Need help concerning steering please?

[Rangerblues]

Greetings folks. I am not familiar with the new suspensions in the Explorers and could use some advise on steering components on a 1998 Eddie Bauer Explorer. This vehicle belongs to my mother who takes very good care of it as well as its frequent visits to the Ford dealer for standard maintenence. It has 61,000 miles on it and recently the dealer informed my mom that the "lower intermediate steering shaft and the steering gear" has to be replaced. She has never had any problems in the past with steering or suspension until after the dealer did a tire rotation. After that she explained to me that the tires would jerk or skip when shes in a tight turn at like say a parking lot more when turning to the left and it would make a slight tire rubbing on the fender sound Ok, Im thinking something happened at the dealer that there trying to cover up. Fortunately, its still covered under the 100,000 mile warranty. This rig is all electronic including the 4x4 shifting. Any thoughts on this? Thanks in advance.

 

[mrboyle]

I don't see how the intermediate shaft could be bad (unless someone hit something). My first suggestion would be for you (or another male) to take the X to another dealer or a reputable alingment shop and have them inspect the front end. Its possible that the problem could be as simple as a bad outer tie rod end. The reason I recomend a male taking the vehicle in is due to the unfortunate practices many shops use regarding female customers. It is possible the dealer figured they could sell your mother anything and she'd not question anything. The same shops rarely attempt this with male customers because they think "men no more about cars."

 

[Mbrooks420]

I'd try and find a recomended independant front end shop. A lot of times they will be happier replacing a few low dollar items and sending you on your way. Dealers have a bad habit of replacing things that aren't bad.

 

[Maniak]

I'm not sure if this will help.. but the lower imediate shaft problem is possible.. "IF" they are talking about the "Rag Joint"...

I had to replace it on our 92.. and you have to replace the entire shaft since the Rag Joint is rivoted on..

I'm not sure if the steering is the same on the 98 (I doubt it is since it is full IFS) but you never know what info will help....

~Mark