Kim
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2016
- Messages
- 49
- Reaction score
- 53
- Points
- 63
- Location
- Wisconsin
- Vehicle Year
- 2001
- Make / Model
- Ford Ranger
- Engine Type
- 3.0 V6
- Engine Size
- 3.0L
- Transmission
- Manual
- 2WD / 4WD
- 2WD
I guess that's what it's called.
I've had this particular Ranger for going on 3 years now and it has about 150k miles on it. It always had this weird, wandering feeling when driving it on bumpy roads but would track straight and feel comfy on smooth roads. Wasn't enough to be too worried about, and tire wear was negligible. Well, a few weeks ago something changed and now when I hit a bump at 55 mph the (I believe it to be the Passenger Side Front tire) tire goes into a somewhat violent Shake mode and won't stop shaking until you reduce speed. It's a bit scary when it does that!
Anyway, I've inspected the upper and lower ball joints on both sides, both tie rod ends, and I only found what appeared to be a little slack in the steering on the Driver Side and a rather excessive Toe Out. Everything else seems fine. I replaced the Driver Side inner tie rod and the steering slack went away. Since I was there, I adjusted the Toe to get some Toe-In. I used a straight edge, a laser pointer, and my garage door to make reference marks on based on the back wheels. Hard to explain, but this home-brew procedure is much better than just "an eyeball" job while obviously not quite Alignment Shop quality. The test drive now has the steering wheel straight, no pulling from one side or the other, and doesn't have that "wandering" feeling it always had before. BUT......that wheel shake still shows up. Hit a bump at about 50-55 mph and the wheel just oscillates out of control. I've inspected the ball joints several times since, and none of them seem bad. Same with tie rod ends and wheel bearings. I rotated the tires front to back on both sides to eliminate an Out-of-Balance wheel, checked air pressures, etc. Maybe it needs new shocks again? If that ain't it then my next move is taking it to a shop for Inspection Only (so they can tell me what's wrong without charging me to fix it) unless I can figure this out. I can't just blindly throw money at it hoping to get lucky and randomly find the bad part before the whole front end is replaced, and to have the shop do a complete service will cost me more than I paid for the truck. I need to find and fix the bad part and keep truckin'....or sell the truck "as is" and find something else. Tough situation, I know. But rebuilding the entire front suspension or even paying Shop Labor rates is financially out of the question for me at this time, so please bear with me here on this.
Anyone have a similar experience and found what the actual problem was? Thanks once again in advance!
I've had this particular Ranger for going on 3 years now and it has about 150k miles on it. It always had this weird, wandering feeling when driving it on bumpy roads but would track straight and feel comfy on smooth roads. Wasn't enough to be too worried about, and tire wear was negligible. Well, a few weeks ago something changed and now when I hit a bump at 55 mph the (I believe it to be the Passenger Side Front tire) tire goes into a somewhat violent Shake mode and won't stop shaking until you reduce speed. It's a bit scary when it does that!
Anyway, I've inspected the upper and lower ball joints on both sides, both tie rod ends, and I only found what appeared to be a little slack in the steering on the Driver Side and a rather excessive Toe Out. Everything else seems fine. I replaced the Driver Side inner tie rod and the steering slack went away. Since I was there, I adjusted the Toe to get some Toe-In. I used a straight edge, a laser pointer, and my garage door to make reference marks on based on the back wheels. Hard to explain, but this home-brew procedure is much better than just "an eyeball" job while obviously not quite Alignment Shop quality. The test drive now has the steering wheel straight, no pulling from one side or the other, and doesn't have that "wandering" feeling it always had before. BUT......that wheel shake still shows up. Hit a bump at about 50-55 mph and the wheel just oscillates out of control. I've inspected the ball joints several times since, and none of them seem bad. Same with tie rod ends and wheel bearings. I rotated the tires front to back on both sides to eliminate an Out-of-Balance wheel, checked air pressures, etc. Maybe it needs new shocks again? If that ain't it then my next move is taking it to a shop for Inspection Only (so they can tell me what's wrong without charging me to fix it) unless I can figure this out. I can't just blindly throw money at it hoping to get lucky and randomly find the bad part before the whole front end is replaced, and to have the shop do a complete service will cost me more than I paid for the truck. I need to find and fix the bad part and keep truckin'....or sell the truck "as is" and find something else. Tough situation, I know. But rebuilding the entire front suspension or even paying Shop Labor rates is financially out of the question for me at this time, so please bear with me here on this.
Anyone have a similar experience and found what the actual problem was? Thanks once again in advance!