Odd, hard to describe, intermittent problem

[carlgustav]

So I have this stock '95, going on 20 yrs now, and I guess it's time for a real problem to show up. She's been a very reliable & problem free truck 'till now, we bought her in '01 from the 1st owner. She has the 4.0 w/ 2-wheel drive, basic as they come. Lately, every now/then, I get a feeling like she's running over a short series of small bumps, or like I've run over a small animal & it gets pulled along for a brief period. It's very difficult to describe.

Anyway, I raised the front end & checked front caliper mounting bolts, large & small ones. Pad thickness is good, rotors are good. Wheel bearings feel/sound good. Tugging/pulling on various control parts does not reveal any loose pieces. Tugging/pulling on the driveshaft does not appear to indicate bad u-joints. Tugging on the steering shaft from the firewall down to the steering unit does produce more slop than I like, but I can't quite correlate what I 'feel' with this yet.

The problem has also made me wonder if the ABS unit could be getting flaky. It initially felt as though something might be wrong with the brakes, steering, or suspension.

Ball joints (upper/lower) recently replaced, tie rod ends new, tires new & recent alignment done. Frankly, I'm at a loss. I hate the idea of just driving until it gets worse, but that is where I'm at. Any ideas?

TIA,
ACE

 

[my98nnj]

Could be the slip yoke on the drive shaft of the U-Joints.

 

[carlgustav]

Maybe, but I think I would be feeling it more often than I am if that were so ... thx.

ACE

 

[carlgustav]

More info

So today, I make a left turn out of work parking lot onto the road to go to lunch. Just after straightening the wheel and accelerating, I feel a 'dragging' to the RH front side, then a slight pop, & she smooths out & runs as normal ... ???

ACE

 

[swshawaii]

After replacing parts have you ruled out air in the power steering system? Wheels turned with the engine off? Very common scare.

 

[carlgustav]

I have not ruled that out, just that the symptoms do not feel like they are in the steering ... I'll search for air in system here & see what I find ... thx

ACE

 

[carlgustav]

A quick look reveals that air in the system is somewhat easy to get rid of, but I don't feel my symptoms when turning, so far, mostly show up during straight line travel. Also, the parts replacements were done this past summer, so some months passed prior to symptoms showing up ...

ACE

 

[carlgustav]

It occurs to me that I did not replace the inner tie rod ends when I refreshed the front end ... could a problem with the inner ends show up as an odd popping/drag symptom? ...

ACE

 

[Turdle]

You might want to recheck this, especially if you have recently worked on this area.


http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192818&highlight=caliper+bolts