Groaning, grinding sounds, losing control of steering..

[jagarundi]

Hello all,


I have a 98 XLT AWD. When making turns or going slowly over bumps, this truck makes a kind of groaning sound. Also, when I'm going over bumps at high speeds, I damn near get thrown out of the cab and lost almost total momentary control of the steering. I have the top of the line warranty and everytime I take it to the Ford people, they claim to have fixed this and tightened that and oiled this, etc. I'm getting to the point where I think driving is dangerous unless whatever this is is diagnosed and repaired. It's also getting extremley difficult to steer this truck. Help me, PLEASE!!

 

[mhn3773]

wow.. that really doesnt sound safe man im sorry for ur luck with ford

i wish i could help sounds like suspention to me i dont know what specificly though it sounds like something in the front mabey part of the steering..but that wouldnt make u almost get chucked out of the car

jack the left front up and give the tires a wiggle see if it makes any noise then the right side
if it does make noise try to figure out kidna where its coming from then start to wiggle individual parts like grab the coil wiggle that

i wish i could help..but mabey u can figure out what it is by wiggling i know it sounds dumb lol

 

[sportdivia]

did you get the shocks, ball joints checked? keep me posted - i'm having a similar problem (more like a creeking noise) but my car guy says that the rack & pinion needs to be replaced ($600) but i thought that was only on Dodge products. good luck!

 

[X-1]

Sounds like rack going out

 

[Commtech]

Creaking could also be RA Bushings... Espesially if you hear a "thump" when going over bumps.

Also, when I'm going over bumps at high speeds, I damn near get thrown out of the cab and lost almost total momentary control of the steering.

Maybe this could be broken Sway Bar??? Or maybe check range of shock travel - shock locking up making 1 side too stiff...... just a suggestion

 

[X-1]

R.A bushings would only be on a first generation.

 

[PicoG4]

try going to another ford dealership.
THere not all trying to screw you over

 

[jagarundi]

I changed my front shocks this morning and that immediately smoothed out the ride. I'm still hearing 'groaning' noises when I turn my front wheels mostly to the left. I checked my power steering fluid just now and found that it was low. I filled it out and i'm about to take it for another spin to see if thats what was causing the groaning. I'll keep everyone here posted.

 

[yosh18981898]

Sounds like the groaning could be your front u-joints. Mine were making the same noise just before I had them replaced.

 

[jagarundi]

After changing the shocks, the groaning isn't as loud as it was but it's still there. I'm thinking that something needs to be lubed. I still have to change my rear shocks.

 

[Nate1]

I have a feeling the groaning is bad balljoints. I would buy some moog balljoints from carquest and have Ford replace them with the moog ones. You can re-grease the moog ones periodically to keep them in good working order

 

[Majisto]

Yeah greasing your balls are always fun...

 

[jagarundi]

Originally posted by nweibley
I have a feeling the groaning is bad balljoints. I would buy some moog balljoints from carquest and have Ford replace them with the moog ones. You can re-grease the moog ones periodically to keep them in good working order

That sounds about right. A guy I work with is a mechanic and he mentioned ball joints and soon as I described the sound to him. Would bad ball joints also cause the truck to be hard to steer? I just had a wheel alignment done over the weekend but I'm still feeling a little wander when I roll.

 

[Nate1]

It could be. I would do the upper and lower balljoints first, then if you still have steering problems, check your tie rods.

 

[blue_97_v8]

what about the CV joint's?