Hi all, I have a 96 Aerostar extened van (V6 4.0L) that I rarely use(44K miles)- bought in 1998 with 28K miles. It's for family trips or transporting items too big for the car. I have always figured its cheaper to keep it then to sell - looks like I'm right from the recent posts. I am noticing a change in the ride feel and I can't figure out if its something that needs attention or is normal. The van had the original Michelin tires (HW or XH??)when I bought it (215/75R14) - the tires were showing cracks on the side wall and I got the dealer to replace one of them that was worst. I had one of them fail on the PCH driving to LA from Monterey, CA. I had to drive more than 3 hours (at ~50MPH) on the mini-spare (rear passenger) until I could find a town with a shop that had a tire selection. So much for history. The thing that seems to have changed is when I drive the van I notice a sway in the rear that seems like wind force on teh van, but I seem to notice it more than in the past. I replaced the two rear tires with Uniroyal Tiger paw tires of the same size (not the 70's)- could these be causing the change? The two front tires are Michelin same size. I did a quick look under the rear and didn't notice anything broken or loose. I have not had it for a trip in a littel while, but want to know if there is anything to check - or could this be due to tires only. The van is like new, but the ride feel scares my wife who won't drive it on the highway - requires a little more concentration at the steering wheel. Any ideas? Regards, Rudy

It sounds like you need your parking brake cable adjusted. Have you replaced the brake shoes recently?

No brake work yet on this van - just the tires replaced and oil changes. Would the brakes be binding? I use the parking brake whenever the vehicle is in park and its on for long periods of time (months) when I don't use the van much. Rudy -- In fordstars@yahoogroups.com, "Granzow, Martin {PBSG}"

I don't know if the brakes would bind. Maybe you should buy a can of brake cleaner or liquid wrench and spray around the shoes, obviously not directly on the shoes. Look and see how rusty everything is.

i'd suggest looking at the other end of the van- check the frontend, lower balljoints and tierod ends. Any play at all- change them. > No brake work yet on this van - just the tires replaced and oil > changes. > > Would the brakes be binding? I use the parking brake whenever the > vehicle is in park and its on for long periods of time (months) > when I don't use the van much.

Tires.... Tires... Tires.... This is what changed and this is what is most ikely the problem. Anytime you mismatch tires you can get weird handling effects. These effects can be mild or wild even if the sizes are all the same. I've been in a sports car with perfectly sized tires (for that vehicle) but mismatched and been afraid to travel over 65 mph. I've also purposfully mismatched tires to get a vehicle to handle differently. Some mismatches are prefectly fine. Some are horrid. I'm guessing you found one that makes you feel uncomfortable. The solution may be to get another pair of the same size and model of those Uniroyals put on. You probably should anyways since this is a FAMILY vehicle and blowouts with the family onboard are ABSOLUTELY no fun. You may also want to just go around and check air pressures to make sure they are even all the way around as well. If the rears are a little low this could make the rear feel like it's swaying. The fronts low could make it more difficult to control.

Try driving down the road and slowly pulling the parking break up. See if that makes the same sway.

Since your problem started after you changed the rear tires then it's quite likely that your rear tires are the problem. I presume that you didn't change some other things which you didn't mention. If I were you I'd get at least another pair of tires that closely match the front ones. If the front tires are as old as the rears you replaced, I'd get four new tires so as to have a matched set. I don't like the idea of getting two more Tiger Paws. If two of them aren't working there's no reason to believe that four will work better. Tiger Paws probably aren't bad tires but they don't seem to work on your Aerostar. There are some combinations of tires and vehicles that aren't compatible.