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Jim Grant's Tech Tips
96
Ford Ranger, Wild Ride
Q: I recently purchased a ‘96 2 wheel drive
Ford Ranger that just came off a lease with 23,000 miles. It has a very
scary and dangerous problem. When I hit a raised bridge expansion joint
while traveling on the highway at 55-60 MPH or a simple cut made in a
road for traffic light wires at 35-45 MPH, the steering wheel is snapped
out of my hands to the left; always to the left. The rear of the truck
goes to the right. Recently, this happened on the highway, and as a result
I lost total control of the vehicle. The rear end crossed into the next
lane, almost hitting another vehicle and giving me a heart attack. I took
it back to the dealer where they looked it over and found nothing wrong.
I reduced the air pressure in the tires, but I still have the same problem,
though not as pronounced. I have owned other pick-ups but have never experienced
this problem before. Do you have any ideas how I may correct my problem?
A: You
say the steering wheel is snapped out of your hands, always to the left?
There is a component in the steering box, that if incorrectly adjusted
or defective, will cause road imperfections to backfeed into the steering
box. The result is a momentary command of the steering to turn. But I've
never heard of it occurring to the extreme you're speaking of. Have the
steering box inspected more closely and adjusted or replaced if necessary.
Also have the alignment checked of all four wheels. Front wheel alignment
problems can cause a vehicle to pull or to be over sensitive to road surface.
Rear wheel alignment problems can cause a vehicle to be unstable and darty
when driven over irregular road surfaces. The front end of your vehicle
is adjustable but the rear end is not. If the rear wheel alignment is
found to be beyond acceptable standards, the rear end may have to be replaced.
What you're describing for a problem is a safety concern, have corrected!
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