violent vibration over 40mph

[Fastcat]

I replaced my front brakes today and while driving on the street I noticed going closoe to 40mph the steering wheel would shake. I didn't think too much of it till I jumped on the highway and it shook/vibrated so violently I had to pull to the shouldeer. I check all lug nuts and they where tight. What could this be? it never did this before not even a slight vibration.

 

[Racenut]

First off we would need to know if it is a 2wd or a 4wd?

And when you said you did brakes, did you do rotors as well or just pads?

 

[Fastcat]

4x4. Ust brakes replaced. Literally I was just on highway and nothing was shaking but starterd out of no where

 

[Racenut]

Since it is a 4wd I am not sure. If it was a 2wd I would have said to check your hub bearings but the 4wds use a different hub.

I would pull off the wheels and check to make sure all of the caliper bolts are tight ( also make sure they have lube on them so the caliper will "glide"), and then while the wheels are off roll them with a hand on the tread and make sure that there are no "bulges".

It could be just a freak thing that you may have "broken a belt" inside the tire while driving ( I had this happen once just after replacing Tie rod ends ).

 

[joezek]

Number one thing to check is that the wheels are bolted on straight, possibly loosen and retorque in a cross pattern.

Number two thing is, I had happen to me once- while replacing my front brakes too, I turned the steering wheel stop to stop with the engine NOT running. As soon as I tried driving it the wheel violently shook left to right. I called my friend who does suspension for a living. He said that by steering it with the engine not running, I had forced air into the rack and pinion. The fix was to start the engine, steer full left to right very slowly several times. Then let it sit not running for a while. I did this a few times and drove it an hour later with almost all the shaking gone. I parked it overnight, it was perfect the next day.

 

[Racenut]

Number one thing to check is that the wheels are bolted on straight, possibly loosen and retorque in a cross pattern.

Number two thing is, I had happen to me once- while replacing my front brakes too, I turned the steering wheel stop to stop with the engine NOT running. As soon as I tried driving it the wheel violently shook left to right. I called my friend who does suspension for a living. He said that by steering it with the engine not running, I had forced air into the rack and pinion. The fix was to start the engine, steer full left to right very slowly several times. Then let it sit not running for a while. I did this a few times and drove it an hour later with almost all the shaking gone. I parked it overnight, it was perfect the next day.

The part about the rack and pinion is a good one, but it does not apply to his truck since it is a 2000.

The first Gens still run a drag link, they did not swap to the rack and pinion until 2003.

 

[joezek]

Ahh, good old fashioned real power steering- they should all be like that. Well then any bad vibration caused by having the wheels off is probably a wheel bolted on crooked, or a very loose wheel bearing.

 

[Racenut]

Ahh, good old fashioned real power steering- they should all be like that. Well then any bad vibration caused by having the wheels off is probably a wheel bolted on crooked, or a very loose wheel bearing.

Agreed I like the old power steering, but the reason they changed over was because the first gens liked to "wonder" all over the road.

The rack and pinion "tammed the beast" so to speak.

 

[Fastcat]

I haven't had time to inspect it yet will do it tomorrow. I didn't put lube on the caliber bolts so ill do that. Also when if I hit a big bump the steering wheel whooples slightly. Ill update u guys tho

 

[Fastcat]

Just got done checking my suspesion and putting grease on caliper bolts. Drove over 40mph (got upto 55) drove fine till I hit a bump in the rode and the death shake appeared again. This isn't safe at all... can't control the car when it does this. The steering wheel shakes from side to side and it seems like I'm in an 10 second 7.5 magnitude earthquake! After the shaking stopped I went over 40 again with no prob till I hit a bump in the rode.

I did notice the drivers side wheel had play in it when I moved it side to side (noticeably more play than the pass side). I looked at the link that holds the tie rod end to drag link (I'm assuming that's the name of it). And the rubber was good but seems like the play is in there. What should I do now? Am I on the right track? If so how could a simple brake change cuase this out of nowhere?

 

[SC-Surfer]

There should be no play at all. Have someone move the steering wheel back and forth (engine off) while your under it with a flashlight.

Check the tie rod end, all the links. See whats giving. Thats the best way of checking everything out. I would also put a wrench on everything you touched. Just to make sure.

If you pulled the rotor, check to see if its set flush with the hub.

 

[Racenut]

Just got done checking my suspesion and putting grease on caliper bolts. Drove over 40mph (got upto 55) drove fine till I hit a bump in the rode and the death shake appeared again. This isn't safe at all... can't control the car when it does this. The steering wheel shakes from side to side and it seems like I'm in an 10 second 7.5 magnitude earthquake! After the shaking stopped I went over 40 again with no prob till I hit a bump in the rode.

I did notice the drivers side wheel had play in it when I moved it side to side (noticeably more play than the pass side). I looked at the link that holds the tie rod end to drag link (I'm assuming that's the name of it). And the rubber was good but seems like the play is in there. What should I do now? Am I on the right track? If so how could a simple brake change cuase this out of nowhere?

It does sound like you are on the right track, and I would not put the blame on the brake change.

Some things just happen like that and it may seem like it's related but it's not.

One thing that I have noticed with my '02 EB is that it feels a little different every time it gets jacked up for any type of service work. It could just be that the Tie rod end was getting week and when you jacked up the front end it shifted everything and made it to where now you can feel it.

Also make sure to check your front hub assembly's. They are a common faliure point on these trucks and when they start getting loose they have the same type of reaction to bumps in the road.

 

[SC-Surfer]

^ Great point.... Jack up the front end, grab the tire top and bottom and see if you can move it back and forth. also use a prybar or 2x4 under the tire and have someone lift it up and down while you (again) crawl under and check the ball joints.

 

[Fastcat]

The only bolts itouched where the caliper bolts. Ill inspect the links closely pretty sure its the drivers side. And this is the 2nd time my truck has been lifted lol the 1st it came back off the lift the ball joints started squeeking like a bed spring and now this!

 

[joezek]

You know this symptom sounds almost identical to the problem we had on my fathers F350 4WD 20 years ago. He had a brand new 1988 F350, 4wd, 460 engine etc. It would drive smooth as glass, and then when you hit a bump in the road you had instant out of control left to right shaking in the steering wheel. We jacked it up and pulled on every piece of front suspension and nothing was loose, and it was all brand NEW. Ford looked at it a few times and the only thing shaking was their heads. We decided to install one of those offroad steering shock stabilizers. That didn't seem to help much when one of these attacks happened.

The strange part was that it wouldn't shake for 6-8 months and suddenly it would do it 10 times in a week, and then nothing for another 6 months.

The shaking was so violent that it felt like the front tires were literally coming off the road, and the truck would actually move over into oncoming traffic lanes and we couldn't do anything to stop it.

 

[Fastcat]

there is play in the steering shaft... A lot of it I can pop the hood grab the shaft and shake it its very loose. How could this have happened is it common problem?

 

[Fastcat]

The problem is the pitman arm