My truck is a '99 Ranger XLT 3.0 L Flex Fuel, automatic. I have a bizarre problem with the steering wheel, front tires and front end - all three shake violently when I make a sharp turn or hit a bump, *especially* with the brakes depressed. The steering wheel feels like it's hanging up, but I checked the fluid and it's full. I was on the highway last night doing 65 mph, hit a bump and the front end could not stop shaking for about 5-10 minutes.

I checked the front end today and found that I had a broken sway bar end link on the driver side. Figuring that was the problem, I changed it. The steering problem has not gone away. The broken link looked like it had been broken for some time, but I have not had any steering problems to date.

Not that there is any connection possible, but all this started to happen last night after I dropped the gas tank to replace the fuel line from the tank to the fuel filter (it broke last week when I tried to replace the fuel filter). We put the gas tank back up, I drove away and the steering started acting bizarre.

A co-worker thinks it might be the rack and pinnion setup, but I'm not sure. The truck had been sitting for one week until we fixed it last night. Can anyone offer any advice or insight? Thanks.

Keith
nxne75@yahoo.com

 

Tie rod ends. I'd guess they are fried. If so, replace them with Moog brand parts. A bill and a half, a few hours and a couple scraped knuckles will have you cruising smooth.