Shimmy at 50mph+ Bad cornering left, Terrable right...

[MorrowTuckian]

Hello All!!!

I searched the threads and did not see exactly the same symptoms, so I thought that I would post...

'98 Explorer EB, 4x4, 4L SOHC.

Driving down the road at 50+ MPH there is a shudder/shimmy that feels like the car needs tire rebalanced... it's there but not too bad. At highway speeds, taking a bend to the left the shudder gets worse, taking a bend to the right you'd think that the car is going to break apart. The whole front of the car shakes, But the steering wheel is not shaking like it is an alignment problem. I have tried making sharp turns at low speed and nothing feels like it is binding. going straight down the road a slow speeds there is a bit of a low pitched squeak that corresponds to the rotation of the wheel.

It's at my local mechanic, he 'THINKS' it is an axle, but is not sure. He put the car on jack-stands and attempted to duplicate it without success. Wanted a second opinion before I shell out $250 and find out that this is not the problem.

Any assistance with troubleshooting the problem would be appreciated too.

 

[Carguy3J]

Possibilities:
One or both front hub/wheel bearings
One or both rear axle bearings
One or more front suspension/steering components (ball joints/tie rods/etc..)
One or more bent rims and/or defective tires.
(I'm dealing with the tire thing myself on a '89 Olds Cutlass Cierra. I've had the tires balanced 4 times, there perfect, on the machine, but symptoms very similar to yours. The front end is tight, as the car only has 51k on it. You can see on the balance machine, as the tire(s) turn, they have a "hop" to them. They have about 90% tread, but I got them from a junkyard. They apparently got out of round, due to some condition on the previous vehicle they were on.)

The "squeak" and the change when turning lead me more towards a bearing somewhere; but without being there and driving (which is what the mechanic should be doing, not just putting it on jackstands), it woudl be very hard to diagnose it.

 

[MorrowTuckian]

Yes, my mechanic did drive it.

about a year and 7k ago I had the front upper and lower ball joints replaced as well as tie rod ends brakes and rotors, so I'm going to assume, for now, that those are still all good.

How would you diagnose a front wheel bearing? would it be loose...?

 

[nathaniversen]

A bearing would make a low growling noise and vibration, kind of like driving on rumble strips. The hub-bearing assembly of the 95-01 Explorers doesn't give any play when it fails, unless it's totally trashed.

I think my 95 is doing the same thing as yours, I'm going to get the alignment checked soon.

 

[MorrowTuckian]

Found the issue... The left rear rim was rusted out. Turns out that my explorer was the first of the run of '98 and got a shiny set of chrome plated steel rims from the '97 models. Problem is that the steel rims are rusting apart under the chrome :-(

Anyone have a set of 16x7 alloy wheels for sale?