Steering Problems

[Bad Boy Merc]

Has anyone had steering wheel tremble problems? Last July when I got my new
MM it had a constant pull to the right and a constant steering wheel tremble, especially at speeds above 56 MPH. It took the dealer three days and a few calls to the factory to get the streering alignment right to correct the pulling problem. They also balanced the wheels. I took the car immediately on a trip to the midwest and the tremble was still there. Since the car was due its second oil change when I got there, I took it to a dealer in Nebraska for the oil change and again reported the steering wheel tremble. They balanced all four wheels again and it improved the condition slightly but the tremble is still there. I suspect that the left front tire may be out-around based upon the fact that the mechanic swapped the front and rear tires then found out that they were different sizes. He told me that the left rear tire balanced out better than the left front when he swapped the tire back to the original positions. I will be taking the car back to the dealer this week to tell them to fix it this time. Any other suggestions?

[mdmarauder]

I had a similar problem when I had my factory wheels chromed on my Lincoln LS. The wheel place kept trying to balance the wheels. Then I bought a set of 4 Pirellis and still had the tremble. Then the wheel place did some research and told me to find a shop that had a "Road Force" balance machine. My local Ford Dealer had one and problem solved. I have a slight tremble now at 14,000 miles I will probably have them road-force balanced. Good Luck.

[drkknight196]

I, too, have had lots of wheel/tire adventures. Using MM alignment specs and Hunter balancing, I have the vibration between 55 - 75, then it's gone. It drives me nuts! I'll be on the look out for one of those "Road Force" balancers.

[engine23ccvfd]

Took my 300A in for the famous right pull and saw the service tech notes that are something like this "aligned vehicel per specs in shop manual, test drove, still had RT pull, switched front left wheel and RT wheel, test drove, problem fixed......Yeah sure until the tread pattern is all monkeyed again

[sprtyworty]

I am in the same boat. Had two different LM dealers align the car. The F#*%g car still pulls to the right. The last dealer said it passes the 3 second rule; if the car is still on the road after letting go of the centered wheel after 3 sec it is within tolerance. This is absolute BS. All of my cars track straight. Have 8000mi now. The only good news is the tires seem to be wearing evenly. I will watch this thread for a suggested solution.

[MitchB]

Couple things... first, the computerized high speed balancers do not always give the best results. The problem is the balance machine shakes to some degree when it spins up the wheel/tire assy and this compromises the accuracy. I used my friends Snap-On balancer and it gave good results after chasing my own balance problem. With the Snap-On, you spin the wheel assys by hand.

Second. if the wheels are not bent and the tires spin true (no radial or axial runout), then your rotors/hubs might be out-of-balance. I do not know of a simple way to check this. A while back I had a high end tire shop balance the front tires on the car and, in this case, made all the difference.

Mitch

[Black Terror]

Mercury dealer just replaced all four tires under warranty for vibration/shimmy at Interstate speeds. They gave car back and had to drive to Augusta for weekend, vibration/shimmy was worse than before. Couldn't drive above 60(terrible for a Interstate trip). On Monday, I went back to dealer and asked if they had Road Force balancer, was told they did but technician was in school until Wed. Took car in on Wed, Road Force balanced all four tires. Tried on Interstate, up to Atlanta normal speeds, and was smooth as silk. It really made a difference.
All dealers do not have Road Force balancers but can sublet to a tire dealer that does, all is covered by warranty.

Be careful of who does alignment, correct adapters are a necessity and all dealers don't want to spend the money for them. Ask up front and get in writing, save a lot of headache later with damaged wheels.

They also replaced one of my wheels for the clearcoat bubbling and popping, had 8 places on one wheel. Other wheels look good presently.

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by robert washburn
Has anyone had steering wheel tremble problems?


I've got a slight vibration coming from the front area at 60-65 mph. It's been there since the first test drive, and I insisted this be corrected as a condition for my purchase of the car. When I took the last road test before signing, I had a hard time noticing it so I figured it was fixed. However, it's just simply minimized, and I can still feel it at the above-listed speeds.

I'll be investigating the various balancing suggestions made here, but there's one thing I'm wondering about: those of you with vibration problems, do you notice your serpentine belt tensioner pulley bouncing around a bit at idle? Pop the hood when the engine's warm, and have a look at it. Does it hop and vibrate a bit? Mine does, and my favorite technician at the dealership noticed it first. He just stared at it for a while, revved the engine a bit, and then told me it should be just fine, but the initial concerned look on his face has me wondering if maybe the power steering pump has a problem that is causing the belt to oscillate (and hence the tensioner bounces around a bit). This might be felt through the wheel at speed, if it was the case of a power steering problem.

[TAF]

Hey Bill,

When you say "dealer has alignment equipment"^^^^
do you mean Pugmire or Team Ford?

Thanks,

[Black Terror]

Last time I checked, neither had correct adapters. White Knuckles has been trying to get a problem resolved, sent him a note about tires/wheels but haven't heard back.

You already have one example of wrong equipment. Pugmire does have Road Force balancer and a technician(Jerry) that knows how to use it. Don't know if Team Ford has Road Force or not.

Have you talked to Scott about Axle Bearing TSB?

[mtnh]

The crown of the road, as well as engineered sloped roadways, will cause a pull to lower side. Whenever I feel a pull (usually in the left lane, to the left) I change over to the other side of the road to see if it still pulls that way. Most of the time, the pull changes to the opposite side. Setting in the middle of a 3-lane highway, you should see pretty much straight tracking.

BTW: my 1996 Grand Marquis' steering was so bad... that it wouldn't stay in the same lane for 3 seconds while you held the steering wheel in place!

Mike

[Warpath]

Originally posted by sprtyworty
I am in the same boat. Had two different LM dealers align the car. The F#*%g car still pulls to the right. The last dealer said it passes the 3 second rule; if the car is still on the road after letting go of the centered wheel after 3 sec it is within tolerance. This is absolute BS. All of my cars track straight. Have 8000mi now. The only good news is the tires seem to be wearing evenly. I will watch this thread for a suggested solution.

First, like Mike said, make sure it is not the road surface that is causing the vehicle to pull to the right. Second, check tire pressures and make sure they are correct (or at least equal left to right). Third, ask the alignment shop when they last calibrated their alignment machine. If it was over 4-5 months ago, find someplace else. These machines need constant upkeep and calibration.

If it is not the road surface and the left and right hand caster and camber measurements are equal to each other (L=R), then another cause could be the tire Residual Self Aligning Torque (RSAT). Basically what that means is the tire wants to turn (as if you are turning the steering wheel) while the tire rolls. Your alignment can be perfect, but it will still pull because of RSAT. RSAT is a function of tire construction and tread pattern. To compensate for RSAT, the alignment specs are sometimes set with caster higher on one side than the other. The car will pull towards the side with lower caster. Therefore, since MMs seem to pull to the right, have the alignment shop set right hand caster 0.1 to 0.2 degrees higher than the left hand side. Don't go any higher than 0.3 degrees difference. That will end up messing with other aspects of steering. Also, setting caster higher on the right side will not affect tire wear. Hope this helps.

[mdmarauder]

I'm glad you guys were able to cure the problem with Road Force balancing. I had a strong feeling that would cure it. I'm waiting to buy my two new rear tires to have it done.

[sprtyworty]

Thanks Warpath. The local LM dealer is getting a new Hunter alignment machine and has ordered the special wheel adapters. Now I have a few custom adjustments to share if the car pulls right after alignment #3. I have already eliminated the crown in the road and tire pressure possibilities. I though my biggest pet peeve with cars in general was rattles but this pull takes the cake. I only get to drive wifies MM on the weekends and this pulling issue really kills my buzz.:beer:

[Thomas C Potter]

Steve TTA, serpentine belt tensioner pulley bouncing around a bit at idle? Yes mine does some. I've seen other 4.6L do some also. I plan to change belt little sooner due to this.

Road force balance is the only way to go. Make sure they give you print out or verbal runot numbers and max force seen.

[Warpath]

Some places can match mount wheels and tires too if you get new wheels or tires. They measure out of round of the bead to the tread of the tire and measure the out of round of the wheel at the bead to the lugs. Then they match the wheel and tire so that the lugs are centered to the tread. This also helps reduce vibrations.