I desprately need help with front end

[Fritz180]

ok I need some help. I have a bad front end shimmy between 60-70mph. I had the tires balanced, and I just replaced the sway bar end link bushings and the sway bar bushings. I also replaced the trac arm bushings this morning. I know I need a steering stabilizer and a steering gearbox, but I'm really tight on money. Does anyone have any clues or suggestions on what can be causing this front end to shake as bad as it does? I could really use the help.

Thanks

Mike

 

[swampthing]

could be stabilizer causing it...also check your balljoints

 

[Yardape]

Does it shake in 2 wheel drive? are you sure the hubs are both unlocked? How are the tires? Check the pressure, look for seperated belts. Uneven wear. Check Balljoints. Send it in for an alignment, if there is any front end damage they will print you out a sheet of everything that needs to be fixed before they will align it.

 

[Fritz180]

I haven't check the ball joints. How would I go about doing so? The truck is all wheel drive so I can't lock or unlock the hubs. Would the bad steering gearbox cause a problem with the alignment? I checked the tires earlier and it seems that the outside edges of them are eaten a little bit. and they are at 35psi. They are 33inch tires, nothing big. I am going to order a stabilizer from broncograveyard either tomorrow or thursday when I get paid. On there they are only 40$.

Thanks for the replies

Mike.

 

[Yardape]

Jack up one side at a time and grab your front tire, one hand at 6 oclock and one at 12. and try and wiggle the tire if there is any movement that is bad. Could be the balljoints or your wheel bearings. I your tires are getting eaten up I would suspect your Balljoints are getting worn out. Is your Bronco factory all wheel drive? Thats the first I have ever heard of that in a Bronc. Hmm learn something new everyday

 

[Fritz180]

yes the bronco is factory all wheel drive. I've tried moving the wheels before while up in the air and there is no movement.

 

[HardMaple]

yes the bronco is factory all wheel drive. I've tried moving the wheels before while up in the air and there is no movement.

I'm not here to turn this into a flame thread full of arguments and this is the only thing I will say on the subject.

No Bronco is factory all wheel drive. Period. Some are manual hubs, some are automatic hubs, but all Broncos leave the factory as 4x4s.

If yours is in fact AWD, someone converted along the way. But I think what we have is a misunderstanding of what you call AWD.

 

[Fritz180]

This isn't the first time I have heard someone say this, and someone told me this I wouldn't believe them either. The reason I say it is all wheel drive is because the shifter handle doesn't say 2wheel drive on it anywhere and I don't have the option to lock or unlock the front wheels. If you have any other input please let me know because I'd like to know. and the person that had it before me was the original owner that did nothing with the truck, she used it for normal driving use. I'm going to try to attach a picture of the shifter know. Let me know what you think.

 

[Justshootme84]

That is the "FULLTIME" 4WD with a NewProcess 203 transfer case. Might be considered "ALLWHEEL Drive", since both driveshafts are always turning. both diffs in the axles. I doubt though that it would cause a shimmy or alignment problem. AS stated, suspect items are the balljoints, wheel bearings, tie rod ends and steering linkage. Is ther any play in the steering wheel? I've seen the stock or factory rims get bent, and cause a vibration, but that should be detected when the tires are spin-balanced. Raise both front wheels off the ground and put jackstands under the frame (for safety), then re-check for any play or slack up/down or side/side in the wheels. Then watch for any slack pr play in the steering linkage while manually turning the tires by hand.

 

[Fritz180]

Okay, thank you for the information on the full time 4wd. Is that a decent transfer case? Anyways yes there is a lot of play in the steering gearbox. Guessing there is about 2-3 inches of play before the wheels will start to move, and I know I need to replace it but I just don't have the 300.00$ to replace it yet. When I had the tires balanced they came up good and when it was up in the air I check to see if there was any wheel movement and I didn't notice any. I have to do some work on her this weekend, so I'm going to jack it up and check for any other parts that are moving excessivly. Thank you again for all your help guys.

 

[Mike G]

I went through the same thing on my 92. New shocks and traction arm bushings and L/H bracket. One new ball joint, wheels rotated and balanced, 2 front end alignments. Still between 65 and 74 the front end would vibrate on the road. It was driving me crazy. My tires looked good. So after another 250 mile trip to MO at 65 MPH and troubleshooting by swerving back and forth to load and unload the front end, in neutral coasting, down hill on the brakes off the brakes I finally decided it had to the tires. None of the above changed the vibration. Usually the vibration would change if it was the suspension by putting different loads on it.

Check out the picture of my truck and you can see the tires looked good but they were BAD BAD TIRES.

Man after the new ones were put on what a difference. It rides like a dream. Quite and the steering wheel going straight with the old tires was always left of center. That

 

[trhaus]

you could also check the u joint by jacking the front truck up, putting the transfercase in neutral, turn the tires in or out, and try spinning them over to see if they have tight spots where the u-joints bind. that will cause a shimmy, and hey also check the barke rotors for any signs of warping or cracking, because you just never know. as for the gear box mine was fairly loose so i went through my manual and tightened it up.(chilton)

 

[79RAGTOP]

I THINK TIRES,GEARBOX"STEERING"BOX. I TRY ROTATING TIRES, MAYBE FRONT ONES ARE BAD AS SOMEONE ELSE SAID, ROTATING TIRES IS CHEAP

 

[Johnny Reb]

I THINK TIRES,GEARBOX"STEERING"BOX. I TRY ROTATING TIRES, MAYBE FRONT ONES ARE BAD AS SOMEONE ELSE SAID, ROTATING TIRES IS CHEAP

Have you checked the bushing (I believe it is called a C -bushing) that goes aroung the axle houseing? When I drove my bronco home-it steered perfect. Then in the spring when I started wokring on it. One C-bushing --WAS MISSING and the other one was beat bad and the sway bar bushing was shot-yet the truck steered perfect---just another oddity-haha,but make a check list of what the guys told you and go down the list and check it all.And as you check each one-check it off. You,d be surprised of what we can miss.

 

[Johnny Reb]

Have you checked the bushing (I believe it is called a C -bushing) that goes aroung the axle houseing? When I drove my bronco home-it steered perfect. Then in the spring when I started wokring on it. One C-bushing --WAS MISSING and the other one was beat bad and the sway bar bushing was shot-yet the truck steered perfect---just another oddity-haha,but make a check list of what the guys told you and go down the list and check it all.And as you check each one-check it off. You,d be surprised of what we can miss.

You might also want to check out the FRONT DRIVE SHAFT. My brother had a 76 fulltime 4 wheel drive and it caused his truck to shimmy. He installed a new one and it quit.

 

[Fritz180]

well I have recently replaced every bushing in the front end, but I haven't driven it yet. I took the front driveshaft out to drive home from AZ. to New jersey and I still had the shimmy. Hopefully with all the bushings being replaced in the front will stop it from shaking.

 

[muddrivermike]

You know after everybody on here keeps repeating the same things to check over and over again,One thing I picked up was his tires are worn on the outside edges.That shows his toe is wrong.Ive had vehicles have a high speed shimmy from the toe being out.And I have to agree about the tires maybe being bad.I just got done balancing a customers a sequoia and even though it balanced out on the machine at 55-60 he had a shimmy.AND they were new tires,BF goodrich all terrians.Sucks to be him. /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[B1 bronco]

Its more than likely your ball joints I had a 79 f150 that did that usually between 40-50 not under or over right in that speed range so it took a tear apart session to find the problem. Quick check jack the front stick a bar in wheel hole if allowed pry up and down better if you have 2 people one just for eyes. That will show ball joint slop if any top ball is usually the first to go if its that easy fix if you have or know someone with press it will save you severaly hundred bucks doing it your self parts might be 100 bucks at most.