Steering Difficulties

[hrspwrjunkie]

Hi,

This is my first time to this forum and I've got a problem.

My '95 GT has a serious steering ailment I haven't been able to repair. I've rebuilt the entire front end, including the steering rack and power steering pump. I've also replaced the front wheel bearings and gone through 3 sets of tires. And it's been aligned repeatedly.

The only parts of the front end that are original are the spindles, the swaybar, the swaybar endlinks, the K-member and the sheetmetal.

Here's what's happening: It grabs every line, rut or bump in the road and fights me like a dog on a leash trying to run after a squirrel. The things that were bad in the front end and made a big difference in its driving were the passenger side balljoint that was sticking, stiff tie rod ends and bad wheel bearings. Also, the factory strut mounts wouldn't allow the camber to be set to factory spec so I put on a set of Ford Racing strut mounts and that took care of that problem.

The tires I am currently running are 245/45R17 BFG G-Force T/A KDW on stock 17" GT wheels. I've heard nothing but good things about these tires, but the alignment guy thought the aggressive tread on them might be a problem (before I discovered the wheel bearings were bad enough that they were kept me from keeping control of the front end when the tires would grab a groove in the road).

Anyone have any front end problems like this? Do I have a dud for a car? I've driven other '95 GTs and I can't remember running across this problem before. Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[canadian94gt]

Wide tires hitting ruts or grooves in the road is called tramelling i believe. I know I experience it on certain highways where tractor trailers have worn ruts in the pavement.I got wider tires and it is even worse. There have been other posts about this problem if you do a search.

Welcome to the boards by the way.

 

[Chythar]

I had the same problem with Kumho Ecsta 712 tires. The wide groove in the center caught every rut in the road - I had to keep a good grip on the steering wheel all the time. I'm now using the Kumho Ecsta MX tires, and they respond MUCH better. They still grab the occasional rut, but nowhere near as bad.

I haven't had any experience with any other tires recently.

 

[hrspwrjunkie]

Hi,

Thanks.

I've been running into it everywhere, in town, out of town even on some fairly smooth roads. I did some more extensive study last night and I think it might be that the front end is out of alignment after the front hub replacement since it was aligned with bad bearings. It seems to be pulling excessively hard to the left. I hope the way it deals with the road is just a symptom of the alignment being off.

Wide tires hitting ruts or grooves in the road is called tramelling i believe. I know I experience it on certain highways where tractor trailers have worn ruts in the pavement.I got wider tires and it is even worse. There have been other posts about this problem if you do a search.

Welcome to the boards by the way.

 

[hrspwrjunkie]

Thanks for the tire help. If the alignment I'm having done to the car today doesn't fix the problem, I've now got a good tire recommendation!

I had the same problem with Kumho Ecsta 712 tires. The wide groove in the center caught every rut in the road - I had to keep a good grip on the steering wheel all the time. I'm now using the Kumho Ecsta MX tires, and they respond MUCH better. They still grab the occasional rut, but nowhere near as bad.

I haven't had any experience with any other tires recently.