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Vibration in steering wheel on turn #: 2347

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Posted: Mon Mar 29th, 2021 06:08 pm

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Mike69

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My 2000 Ranger 4x4 just recently developed a vibration I feel in the steering wheel while driving mostly on the highway & sometimes on back roads over 40 mph. While driving straight it feels fine, as soon as I turn the steering wheel a little off of center especially felt while going around a bend in the road while on the highway almost feels like a wheel out of balance but it only happens when the steering wheel is not straight ahead. To me it feels like a wheel bearing going bad, ideas?

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Posted: Mon Mar 29th, 2021 07:29 pm

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Tsquare
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That would be my first guess and my second would be universals.

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Posted: Tue Mar 30th, 2021 10:19 am

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Scrambler82
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When it happens, take your free foot and lightly press the brake pedal, if the shake stops it could be wheel bearings !
If the shake doesn't stop, start looking check the Lug Nuts, any Steering Rod Ends, Ball Joints, etc.; out of balance wheels would probably shake more constant at a given speed cornering or going straight.
Sometimes... when the steering wheel isn't held straight ahead, you remove pressure off the steering system, so if there are worn steering components they can move around some causing a shutter in the system. How long since the last grease job ?
Just talking out loud, don't really know anything about trucks, LoL !

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Posted: Wed Mar 31st, 2021 12:27 am

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JAMMAN

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Mike have you ever replaced the wheel bearings? About 150K is tops for the stock bearings and 15K if you bought the Detroit axle brand. It isn't necessarily the wheel bearings it could be a CV joint going bad. Need to get under there and shake things around a little, see what falls off.

A wheel bearing in a 4WD ranger usually starts becoming progressively noisy, like you are putting on a more aggressive tread off road tire every couple weeks. I haven't had one vibrate yet when turning as a matter of fact. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen it just means it has not happened to me. Vibration has traditionally been CV joints or U joints or warped rotor/drums or tires. Tires can vibrate more when turning if they are worn on one side from bad alignment.

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Posted: Thu Apr 1st, 2021 07:32 pm

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Thanks guys for the info, I guess I know what I am doing this weekend.

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Posted: Sun Apr 4th, 2021 07:22 pm

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So Saturday I rotated the tires & topped the tire pressures, checked for any looseness in the wheel bearings, checked for looseness in the inner & outer tie rods, & for any looseness in the ball joints, & wheel bearings, all seem tight. When I drive it to work tomorrow I will see if it still does it & report back.

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Posted: Sun Apr 4th, 2021 10:06 pm

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Scrambler82
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When you are driving it and you get the shimmy, using your left foot apply a light pressure to the brakes.
See what happens, maybe the shimmy will lessen or even disappear; hopefully !

Good Luck, hope it all disappears.

One more thing, did you grease the wheel bearings ?

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Posted: Mon Apr 5th, 2021 03:07 am

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Mike69

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My Ranger is a 4x4 it has hub & bearing assemblies, not greaseable.

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Posted: Mon Apr 5th, 2021 10:44 am

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Scrambler82
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Mike69 wrote:
My Ranger is a 4x4 it has hub & bearing assemblies, not greaseable.
I understand that, I too own a 4x Ranger but was wondering how long it has been since you last re-packed the wheel bearings, that is all !

Wheel bearing like other forgotten parts of the truck go without any notice until they go bad, not saying all it is going to take is pull the wheels and re-pack the bearing but sometimes preventive measures are better than none !

Mine were repacked five years ago and checked for wear and bluing (burning of the bearing, if problems arose at that time I would have replaced them again which I did 10 years back.

Using your brakes lightly, when you feel the shimmy in the front end can help to determine if a wheel bearing is going bad, yes they can make noise but sometime when there is minimal movement in the bearing itself you can feel it.

So much for that avenue just thought that was all, good luck on determining the problem, hope it is a simple fix !
Ltr

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Posted: Mon Apr 5th, 2021 02:40 pm

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Mike69

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After rotating the tires on Saturday & driving the truck to & from work today I did not notice any vibration, so we will see.

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Posted: Mon Apr 5th, 2021 09:58 pm

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Eddie Money
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Busted radial cord in one of the tires? I had toyos on my 99 that were not rotated and it felt like a clown car cause all the tires had busted cords. You could feel the bumps on the tread where the cords had busted

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