2CarPros - Car Questions & Answers

1997 Eagle Talon Repair Question


Topics covered: Wheel, Ball joint, Bump.
Mileage: 182,000 miles.

Asked on January 26, 2012

Please help --what are the symptoms of a bad -rack and pinion

Hello-while iam driving down the road and hit a bump or small hole in road -the front end kinda feels like its jumping to one side or the other and the steering wheel****** hard --the bottom control arms have been replaced and the ball joints are made into the control arm so the ball joints are new -- the top control arms and ball joints are not new but appeare to be in good condition-- i did a phsycial inspection with a pry bar to see if i could get them to move to find out if there was any- free play -(Loosnes)- -no freeplay was found in the ball joints--- the outer tie rodes are not loose and have no freeplay --the front end does not make any weird noises when i hit bumps-- and the steering wheel is straight with the car and it doesnt pull to one side unless i hit bumps or taking off-- and when i take off from a stop light the steering wheel pulls bad and kinda feel like wheels are ? fighting each other maybe?---and when i make a sharp turn in ether direction the wheel pulls it self over hard -
Avatar Asked by smitty5454

Answer

Replied on January 27, 2012

There are several things that I can think of off the top of my head. The first is that you could have an alignment issue. Sometimes that will cause this type of problem. Also, you could have worn out struts. That can also cause similar problems.

Tiny Answered by promechanic (expert)
556 answers provided