Front right tire wobble- cause ideas?

[gergs]

Gang,

got a 01 Windstar with about 93k on her.
It's developed what I would call a "wobble" or hard thumping when turning the wheel to the right in gentle road curves. What the heck?
Tires are only about a year old; visually inspected them and can't see anything wrong with it.
It's only the right side, front that is doing this.
Could an outer tie rod be going out?

Thanks all.

[inafogg]

it could(tie rod)but sounds more like a c/v joint or hub bearing.is it a constant or revolutional noise??

[wafrederick]

Jack the right side up and move the tire checking for a loose tie rod end,wheelbearing.Also check the stabalizer links too.

[Camping Bob]

Does the sound change with speed? If so I would guess wheel bearing. I will be able to tell you better after Monday. I am taking our 2000 Windstar in to get the driver's side front wheel bearing replaced because of the noise it is making. We did the same thing with the passenger side bearing about a year ago.

[wiswind]

I would get it in to a good mechanic for a checking.
A quality front end alignment includes a good shake down and inspection of the front end.

[gergs]

So.....you don't recommend I replace the outer tie rod? I'm trying to save money by not having to take her in.
Also, the noise doesn't increase with speed...just a revolutionary noise that is a constant 'thumping' that happens in gentle right hand curves while at any speed. Doesn't happen at sharp right hand turns.

Thanks all

[tripletdaddy]

Is there any vibration involved? I have a tire with a slightly detectable bump in the tread that I assume is a broken cord or defect that was sufficiently bad, I had to put it in the back. The tire is near its end and is old. It would shake the steering wheel and the whole front end. So, maybe try rotating that or both tires front to back just to rule that out. Why did you say the tire may be wobbling? Have you seen it wobble? Does it feel like it's wobbling in the steering wheel or the whole car? Could your lug nuts be loose? These are the cheap and easy. What everyone else has said could be it too.

[garync1]

To rule out the tire just switch the back to the front.. That way you can go from there..

[gergs]

I took the tire off, it's a crappy wal mart tire, I couldn't notice anything particularly wrong with it, but it's not real new either...about a year old, but it still looks worn down on the inside tread area closest to the sidewall....not bald, just starting to look worn.
I grabbed onto everything under there while the tire was off (swingarm, stabilizer bar, etc) and everything is solid. Must be the tire.

Probably is the issue here....my fault for buying cheap crap.

[garync1]

no no.. Even if its a cheap tire it should not wobble.. the balance weights put on it may have come off.. also if you bumped a curb to hard you can warp the steel rim.. I work for Goodyear and bought Douglas tires from walmart. why because Goodyear makes them.. The only thing is they are a lower rated tire on performance,tread life and traction.. But over all an ok tire.. Just switch to front to back to see what happens.. you may just need the tire rebalanced.. Right now I am riding on Goodyear assurance comfort tread tires.. They are great. Also have a quite ride.. Goodyear having a sale on them now through the end of October..

[tripletdaddy]

If you can't locate a slight hump on the tire tread, your description of the inner wear might be consistent with you noticing the sound on the turn. It may have "cupping" or "scalloping" on the inside edge where it will feel and maybe look like someone carved out a piece of the edge. Or, you could have really rough "feathering" of that edge where too, you should be able to feel and maybe see the inner edge looks like it ramps up and then drops off over and over. Both of these conditions may be caused by an alignment problem or the hardness of the tire rubber. I had a set of high mileage tires also made by a big company but with a no-name label, and they wore badly with cupping, making for a noisy and vibrating ride with it up front. I asked a tire dealer/alignment shop, who I regularly used for my car, for an explaination thinking the problem was the alignment when they said it wasn't, they gave me the rubber hardness explaination. They told me they too sell that tire, so I figured they were telling me the truth. FWIW. Like I said before and has been repeated, try moving tires front to back.