Steering wheel problem at high speeds

[kirk2005]

Can any one tell me why my steering wheel turns to da left a little at an angle when I'm going 70 mph or higher.Also when i take off quick it turns left pretty quick.Plus when I'm driving the steering wheel feels light and i can feel vibration from the road.I have had upper and lower ball joints put on both side in the front,idler and pitman arms,a stabilizer link kit on both sides,and a alignment done to my car.From 10 to 50 mph i can drive straight,but from there on it goes hay wire.I drive with one or both hands on the wheel.What can I do to prevent this or either fix this problem???????.......

[Panther12]

Well lets try a few things here to narrow this down to a probable cause. First jack up the front end so both tires are off the ground and start it. Do the tires stay centered or does the P/S pump turn then to one side or the other? If so P/S pump or rack and pinion needs replaced.Now if that isn't it lets rotate tires from front to rear and make sure they all have 35 psi cold. Also I am assumming you have 4 matching tires? Correct? also if you have like 18in rims and short sidewall tires you are doomed to have this for ever as wide short side wall tires are grove followers. Look cool. Drive like sh--. go drive it..Any change? If so take it to the tire shop and have them spin them and check for roundness. Also check balance of tires at the same time. Possibility of a tire seperation going on. You can't see tire seperation usually until it gets severe. If there is no change in the way it drives then lets just switch front tires from left to right. Trust me on this as I have fixed many a front end problem by just this testing and found out that a new set of tires was all it needed. These cars require good tires as they are set up to handle well. Cheap tires result in bad driving charcteristics of these cars. Now if the problem is not this then lets move on to the next test. As you increase speed aerodynamic load on the front of the car increases as well. If one shock is weaker than the other it will show at higher speeds. The slight pull to the left at 35mph. now becomes a hard pull at 70mph. Switch front shocks and see if the pull goes from left to right. If so replace shocks. Hope this narrows the cause down. If you like email me at [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] and let me know the results. also all info on your CVPI would be helpfull for me to try and trouble shoot this without ever driving the car. Good luck

[kirk2005]

Well lets try a few things here to narrow this down to a probable cause. First jack up the front end so both tires are off the ground and start it. Do the tires stay centered or does the P/S pump turn then to one side or the other? If so P/S pump or rack and pinion needs replaced.Now if that isn't it lets rotate tires from front to rear and make sure they all have 35 psi cold. Also I am assumming you have 4 matching tires? Correct? also if you have like 18in rims and short sidewall tires you are doomed to have this for ever as wide short side wall tires are grove followers. Look cool. Drive like sh--. go drive it..Any change? If so take it to the tire shop and have them spin them and check for roundness. Also check balance of tires at the same time. Possibility of a tire seperation going on. You can't see tire seperation usually until it gets severe. If there is no change in the way it drives then lets just switch front tires from left to right. Trust me on this as I have fixed many a front end problem by just this testing and found out that a new set of tires was all it needed. These cars require good tires as they are set up to handle well. Cheap tires result in bad driving charcteristics of these cars. Now if the problem is not this then lets move on to the next test. As you increase speed aerodynamic load on the front of the car increases as well. If one shock is weaker than the other it will show at higher speeds. The slight pull to the left at 35mph. now becomes a hard pull at 70mph. Switch front shocks and see if the pull goes from left to right. If so replace shocks. Hope this narrows the cause down. If you like email me at [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] and let me know the results. also all info on your CVPI would be helpfull for me to try and trouble shoot this without ever driving the car. Good luck

Great helpful info.I took it to my technician today and he told me my 99 crown vic doesn't comes with rack and pinions.He said it comes with a gearbox.He also stated that this could be the problem but it cost an arm and a leg to replace, and if it do become replace it will probably still do the same thing.So debating wether i want to spend the money or not.

[Pecos Slick]

I would take it to a good front end shop ( not Sears,firestone, or Pepboys etc) and have them check it out. If it checks out OK and alignment shows to be OK have them toe in both side just a tad, that will keep it running straight on roads without crowns.