1999 Ford Ranger : When I am cruising down the highway, if I put just a little pressure on the wheel as if starting a turn, it shakes,well kinda wobbles. It also does this any time pretty much. any suggestins?

I would certainly suggest getting it checked sooner rather than later. I had something similar with my car a couple of years ago, I can't recall what caused it, but my garage sorted it out fairly quickly.

This post has been edited by justontime: Apr 16 2008, 01:19 PM

Sounds like it needs tightening up to me. Fingers crossed that it's nothing more serious, but your local dealership will be able to confirm.

My Ford Tempo used to do that! It freaked me out - always happened when I was starting to turn or accelerating. It turned out to be something with the alignment/wheels. I don't remember but I DO remember that they told me it was good I got it checked out because it could have caused a bad accident! Take your car in...

If it does it when you hit a certain speed, have your tracking checked out. If one wheel is sightly out of alignmenet, or if you have a worn tyre, you could be getting this wobble. If you ignore it, you could get worse uneven wear on your tyres and prematurely age them.

I think that its time to visit your mechanic. That is dangerous to drive. Ignoring it might cause danger to you and your love ones.

It's really dangerous as your car may skid anytime.Get it repaired immediately.I would request you not to waste a single day.

I have a 14" GT steering wheel. You can see it in my pictures in the photo section (abn's 73)

Have you checked your brakes? SOunds like it could be that the rotors need to be turned or the rear drums need to be turned.<br><br>Had that same problem on my 88 F-150 until I went over the brake system. <br><br>No more shudder.

Well I have a '90 Gt and it does that.I was told by the dealer that the front end bushings cause it..If you replace them with stiffer ones it goes away..Get the recall notices and the fixes that they send to the dealers and its listed there...<br>I think edmonds.com has it..

Could be a couple of different things. Your front wheels could be unbalanced. If the wheel weights have come off, this could cause a wobble/vibration in the wheels, which you feel in the steering wheel. Your brake rotors could be in need of turning, if one or both are warped at all. I'm to understand that front end bushings could unsettle the steering wheel if they're old and worn. A good set of urethane replacements might cure the problem. <br>Hopefully, something in here will help you and let you return to your 'elevated' levels of fun.

Thanks for all the help it is greatly appreciated i will check that all out and get back to you. Again thanks!

I had that problem on several occations on both my 89 LX 5.0L and my 93 LX 5.0L. Every time it was the brakes. As much as I love these cars, the stock brakes are woefully inadequate for the speed and power that this car is capable of. The rotors tend to warp very easily as they are heat up quickly in high speed braking situations. This is compounded when you live in Arizona like I do, and it is 120 degrees outside. Ford really should have put bigger brakes on the front of these. I did find a reasonably inexpensive solution. It does not cure the problem, but it helps a lot! Use Carbon Metalic brake pads. Carbon Metalic pads actually lay down a layer of their own dust onto the rotor, and ride on that layer of dust. It helps keep them from heating up as quickly, and does not wear the rotor as quickly. They also tend to be much smoother, and I experienced almost 2X better life with them over a standard pad. I also like the fact that most of them are a bonded pad instead of a riveted one. The least expensive Carbon Metallic pad I have found is the PERFORMANCE FRICTION pads available at AUTOZONE. They work reasonably well, and cost less than $30 for the set. One other thing to keep in mind, if you replace a rotor, you should still have it turned before you put it on, even if it is brand new in the box, as they tend to not be quite perfect, and will still give you that jitter in the wheel. The other option is to do a brake upgrade. You can do a COBRA R conversion for about $1200 if you do the labor yourself. This puts a multi-piston caliper up front, with a 2.5" bigger cross-drilled rotor, and swaps your rear drum brakes for a set of disks. Unless you are a serious racer, or have a lot of money, the $30 pads are a more realistic option.

Have you checked your brakes? SOunds like it could be that the rotors need to be turned or the rear drums need to be turned.<br><br>Had that same problem on my 88 F-150 until I went over the brake system. <br><br>No more shudder.

Well I have a '90 Gt and it does that.I was told by the dealer that the front end bushings cause it..If you replace them with stiffer ones it goes away..Get the recall notices and the fixes that they send to the dealers and its listed there...<br>I think edmonds.com has it..

Could be a couple of different things. Your front wheels could be unbalanced. If the wheel weights have come off, this could cause a wobble/vibration in the wheels, which you feel in the steering wheel. Your brake rotors could be in need of turning, if one or both are warped at all. I'm to understand that front end bushings could unsettle the steering wheel if they're old and worn. A good set of urethane replacements might cure the problem. <br>Hopefully, something in here will help you and let you return to your 'elevated' levels of fun.

Thanks for all the help it is greatly appreciated i will check that all out and get back to you. Again thanks!

I had that problem on several occations on both my 89 LX 5.0L and my 93 LX 5.0L. Every time it was the brakes. As much as I love these cars, the stock brakes are woefully inadequate for the speed and power that this car is capable of. The rotors tend to warp very easily as they are heat up quickly in high speed braking situations. This is compounded when you live in Arizona like I do, and it is 120 degrees outside. Ford really should have put bigger brakes on the front of these. I did find a reasonably inexpensive solution. It does not cure the problem, but it helps a lot! Use Carbon Metalic brake pads. Carbon Metalic pads actually lay down a layer of their own dust onto the rotor, and ride on that layer of dust. It helps keep them from heating up as quickly, and does not wear the rotor as quickly. They also tend to be much smoother, and I experienced almost 2X better life with them over a standard pad. I also like the fact that most of them are a bonded pad instead of a riveted one. The least expensive Carbon Metallic pad I have found is the PERFORMANCE FRICTION pads available at AUTOZONE. They work reasonably well, and cost less than $30 for the set. One other thing to keep in mind, if you replace a rotor, you should still have it turned before you put it on, even if it is brand new in the box, as they tend to not be quite perfect, and will still give you that jitter in the wheel. The other option is to do a brake upgrade. You can do a COBRA R conversion for about $1200 if you do the labor yourself. This puts a multi-piston caliper up front, with a 2.5" bigger cross-drilled rotor, and swaps your rear drum brakes for a set of disks. Unless you are a serious racer, or have a lot of money, the $30 pads are a more realistic option.

Have you checked your brakes? SOunds like it could be that the rotors need to be turned or the rear drums need to be turned.<br><br>Had that same problem on my 88 F-150 until I went over the brake system. <br><br>No more shudder.

Well I have a '90 Gt and it does that.I was told by the dealer that the front end bushings cause it..If you replace them with stiffer ones it goes away..Get the recall notices and the fixes that they send to the dealers and its listed there...<br>I think edmonds.com has it..