Steering wheel wiggles on my Town & Country

I have a 97 AWD T&C. 242,000 miles (yes, you read that right). Great vehicle. Just recently, the steering wheel is having a bit of back and forth. At moderate speeds, neither acceleration nor deceleration seems to make it worse. It just does it.

The tire wear doesn't indicate an allignment problem. They're fine. The vehicle has original everything, save for an alternator, a transmission, an A/C compressor, and front brake disks (they couldn't be shaved anymore). Now, the disks could be shaved again, as they're not perfect. The pads are fine, but there's a bit of pulsing on braking. But, that's not what's causing the steering to pulse. I'm pretty sure.

I'm wondering about the CV joints. They're original. And they go thru heck. I do five miles on dirt roads anytime I leave my house, and as you might imagine, I do that often. And I also drive fast. Cruise is only good for 85 mph, btw. Some sort of safety issue, I'm sure. I don't abuse it, but I don't exactly baby it.

Now, I could have an allignment problem. I just discovered that the low tire condition (right front) I've been dealing with for a month was caused by a cracked rim. Evidence that it had received some trauma (it was bent a little). Second time that has happened, btw - maybe I should move. So, perhaps my allignment was tweaked, and I'm just now noticing the shimmy in the steering wheel.

So. CV joints? They don't make any noise, which is what I'd expect 'em to do were they finally wearing out. I don't think it is a tire issue, for what it's worth. They're due for replacement by the end of the year, but they're balanced and not cupped or saw toothed. Wheel bearings? Again - where's the noise? None.

I'd appreciate any thoughts. Am gonna retire this pig one day, but I was thinking about another 100k first.

Reply to
clayton
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If you have a bent rim, it might make the steering wobble. Also, you could have a belt coming loose in your tire, causing your tire to not be round. In my experience, the most common cause of steering wobble has been a tire tread that doesn't trace a straight path when rolling.

Reply to
Robbie and Laura Reynolds

Hi...

Respectfully suggest putting a (full size) spare on each front wheel and going for a ride.

Had it happen to me on a Pontiac wagon long time ago. Intermittent as well, sometimes the belt would flip over and I'd wonder who was steering, then it would flip back and all would be perfect for a while.

Take care.

Ken

Reply to
Ken Weitzel

That's an excellent suggestion. Put the rear ones on the front and see what happens.

Reply to
Robbie and Laura Reynolds

Well, the tire and rim were replaced. By the full size spare. Still does it. Then again, the left tire and rim are the same.

My experience with bad tires has always been early in their life. These aren't fresh, but I suppose it could be a problem. Am expecting to do tires and brakes within a month. By golly, with fresh tires, turned down disks - it had better drive like new at that point.

As to rims - anyone have an on-line place they deal with for used parts? I know I lucked out when I found the replacement for the one I broke a few years ago. $25 from my local shop who just happened to have one laying around. But the one I bought on-line for the PT Cruiser set me back a good buck and a half or better. Any favorite folks to deal with?

Reply to
clayton

Yes - it's caled every junk yard in the country at your fingertips:

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Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

...called...

Reply to
Bill Putney

Reply to
philthy

nice catch. ;)

Reply to
cavedweller

I would, too.

Reply to
cavedweller

...and JIT!!

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

It could also be worn suspension bushings. A place many don't consider are the bushings used to hold the rack in place on the K frame.

Reply to
Steve Stone

I have a 1995 T&C AWD

If what your experiencing is more of a vibration than an actual sawing back and forth then don't worry about it. Mine does the same thing. What it is caused by is your motor mounts are worn and the engine has shifted slightly in the front cradle. You can get new mounts and have the engine realigned in the cradle but unless the frame is perfectly straight it is an exercise in futility. And the aftermarket motor mounts for this vehicle are absolute shit you have to get factory mounts from the dealership if you want it to work.

The slightest misalignment of the engine will put the driveline back to the rear wheels out of alignment, and it does not take much misalignment for the driveline to start vibrating and when that happens the resonances in the setup will start shaking everything up. When the mounts get old and worn the engine will start rocking back in the cradle (since that is the direction that the engine torque pushes the engine) and the driveline will drop down and start vibrating.

Another problem with these are the CV boots on the driveline will get old and rupture. A new driveline will cost $600. They do not sell rebuilt ones. You can get a driveline specialty place to rebuild yours for probably $250. Once the CV boot ruptures the CV joint on the driveline will start to self destruct and cause a vibration. You should crawl under the vehicle and examine the boots on the driveline, if they are greasy then oil is being slung out from a ruptured boot.

Mine has brand new front axles on both sides and it still does it.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

Hey, Bill Putney, you see this?

Reply to
cavedweller

Heh heh! I don't think Ted has typed the word "you're" a single time in the hundreds (thousands?) of posts of his that I've read over the years. I just consider it his own personal shorthand - like me typing "thru".

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

YOU'RE

Reply to
DeserTBoB

My mother with her BS in English education used to complain about this too, she finally gave up on it.

There are contracted words in the English language that have lost their apostrophes. I really don't have a lot of respect for the English grammer rules because frankly English as a written language doesen't have a lot of respect for it's own rules, either. If enough people use a word wrongly, it eventually becomes codified as part of the language. your is definitely one of those words. Otherwise we would be all writing and speaking Old English today.

And in any case, with the "your" in the above sentence, the meaning is the same if read either way.

He's assuming it's: "if what you are experiencing"

But, from the context is "If your own experience is" that is, possessive.

Most readers are going to get the meaning, interpreted either way. Which is the whole point of language.

If he's going to spend his life criticizing grammer, he would do the rest of us a much better service by screaming and pissing and moaning about stuff like:

"...those who wear the uniform have all the support necessary to win this war on terror..."

I'll give you 3 guesses who just said that. Since when is a police action in Iraq that had end of hostilities declared 2 years ago, still a "war"?

Seems to me a far worse abuse of just plain language, meaning abuse of what we use to communicate with, with that sort of doublespeak, than a missing apostrophe.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

Sounds like rationalization to me - one step better than the kids who post with no punctuation or capitalization (I'll give you that in their case, it's hard, or at times impossible, to get the meaning (not knowing where one sentence ends and the next one starts). Irregardless, ain't that so. :)

Admit it Ted - don't you get a different feeling about a person whose (possessive) writing you are reading who wrote, as in my sentence above: "I'll give you that in their case..." vs. "I'll give you that in there case..." (unintended typos notwithstanding)? To me that is pretty much equivalent to your "your" vs. "you're".

I am in the habit of putting an apostrophe before the 's' on plural acronyms ("There were 56 TSB's on that vehicle last year" vs. "There were 56 TSBs on that vehicle last year"). I don't know that there is a rule about that, but it just looks/feels better. Never had a complaint about it in the reports I write, so it must be OK.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

You should really think of it as Early American. :)

Reply to
cavedweller

The "its" rule for instance?

That's a stretch.

And doubtless form perhaps incorrect opinions about the writer's intelligence.

Who's "he"?

Guess that's the guy who says "neucular", or is it Limbaugh and "the media is"?

Whatever you meant, I agree.

Reply to
cavedweller

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