tires moving after lower balljoint replacement

[coreman021]

I have a 99 ex sport and I just replaced my lower balljoint on my passenger side and now both wheels move back and forth when i move them with my hands. I can see the rods move under my engine too!! I don't think there is supposed to be any movement at all. I had the ex on jackstands when i was able to move the wheel. I was wondering if the wheels were supposed to have movement or if there is somthing wrong with my steering??

 

[my98nnj]

When you get the truck back on the ground, start it and turn the steering back and forth lock to lock a few times. That will purge the power steering system and get the air out and your rack/steering will be nice and tight again.

 

[coreman021]

Thanx for the reply 98. I gave that a try last night and its not helping too much. my wheels still have movement but I might take er out today and drive around a little. I'll let u know how i make out!!

 

[coreman021]

I drove around a little yesterday and no luck yet.. I still have play with the wheels I am taking it in for alignment this weekend.

 

[corkey]

you said the rods under your engine,, , what rods are these ?? the ones that run back to the frame ???

the torsion bars ??

 

[Cobraguy]

Your tie rods? Is the slack in the rack? Is the whole rack moving?

Might not hurt to have your alignment guy tell you what's going on.

 

[coreman021]

Thanks for your input guys. 98 wins the gold star on this one! After jacking up the front end and turning my steering wheel back and forth for about 5 min the wheels tightened up and steering returned to normal. thanks again

 

[Cobraguy]

ok...then answer me this...how in the world did it get air in it to begin with??

 

[corkey]

I am not 100 % certain how ,, and this happened to me when i did the new wheel bearing, but i think it gets in past the seals in the rack maybe,, seeing as the system is contained,,and somewhat sealed,, and maybe that is what lead to my rack leaking so bad i have to change it , , it will empty the system of fluid in about a day , and a half, even with the Ex not running,,

 

[chapsdeva]

I had a similar problem with air getting in the steering. The battery on my truck died and I had to push the truck out of my driveway so I could get it jumped. After I got the truck running, I started having signifcant vibrations in the steering wheel. Called my mechanic and he said he has seen this happen on another Explorer where air got in when the steering wheel was turned with the truck not running. I've never heard of this happening before, but I got the air out and everything was OK. Anyone else heard about this being an issue with Explorers?

 

[Cobraguy]

ok. That clears it up. If it's leaking that bad, it will pull air in past the seals.

 

[coreman021]

its quite possible I might have leaky seals in my steering rack.. my explorer just turned 145,000mi.
There is a small amount of oil on my front crossbar but i think its motor oil from my engine's seals which are leaking a bit....thats my next project!!

 

[96ExplorerX]

I had a similar problem with air getting in the steering. The battery on my truck died and I had to push the truck out of my driveway so I could get it jumped. After I got the truck running, I started having signifcant vibrations in the steering wheel. Called my mechanic and he said he has seen this happen on another Explorer where air got in when the steering wheel was turned with the truck not running. I've never heard of this happening before, but I got the air out and everything was OK. Anyone else heard about this being an issue with Explorers?

It's very common. It's not related to any leakage problems.
It happened to me once before when I turned the wheels lock to lock by hand while I had my 96' jacked up.
The steering shuddered for about 10 miles or so, then everything returned to normal.
Now I'm careful to not mess with the wheels when it's jacked up.

 

[alohamonte]

this happened to me when i changed out the hubs, but didnt happen when i rebuilt the front end...

air got into the system (no idea how) and the fluid ran out (i think) through a purge valve. it purged very quickly, i lost 1/2 of the fluid before i even made it to the corner on the test drive.