Steering wheel wobble 2000 AWD

[SparkyJeff]

My 2000 Mountaineer (5.0 AWD, 150k mi)
has recently (This week) developed a shake up front.
It does not make noise, there is no clunking, banging, whining, or grinding noise. While driving straight, on a clean road, the steering wheel wants to wiggle back and forth about an inch.
I'm thinking it might just be a bad tire.

The shaky wheel goes away at some speeds. At at 25 mph we have a shaky wheel, but at 35 mph we're sailing smooth, 45 shaky, 55 smooth, 65 shaky.

I was thinking of doing a brake job, and rotating the tires to see if there is a change in the nature of the shake.

So my questions are, What else shall I inspect while I have the wheels off?

I'm guessing tie rod ends and wheel bearings????
Ball joints were replaced 30k mi ago.

Thanks for any input
Jeff

It's -10°F in MN, anyone have a garage heater I can borrow?

 

[SoNic67]

Sounds like an unbalanced front wheel (because of resonance on different rpm's). Check them visually for side bumps (internal failure of belts).

 

[KORDemon7]

Check that you don't have any mud buildup on the inside of your rims. Run your hand back and forth across the tread to feel for high spots. If that all checks out good, get the balance checked. I just had to deal with the same problem on my Malibu. A bad railroad crossing broke the belt in one tire.

 

[SparkyJeff]

Sounds like an unbalanced front wheel (because of resonance on different rpm's). Check them visually for side bumps (internal failure of belts).

That's just what it feels like, a bulged tire.

So, the follow up question
I know that The AWD need to have tires that match, or you risk damaging the front differential.
Question is, do the front need to match the rear?

Check that you don't have any mud buildup on the inside of your rims. Run your hand back and forth across the tread to feel for high spots. If that all checks out good, get the balance checked. I just had to deal with the same problem on my Malibu. A bad railroad crossing broke the belt in one tire.

I don't do mud.
We have plenty of snow here in MN.
At first I thought it might be snow debris, but it isn't.
As I said, I'm planning to do the brake job and tire rotation. I'll look over the tires while I'm at it.

Thanks guys
Jeff

 

[bill06447]

All of the above. In addtion, check for brakes not releasing. This was the symptom of my F150 when a front brake caliper would not release due to a collapsed hose.

Bill

 

[KORDemon7]

All 4 tires need to be the same size do to the AWD.

 

[SparkyJeff]

All 4 tires need to be the same size do to the AWD.

Rats.
Was hoping to jest get 2 new tires in the front, if that was needed.

That whole business of 65% power to the rear wheels, and 35% power to the front has me confused. Is it so precise?

I spend time on a farm driving 4 wheel drive tractors, the rear tires are twice as big as the front and you spend a lot of time muddin'.

 

[Dave 1955]

All of the above. In addtion, check for brakes not releasing. This was the symptom of my F150 when a front brake caliper would not release due to a collapsed hose.

Bill

i had that on a 92 chevy van!

It took 3 mechs and a bunch of parts before that hose was found to be the culprit!

My wheel did not shake but man it got so bad you could hardly take off from a stop sign. You would have to wait like a minute.

 

[bill06447]

I spend time on a farm driving 4 wheel drive tractors, the rear tires are twice as big as the front and you spend a lot of time muddin'.

Tractors have different front/rear gear ratios to compensate for different tire sizes. But not many tractors spend most of their time driving 50+ mph on hard pavement.

Bill

 

[koda2000]

i had a '91 Chrysler minivan that did this occasionally since new. over the years rotors, calipers and even axles were changed and it continued to occasionally wobble. i never did figure out what caused this. your problem is probably wheel/tire related.

 

[SoNic67]

Question is, do the front need to match the rear?

Did you read the owner manual? See page 169:

If your vehicle is equipped with 4WD or AWD, a spare tire of a
different size than the road tires should never be used. Such a
tire could result in damage to driveline components and make the
vehicle difficult to control.

_________

i had a '91 Chrysler minivan that did this occasionally since new. over the years rotors, calipers and even axles were changed and it continued to occasionally wobble. i never did figure out what caused this.

Well... bolded text says all .

 

[delexploder]

We have had a rack do this in a 98 sport