diagnosis help!

[stizkidz]

Today, I replaced the wheel bearings on the passenger side of my truck. But to no help, when I finished and took the truck for a test drive, the problems I hoped to fix were all still there.

Here is what is happening: First, when I brake, the steering wheel literally turns hard to the left and therefore the entire truck pulls to the left (all brakes on the truck are good). Second, the truck shakes bad, really bad, and it feels like it is coming from the front end because the dash and console are mainly what vibrate but the entire truck is shaking (trust me). It does this mainly from 20mph to 35mph where it finally smooths out when it comes back around 60mph. Finally, the steering is loose and the truck is all over the road unless I have both hands firmly planted on the steering wheel. I shook the front end myself and I couldn;t get it to move at all - no play whatsoever. SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM???
Oh, I replaced the passenger side wheel bearings because the tire was being eaten on the outer edge of the pass. side.

 

[lukebaby1]

Sounds like you have an alignment problem. Are the tires balanced properly? Also is the steering stabilizer in good shape? What you are describing sounds like the "Death Wobble". Do a search. /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[hawkeye649]

It's a problem with that wheel. I'd bet about $10 you have a thrown tire weight on that wheel. I had a shop remove one for a come-back and boy did I ever nail 'em for it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Same symptoms. /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

 

[stizkidz]

Believe me, I thought it might be the wheel weights also. But I swapped the pass front tire/wheel with the driver rear tire/wheel. Would a screwed up steering stabalizer really cause issues like this? The thought has crossed my mind that I might simply neeed an alignment but the whole pulling while braking thing is really throwing me off. Didn;t want to do this but, to the shop it goes... /forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[rjfguitar]

Test your ball joints and wheel bearings on the driverside. Jack up one side, grab on to the tire and shake the crap out of it. If you can move it at all you have a ball joint or wheel bearing failure. For the hard pulling I would check your brakes again. A leaky wheel cylinder in one of the drums will cause it to swerve hard when on the brakes.

 

[diesel4me]

You could have a bad caliper or brake hose,that can cause it to pull--one wheel gets more braking action than the other--if the brakes are dragging that can cause a wobble when the rotor heats up.I would take a long hard look at the ball joints as already suggested--and a very close look at the frame where the steering box bolts on,make sure its not cracked or the box bolts arent loose--also check all the rivets in the frame where the crossmembers are bolted on--my 74 truck sheared nearly all of them,I put bolts in and welded them in,it made a huge difference--also my tranny crossmember kept shearing the 3/8 bolts in it to the frame,so I drilled them out bigger and put grade 8 1/2 inch bolts in instead--the truck felt much stiffer after that,and its never loosened one up yet. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif