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Car gets blown around by wind at highway speeds, also some play in steering wheel...

L

Lord Stanley

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Why the Hockey Hall of Fame of course ;)
So, my car gets blown around pretty bad when it gets hit with a gust of wind on the highway... If I am following a big rig on the highway, the car shimmies / wobbles side-to-side... Also, there is some play in the steering wheel, like 1/2 an inch, it is hard to say exactly... The car drives fine though at all speeds when there is no wind, and I have never had a vibration at any speed either...

What could the problem be? I am thinking tie rod ends... Would anything else cause these symptoms? How would I be able to tell if it is the outer or inner tie rods, if they are the culprit? I know the o'clock test, but whenever I do that I simply move the wheels back and forth between the steering lock (even with one still on the gound), so I cannot tell if the tie rods are bad or not...
 
Sounds normal to me. :shrug: both the Zetec and the SVT got blown around with wind gusts and while behind semis.
 
Well, compared to what it was 20-40,000 miles ago it is much worse... I used to be able to draft trucks no problem, but now I will not even follow them because it is so annoying... Yes, the car did get blown around a little before, but now I can barely go straight down the highway on a windy day :shrug:
 
This may sound crazy, but check your sway bar bushings. When mine were shot, for some reason, my car had shimmy exactly like what you are describing. While the car is parked on the ground, grab the sway bar through the wheel well, and pull and push on it, and if it slides at all, it means the bushings are shot and need to be replaced.
 
I win. Honestly, I don't understand it either. I've said the same thing in the past and got bashed and doubted, but I honestly felt a difference. I suggest bringing the car to Greg to do the work. The subframe almost definitely needs to be dropped a hair to get to the bushing mounts, and I find it very likely your bolts will spin. I'm sure you've read about the nuts breaking free and spinning in the frame. Greg can have the subframe down in like 10 minutes, lol.
 
That is strange.
Wouldn't hurt to check out the suspension, but really with road conditions, there isn't much you can do.

One thing you could do that would help is date a really fat woman and the extra 300 pounds in the car when she is with you will keep it steady to the ground.
 
Lord Stanley said:
That does sounds crazy Ian, although I did as you said and I could move the bar side to side... But, I fail to see how the swaybar has an effect when I am going straight down the road :confused:
Click to expand...

Doesn't sound weird at all. Even going straight down the road, your car is going to experience lateral forces, whether it is from going over uneven surfaces or wind. Having that spring to stiffen you laterally makes it easier to go straight. Sway bars, Anti-sway bars, or whatever you want to call them. Just think about the name for a minute and it makes perfect sense right?

Sorry, I don't remember the stock diameter. Didn't we used to have stickies with that kinda stuff in them? I can't find anything. Maybe I am thinking about the archives.... oh well.
 
stock front for non-SVTs is supposed to be 21mm. the SVT got a 19 or 20mm front bar (cant remember exactly which size)
 
I say the most likely culprits are the 1) ball joints are shot; 2) tie rod end bushings; 3) sway bar lnks. 4) loose upper strut mounts... Could be one or combination of a few of these...
 
forgot to mention this before, but to test for inner tie rods going bad, gently shake the wheel back and forth on 3 oclock and 9 oclock

do not use enough force to turn the wheels, just enough to test for play
 
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