Steering wheel shimmy on a 96 Aerostar.

[Crispy Niggets]

when my aunt drives her van the wheel shimmys, My dad changed some bushings not to long ago when she complained about it, used to start at 55mph now she said it doing it in parking lots too, could this be the wheels- there recaps and when I checked the air pressure today it was at least 10psi underpressure than they should be, I am going to pump them up to 35psi what the tire says

 

[ExplorerDMB]

when was the last time the tires were balanced? 50-70 is usually a balace issue.

-Drew

EDIT: could be a crappy rack and pinion.

 

[BrooklynBay]

I've had 5 Aerostar vans since 1992, and I would have to say that the tires aren't balanced. If you hear popping noises, then it could be the ball joints, or the upper supports that hold the upper ball joints, rack and pinion, or the tie rods. How is your alignment? You mentioned that the tires were underinflated. If they make a lot of road noise, then they could have something known as belt shift. This is when the steel belts in the tires that give it support, and shape tend to shift inside the tire, and create a weak point without any support. As the vehicle puts weight at this point, it may buckle a little bit, and then pop out again. This could happen over, and over again with every rotation causing a lot of unwanted noise, and vibration.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Do Aerostars have rack/pinion or steering boxes? If they're boxes I'd suggest adjusting the screw in the top.

 

[BrooklynBay]

They do have rack and pinions.