Hi everyone my first post here. I have lurked around and gotten some great info so here is a question. I just got my 99 Explorer back after needing the fuel pump replaced, left me stranded in another town after replacing the IAC. While driving I hit a couple of sharp bumps that caused the front end to vibrate like the space shuttle. Is this a shock issue? I had the upper and lower ball joints replaced 2 years ago at 70k miles and I'm now hitting 100k.

Along with the fuel pump this week I replace the iac valve.

Man I'm having fun!

Thanks

 

Does it shake all the time? How bad?

If it's only when braking, it's probably rotors. If it's all the time, could be a lot of things, including loose lug nuts. If it's shaking all the time, check those before you drive it again!

 

Like Jonm61 says, it could be alot of things. Any suspension component could be the cause as well as the rotors or lug nuts.
Have you had the front wheels off and moved the steering by hand? This can somehow cause air to be pulled into the sysytem and when you hit a bump the front end will try to shake apart and the steering wheel will shake like a SOB. It's nerve wracking at hiway speed. To fix this, with the engine running, turn the steering wheel hard over left and right half a dozen times. Turn off engine and look in the power steering fluid reservoir. If you see frothy fluid there was air in the system. I've had this happen several times after working on the front end and this fix works.

 

I also thought of lug nuts and checked those once I got home. I put rotors on a few months back , but it just started doing this. However I have a had a kinda rattling noise that sounds like the shocks are loose or a bushing is shot on the front end lately.

I tried the turning wheels deal and so far it has not done it since. I will continue to see how it runs next week as I will be on the road running highway speeds.

Thanks for the help.

 

Let us know how you make out.