My son's 1994 F150 has a violent wobble on the front end left to right from time to time while cruising 35 to 70 mph. He can correct it by steering back and forth, right to left quickly. This occurs on both tires at the same time. (straight 6; 300 cubic inches; automatic trans). He has some money set aside to do some repairs and would like some pointers on where to start looking before he begins to spend money.

Thanks for feedback, all is appreciated.

 

4x4? Could be front U-Joints seizing up.

Also, do a search on Death Wobble. Not exactly sure what that is.. But I know it is a common thing on these trucks and has been brought up a lot.

 

it's not 4x4. thanks

 

Worn tie rod ends, worn steering gear box, worn ball joints, bad tire (shifted belt) or out of balance tire...

Get under it and have someone turn the steering wheel back and forth.. Watch the items mentioned above, I'll bet you will see where some of the lost motion is.. For the ball joints jack it up by the axle and shake the top and bottom of the tire in and out, and again look for lost motion. You can also use a pry bar to lift up on the bottom of the tire while it's jacked up to check for lost motion..

 

There is slack in the gear box for sure. There is quite a bit of motion in steering wheel before response from tires.

 

the shocks could be worn out, when you go over any little bump it would cause the wheels to wobble or bounce...had that happen before and its not a great feeling

 

Check the steering wheel shaft play that connects the steering column to the steering box. Replaced one of those once, and it tightened things right up, no more play.. front end was tight otherwise on that truck tho. You may have a combination of both front end and steering shaft wear.

cheers