1996 Ford E-Series Van front end steering

Tiny
DETROIT CHILI DOG
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 FORD E-SERIES VAN
  • 0.5L
  • 6 CYL
  • RWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 176,000 MILES
I'm all over the road, drift and over steer. Was told it just had a wheel alignment. What do I check for
Thursday, April 24th, 2014 AT 3:58 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,873 POSTS
Your best bet is to have it inspected at a tire and alignment shop. The common things that cause steering wander are ball joints, tie rod ends, control arm bushings, and worn bushings in steering gear boxes. I can describe in detail how to test each part, but that takes a long time. Besides the normal looseness and slop in ball joints, they often become tight and cause "memory steer" which can give the illusion of sloppy steering. Tight ball joints will appear to be okay when inspected.

You may be able to identify worn parts by watching for movement between the ball and socket of each tie rod end while a helper slowly moves the steering wheel back and forth.
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Thursday, April 24th, 2014 AT 4:25 PM

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