Isolate my Steering/Handling Problem...

Lincoln Luebbe

Lincoln Luebbe

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2006 LS V8

Bought it with 49K now has 81K been doing this since I bought it.

Lowered with Eibachs

Stock 17's with new tires last year

New shocks right after I bought it

Two alignments in the last year

Had a really good friend of the family who owns his own shop (ASE cert.) and does all the work on all of my cars (and has for years) look at it twice now but no real isolation of the problem. He has ruled out ball joints and tie rod ends and says eveything is tight. He is thinking possibly rack but not sure...

Symptoms:

Steering feels off especially over non-smooth surfaces, almost like I am not in total control of the car.

Bumps (higher speeds) make the car lose it's composure 70+ feels dangerous unless on a smooth road

Steering wheel has a clunk I can feel when turned to the right quickly, or back and forth quickly

If I turn right into a driveway etc. over bumps steering wheel/driver's side corner makes clunk I can feel in the steering but sounds like under the car

Similarly if the wheel is turned to the right a little or a lot like pulling out of a drive-thru down onto the road the point where the car shifts elevations clunks

I really want to fix this with some tax return money, but I am not interested in taking it to Ford so they can guess at it and charge me an insane amount for parts/labor. I get my work done from someone I trust at a good rate but I just need to get an idea from other LSer's before I go throwing random repairs at it.

As always any help is appreciated.

PS This is my second lowered LS so I know that it is not supposed to handle this way lowered.
 
Mine was exhibiting similar symptoms. My lower ball joint nut had loosened a little and bored out the lower control arm. But you'd for sure notice that.

Sorry I can't be of help.
 
Thanks anyway Pektel.

Also I forgot to mention when I hit bumps on the highway the steering wheel shimmies/jerks. Kind of like there is no biffer between the impact and the steering wheel.
 
like pektel said, it sounds like a loose ball joint, but that's been ruled out.. weird..
 
Sway bar? Maybe faulty end links, its cracked, bent, or damaged?

A faulty/improper sway bar would cause erratic driving conditions like your describing.
 
The clunking seems to be under the car not really in the upper steering column, but no I haven't had it checked.

As for the sway bar end links they are fine, and I have not seem any indication of a bent sway bar.

Is any of the symptoms I described synonomous with a faulty rack? The issue only seems to heavily impact the driver's side.

BTW anyone have access to an exploded view of the steering/front suspension system?
 
I am having the EXACT same problems, word for word.

on a 2000 v6 sport.

all down the the clunk in the steering when jerking the wheel right/left.

Im getting sick of throwing money at the front suspension with no change.

Im going to replace both tie rod ends in the spring once my fiance and I get settled into our house.

Even though I replaced both of them within the past year, the pass side is starting to feel looser than it should.

I bought cheap autozone tie rod ends before, and will be replacing them with OEM Motorcraft parts.

Luebbe, do you also have a very loose/soft on-center feel with the steering?
 
well, I will be going in for an oil change/tire rotation in March, and will have the dealership inspect the rack again (maybe 3rd times the charm here).

other than that, I'll just keep throwing money at her.
 
Keep me posted 200Sport.

Since it is getting nicer outside around here I had planned on getting under there myself and having someone jerk the steering wheel back and forth so I can see if anything looks wrong.
 
the problem comes down to this:

Once the resistance of the road surface is removed from the tire (and rack) you dont notice looseness or a clunk.

So lifting the car up doesnt reveal anything to be wrong.

I'm half tempted to go to Lube Stop and ask to borrow their oil change pit for a few minutes, as my fat a$$ is not going to fit under the car without it being on jack stands.
 
Supposed to be in the 50's out here in the Cleveland area this weekend, so I should have some time to look at it as well.
 
All 3 rack mounting bushings were replaced (it was a pain - they all had to be pressed in and pressed out.)

rack movement seems normal, and for what it's worth is the same as before (moves on those bushings about 2mm +/-)

Im in my office right now, but when I went out for lunch the car was showing 51 out here in Richfield, OH (north of Akron/Canton)
 
On the way home from work tonight the radio station said we may see 70 tomorrow... I'll believe it when I see it, but high 60's for sure!
 
Check the sway bar bushings. Also even if the front links look good, tighten them. They are PITAes to tighten, so many times they were not done all the way - especially with the torque the bar adds when actually fastened into the links.

I diagnosed a clunk of mine by jack standing the front end and getting under the control arm and forcing it up and down (hurts your back the next day). But I found my sway bar was BARELY moving on one of the link connections, I am talking like maybe a centimeter, but when you add the force of driving and the weight of the car, I am sure it was alot more movement.

Also while you are under it, check the bushings on the sway bar, I replaced mine and I have an 04 that had dried out and cracked rubber.

Just get under there and force stuff around to imitate the scenarios your suspension would experience when it made those noises driving.
 
drizz...

Energy bushings went in over the summer. links are tight (new Moog end links went in in the fall)

Im almost starting to think it could be inner tie rods.
 
Lincoln Luebbe said:
2006 LS V8

Bought it with 49K now has 81K been doing this since I bought it.

Lowered with Eibachs

Stock 17's with new tires last year

New shocks right after I bought it

Two alignments in the last year

Had a really good friend of the family who owns his own shop (ASE cert.) and does all the work on all of my cars (and has for years) look at it twice now but no real isolation of the problem. He has ruled out ball joints and tie rod ends and says eveything is tight. He is thinking possibly rack but not sure...

Symptoms:

Steering feels off especially over non-smooth surfaces, almost like I am not in total control of the car.

Bumps (higher speeds) make the car lose it's composure 70+ feels dangerous unless on a smooth road

Steering wheel has a clunk I can feel when turned to the right quickly, or back and forth quicklyIf I turn right into a driveway etc. over bumps steering wheel/driver's side corner makes clunk I can feel in the steering but sounds like under the car

Similarly if the wheel is turned to the right a little or a lot like pulling out of a drive-thru down onto the road the point where the car shifts elevations clunks

I really want to fix this with some tax return money, but I am not interested in taking it to Ford so they can guess at it and charge me an insane amount for parts/labor. I get my work done from someone I trust at a good rate but I just need to get an idea from other LSer's before I go throwing random repairs at it.

As always any help is appreciated.

PS This is my second lowered LS so I know that it is not supposed to handle this way lowered.
Click to expand...


My steering wheel does the same thing. I was under the car a few days ago, trying to figure out what it is and seems like it's coming from the steering rack.
The moving parts inside the rack are probably a little worn and when you turn the wheel it doesn't catch it right away.

Also, I noticed there was a small round metal plate on the bottom of the rack, with a a nut on top of it. Does anybody know if that's there for adjustments in the scenerious that some of us are experiencing?
 
If what you guys describe is a general feeling of "looseness" of the wheel when turning my experiences may help. What it really felt like was the front end of the car was sliding back on a axel, like if you look at a hot wheels car and slide it's wheels side to side inside the body.

It also had a "clunk" when turning the wheel back and forth.

The dealership did 2 things for me:

1st they replaced the steering column. They said it was bad and some thing was bent or something. They were sure this would fix it. This didn't fix it.

2nd then they replaced the rack & pinion. This fixed it.

As a side note, I also had another symptom/issue where sometimes when turning the wheel there was a grunt/groan/rubbing feel coming from the steering wheel. This was the rack & pinion, and went away after that was fixed.

And yay for beautiful weather in Cleveland.
 
IIRC, a new rack at NAPA was around 300 with the inners (and possibly the outers) already on it.. And replacing isn't too hard.. Like the sub-frame doesn't have to be dropped or anything..
 
RockAuto lists one for $291 including a $71 core.

If all else fails, might have to do this.

The steering just keeps getting worse every day.
 
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