[moosey42]

I have a 94 that is driving really squirrely. If the road is very flat it drives ok but if there is any uneven pavement, it jumps all over the place. It was a little squirrely before but this has gotten worse since I had new tires installed. Im not sure if its the new tires or if something could have come loose when they put it on the lift.
It has a 6 inch lift that was installed a number of years ago if this helps. 35 inch tires. Dual shock setup. Still has sway bar on.
Any thoughts?

 

[sneal46]

I did a search in the 80-96 section under "steering" and found a few great write ups on this problem. Many thoughts point to the tie rod ends and other front end parts before looking at a new gear box.

 

[Ewgoetz]

Lift it up and check the balljoints and wheel bearings for play. check tie rods for play. Just putting a vehicle on a lift wont loosen or make anything worse. If anything the 6inch lift might have never been tighten down good enought or something over time has loosened up.

 

[Sage]

check out these links

http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45983

http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=141208

http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89146

http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99315

http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115455

 

[DamageIncNY]

What brand lift?

 

[quinault]

If the lift has been on for a while you'll want to check all of the lift bracket bolts. I have seen the passenger side beam center pivot drop bracket loosen on 2 different lifted TTB trucks.

 

[BroncoJoe19]

check out these links

http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45983

http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=141208

http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89146

http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99315

http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115455

Wow! What a bunch of great threads!

I'd like to add that as ball joints wear, they'll sometimes begin to bind. What that means to the driver is that he will have to turn the steering wheel further than would be necessary to apply enough force for the ball joints to allow the tire to change direction. Once enough force is applied that the stuck joint "breaks free" the tire will turn too far in the desired direction, and the driver will have to compensate by turning it back. This results in a series of compensatory oversteering.

An experienced front end man can raise the front end, and turn the tires in and out and determine if it takes too much force. My front end mechanic had me watch as the body of the truck shifted before the tires actually started to turn.

I am sure that with a lifted truck, and 35's the effect would be more dramatic.

 

[SnowTom]

I have a 94 that is driving really squirrely. If the road is very flat it drives ok but if there is any uneven pavement, it jumps all over the place. It was a little squirrely before but this has gotten worse since I had new tires installed. Im not sure if its the new tires or if something could have come loose when they put it on the lift.
It has a 6 inch lift that was installed a number of years ago if this helps. 35 inch tires. Dual shock setup. Still has sway bar on.
Any thoughts?

If it's new and you didn't have it with the old tires, my guess is the old tires were worn unevenly and helped counter the affect of a bad alignment. Also, I'd look at RA bushings and the TTB pivot bushing, and have the alignment checked.

 

[moosey42]

thanks foe all the great advice. Ill follow up on this soon.

 

[lifeizhard102205]

check the tie rod ends. usually they are the culprits especially with bigger tires.