2000 ford explorer bad vibrations after hitting bumps

[polarisxcr]

I had my explorer in for a alignment. Was told the left upper balljoint was bad and had them replace it. Now it has a extremly bad vibration after I hit a bump going over fourty miles an hour that will not stop untill I let off. It is bad enough it will just about put you in the ditch. Brought it back to the shop and was told everything was tight on it but it could be the axel. The vibration is coming from the right side so they replaced that axel. Got it back today still does it and is unsafe to drive. Any ideas please help as the shop can not figure this out. I had put 25 thousand miles on it this past years with no problems. Please help I do not know what to do next and the repair bills are putting me in the poor house and I still do not have a usable truck.

[vinniety]

Originally Posted by polarisxcr

I had my explorer in for a alignment. Was told the left upper balljoint was bad and had them replace it. Now it has a extremly bad vibration after I hit a bump going over fourty miles an hour that will not stop untill I let off. It is bad enough it will just about put you in the ditch. Brought it back to the shop and was told everything was tight on it but it could be the axel. The vibration is coming from the right side so they replaced that axel. Got it back today still does it and is unsafe to drive. Any ideas please help as the shop can not figure this out. I had put 25 thousand miles on it this past years with no problems. Please help I do not know what to do next and the repair bills are putting me in the poor house and I still do not have a usable truck.

sorry to bring this post fromt he dead but i am having the same issue and would like to know if anyone experienced the same that could give me an answer to what they did to fix it.

thanks

[polarisxcr]

I was told many different things and tried most of them. I replaced my wheel bearings, axelshafts, ball joints and such. Nothing got rid of the vibrations. After alot of research I found that when replacing the parts originally the steering was turned with out the engine running. This put pockets of air into the rack. That is what was causing my vibration. To bleed the system I jacked the front up so that the front wheels were off the ground. Then turned the steering wheel back and forth from lock to lock with the engine running. Did that quiet a few times. I have not felt the vibrations since. Good luck I hope this helps.

[vinniety]

Originally Posted by polarisxcr

I was told many different things and tried most of them. I replaced my wheel bearings, axelshafts, ball joints and such. Nothing got rid of the vibrations. After alot of research I found that when replacing the parts originally the steering was turned with out the engine running. This put pockets of air into the rack. That is what was causing my vibration. To bleed the system I jacked the front up so that the front wheels were off the ground. Then turned the steering wheel back and forth from lock to lock with the engine running. Did that quiet a few times. I have not felt the vibrations since. Good luck I hope this helps.

Matter of fact i turned the wheel when it was off to get to the bolts for the spindle and i noticed power steering fluid drip away. After i was done and started it up the power sterring was making the whinning noise. Added a little bit and went for a drive. The noise is away now and the vibration only happened that once. Do you think i should still jack the front up and go lock to lock even though i have driven it and made multiple turns. What i mean is taking the wheels off the ground going to do something different if it is on the ground.

thanks

[shorod]

The benefit of jacking the front end up is twofold - 1) to get the power steering fluid reservoir higher so the air will float to the highest point, which will hopefully be the reservoir cap, and 2) to reduce the load on the pump and save a bit of tread on the tires by not having the pump work hard to turn a stationary wheel. Be sure not to dwell at a steering lock as this is hard on the pump. My recall is the general rule of thumb is not to hold the wheel at one lock for more than 8 seconds.

-Rod