Shaking when turning wheel in 4wd on snow

[josh40601]

Shaking when turning wheel in 4wd on snow -> Solved!

Hey everyone, having another small issue with the sport. Its a 2001 sport 4wd auto, and in 4 hi (didn't try in 4 lo) when i turn the wheels (whether moving or stopped) the steering shakes just like if I had death wobble.

My first thought is the steering rack is not ok with the added pressure of pushing the knuckles once in 4wd, but I don't like to just throw money at a vehicle, so I wanted to reach out to the community to see if anyone else has had this problem.

4wd works fine, and as I said, it is on snow, not dry pavement so the slippage for the diff is there, and the shaking is mainly contained in the steering wheel, but it does feel really sketchy, even at slow speeds while driving on snowy roads.

I did a few different searches and usually find the answers to all my questions for this truck, but this time I could not, likely due to not searching for the right terminology.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

 

[LONO100]

Does it happen when your steering wheel is turned lock to lock? If so, you could have air in your power steering lines. Just a guess though. Good luck!

 

[josh40601]

the 1st 1/4 turn is nothing, but anything after that is shakes, even going lock to lock. I tried going back and forth about 6 times and it didn't clear up.

I appreciate your help! I did not pop the cap on the power steering reservoir, but not sure how well those are pressure sealed.

 

[josh40601]

also, worth noting is that it never had this problem in 2wd. I did not check today if it was doing it in 2wd. I will tonight or tomorrow morning though

 

[koda2000]

You might want to flush your p/s system and refill with fresh Mercon V. Also, depending on how much grip you have on a given surface in 4WD you will bind up the drivetrain when you try to turn the front wheels, which have to slip a bit to turn smoothly. Having a low tire (or tires of different diameter) can exacerbate this.

 

[josh40601]

brand new cooper tires. I may do that PS system flush tomorrow. It doesn't feel like it is the tires gripping, it feels more in the steering or drivetrain system.


Also probably worth mentioning the truck has 230k on the ticker...

 

[josh40601]

still does it in 2wd, so I think it is air in the lines. Guy on facebook said if you take it off the ground recently, it can cause the death wobble issue that I am having too, and that it goes away in a couple days. This is what I'm hoping is the deal. I'll provide an update after a few days in case someone else has this issue

 

[Robman]

And.. Did you turn(steer) the wheels without the engine on?
It honestly can cause a ridiculous amount of violent shudder from the front end.

To get the air out.. turn the wheels lock to lock slowly about a million times, no not really a million but it can take a while.

 

[josh40601]

Been driving it the last few days and the shaking has gone. I Assume this was just as indicated, air in the power steering system.

Thanks so much for everyone's help and I hope this thread finds someone else who has this problem.