. Alignment was rechecked after the rack was replaced. As I was driving home doing about 70 mph on the freeway and was changing lanes, to the left lane, the steering wheel started vibrating pretty bad. Vibrations gradually went away as I continued driving after a short distance. It did it to the right also. The steering rack was replaced because after making a turn the steering wheel would not return back on its own, it need a lil help. Could the vibrations be from the ball joints or the tie rod ends? I know I had one side of Ball Joints replaced a few years back, cant remember which side right now. Any help on where to look first would be appreciated. I'm taking it back to the repair shop on Monday, just was hoping to find something I could check and maybe fix on my own this weekend to save a few bucks. TIA.

 

[dogfriend]

I would take it back to the shop and ask them if they are sure they purged all of the air out of the system. If you have trapped air, it may cause vibration in the steering wheel.

Good luck.

 

[coreman021]

I agree with dogfriend, you got some air trapped in you ps lines. Jack up the front of the truck and turn the steering wheel back and forth till steering is smooth. Air usually becomes introduced in you lines if the steering wheel is moved when the truck is not on.

 

[dogfriend]

Air usually becomes introduced in you lines if the steering wheel is moved when the truck is not on.

I actually did this once by moving the truck when the serpentine belt was broken. The tensioner pulley broke when I started it to go home from work one day and I didn't to leave it overnight where it was parked, so I drove it around to a well lit area in front of the building. When I cranked the wheel for a sharp turn, I got air in the lines. I was able to clear it by turning the wheel back and forth a few times after fixing the tensioner.

 

[jlppimb]

OK thanks for the info. To purge the lines I believe I need to remove the power steering fill cap and turn the wheel completely from the left to the right. Correct?

 

[dogfriend]

The factory manual recommends applying vacuum to the fill tube with a hand vacuum pump while cycling the steering back and forth every 30 sec.

I did not use a vac pump, I just cycled back and forth a few times and the air seemed to be purged out. Don't hold the wheel hard against the stop for any length of time - the manual warns against this.

If you aren't sure, I would take it back to the shop and let them do it.