i see the post for steering shake and was going to put this under that thread but i feel like this could be another problem entirerly..

i have owned my 03 STR for 3+ years now and have noticed an ever-growing problem with front end. when i bought the car it had a bent drivers front wheel and a bad steering wheel shake, i replaced the rim and things were fine for about 1500 miles. shake came back, i had new tires put on, obviously balanced and things were fine for again about 1500 miles and the shake comes back. i have repeatedly had the front wheels balanced and the problem presits wierd huh? Now the another problem has surfaced. Horrible bump steer has started, just as the suspension compresses a bit before a turn the car wants to steer its self, its a bit unnerving the first time it happens and now the car will "steer its self" while i pull up to an intersection with even the slightest ruts or indentation at it. no brakes, hands off wheel and at maybe 1MPH at an intersection the steering wheel will turn its self and the car will want to drive to the other lane..

so there it is..has anyone else experienced this? i have never owned a car with power steering that can steer its self because of a road indentation. my fiance is now terrified to drive the STR because she thinks its going to shoot out of control one day..

let me know what you guys think, serious? not serious? maybe a steering damper or something loose?


thanks!

 

Sounds like a possible bent control arm. The suspension is out geometery and should be fixed asap

 

First and foremost. (And I'm the guy with the S-type on 19's) which has been fighting the shakes.

Are you SURE you didn't bend another wheel? Or lose a balance weight? Sometimes those stick on weights tend to come off.. Have you ever had the front wheels road forced balanced?

I think you're much more likely to bend either an inner or outer tie rod on these cars than the actual control arm. Have you had the car on an alignment rack?

George

 

Hey, thanks for the replies. I have never had the car road forced balanced..not sure the 2 bay goodyear here could do it. maybe i just need to find a bigger better shop. the strange thing is the shakes seems to come and go. I guess it could be tire pressure changing with the temperature.. i havent tracked it that closely. also my problem sound similar to yours where the shakes come and go at different speeds. im more concerned with the bump steer and steering wheel ghost. are these cars inherently hard to balance?

 

The shake might be caused from tire flat spotting. The tire develop a slight flat spot just from sitting and gradually works it way to normal. And the other issue might be lower ball joints. I had worn lower ball joints and when the car rode over road imperfections the car would seem to "steer itself", usually towards on coming traffic. The feeling was like the car had slipped on an ice patch.

 

Mep, you described exactly what i have felt a couple times. I will check out the ball joints, im guessing thats not a select edition covered item is it...haha

 

Balancing is balancing. The wheel / tire except under extreme circumstances, is balanced off the car. However. What I think happens with these cars, is as you go to bigger wheels, unsprung weight increases dramatically, and the car becomes more sensitive to wheel balance issues. These cars are generally picky when it comes to wheel / tire balance.

Road force balancing is a better option, because it simulates a wheel on a car going down the road. It's not the magic cure to everything though.

Here's some info, as well as a gsp9700 locator.

http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/features/how.cfm

Top corner has a link to find one.

The earlier ball joints were much more prone to failure than the new ones apparently.

George

 

Well we are missing the fact he bent a wheel. It takes good force to bend a wheel so that same force could have transmited into other components of the suspension. Abnormal bump steer is a sign of the geometry of the suspension being out of specs.

IE in the Lincoln if I drive with too much or little air in the bags I get severe bumpsteer from the toe and camber change

 

He said that he bought the car 3+ years ago with a bent rim, which was replaced, but he has never really gotten the shake completely gone.

Now it's doing the bump steer thing 3 years later. It very well COULD be lower ball joint wear. See as far as something bent, I doubt it. For two reasons. First a bend is a permanent fixed change to the steering geometry. Ie it would only turn in the direction of the bend etc...

Now the next question. On the highway, at speed does the car track straight? Or does it drift?

 

I'm on my 3rd Jag. So far I haven't found anybody in my area who can balance the wheels correctly, except for my local Jag dealer - who uses a road force balancer. As a result, when my S needed new tires, I had the dealer do an alignment, and, mount and balance the new tires. If you've got a good Jag dealer close to you - get them to do an alignment and a road force balance.

Regards:
Oldengineer