Steering pulls to the right, with a rhythm

[tominos]

hi all, haven't been on here in a while mainly because i haven't been driving the taurus. but anywho, here is the current major problem that my dad just told me about.

its a 95 atx sho, 140k, car now pulls to the right. and pulls hard. it's been doing that for a few months now, possibly related to a broken subframe. but recently, as in just today, the steering has been jerking to the right when you're driving straight and it has a rhythm to it. so when you're driving straight, the wheel just pulls right about 2x, a second. only when moving. does this sound vaps, or steering rack/pump related? or is it part of the broken subframe. also, the car's vaps has been acting up since i've had the car for a few years now, meaning when you're in a turn, the steering jerks back and forth slowly.

i think my subframe is broken, although i'm not entirely sure. it makes all sorts of creaking noises when driving over uneven terrain. and i don't really know what to inspect, or how to determine if i have a broken subframe, or how to weld it back together if it is.

car runs ok otherwise, i performed a front 60k on it, about 10k miles ago.

any insights?

thanks
-tomy

 

[rubydist]

If the subframe is broken, stop driving it at once and get that fixed. Its pointless to try to diagnose anything else when the motor has the potential to fall on the ground in front of you.

 

[tominos]

noted.

however, i don't see how a broken subframe could have the engine falling on the ground. i'm not so sure we're talking about the same thing here. when i look at the "just joined the broken subframe club", and i see what they refer to as a broken subframe, where the front strut tension rod breaks free of the mount on the subframe. is this what is referred to as a broken subframe? i'm pretty sure that is not the case on my car. i have inspected it before and it is nice and tight, no rust either. but then again, i do get the clunking over uneven terrain.

can you show me pics of what a broken subframe looks like exactly?

 

[jmpSHO]

The subframe is what holds the motor in the car. If it's broken it's dangerous to drive because if it breaks completely you will lose your steering. The creaking you hear is a good indication of a subframe that is about to break and if it's sagging on one side it will cause your car to pull to that side. Like Rubydist said I would fix that before trying to diagnose other things.

 

[GreenPlus]

If its of any help, my inlaws had the rack in their SHO replaced and it cured the jerking/pulsations their steering wheel was doing.

 

[tominos]

ah. makes sense.

i just put the car up on jackstands, and inspected the subframe. it doesn't look broken to me, no cracks or major rust. how can you tell if the subframe is about to break? it looks pretty solid to me. where, the tension rods connect to the subframe, is fine. the 4 sub frame bushings are fine too. i don't think it has a broken subframe, i don't know where i got that idea from.

more info, when the steering wheel is turned, there is a constant creaking/squeaking noise, that stops when you stop turning the wheel. sounds like it's coming from the steering rack, but i can't be sure. when i life the front of the car up and try to push the wheels side to side on either side of the car, you can hear the squeaking noise. is this indicative of a bad rack? what explains the pulling/jerking to the right when the car is moving?

 

[tominos]

If its of any help, my inlaws had the rack in their SHO replaced and it cured the jerking/pulsations their steering wheel was doing.

did they have jerking/pulsating while driving straight, or only while turning?

 

[1bad98SHO]

sounds like you may have a broken belt in the Right Front tire. I bet there is a big bubble in the tire.

The squeaking could be coming from the ball joints or the tie rod ends. If they are dry they will squeak. The Lincoln Town cars are notorious for squeaking ball joints.

 

[frosho]

Strut mounts can squeak too... Inspect the tire like 1bad98SHO said. If it looks OK, shake the **** out of the wheel and look for play in the suspension. Also check your subframe-to-body bolts to make sure they're tight.

Have you flushed your power steering fluid?

 

[93rev2sev]

It's vital to your safety to properly inspect the subframe and mounts.

Jack the car up and support it just aft of the subframe. Put the jackstands under the unibody frame rail. This will support the body of the car and allow the subframe bushings to "show you their slop".

Now, place the jack under one of the rear corners of the subframe (but not under the mounting point) and give it a couple of pumps. Watch the subframe in relation to the body. If it moves, there's a problem.

 

[rubydist]

The creaking when turning the steering wheel can also be caused by bad bearings in the front strut mounts. The front strut turns w/ the front wheels (left to right), so there is a bearing at the top to allow this turning. These bearing can go bad, especially in wet climates, and the result is often noise and uneven motion when steering.

If you get the subframe fixed, or rule that out as an issue, then check out the strut mount bearings.

 

[tominos]

thanks for the replies guys!

tire looks good, no weird bulges or anything. looks normal.

i will get under there, and check the subframe. do i jack up right around where the mount is and see if it moves? the mounts look great, a little bit of surface rust but definitely not rusted through.

i think i have ruled out the ball joints, i took the wheel off and wiggled the ball joints around through their range of motion and no noise. the squeaky noise seems to come, when i have the wheel on and tug the wheel side to side. or of i pull ******* the tie rod ends, it squeaks a little.

i will post back when i have checked the subframe. one question though, can a bad power steering pump/rack cause the car to pull to one side? i have changed the fluid about a year ago, and it seemed to help with the pulsing back and forth while in a turn, but it seems like a different problem altogether now. i will update once i know more. thanks guys!

 

[tominos]

alright, update:

so the subframe is definitely not broken. its on jackstands on the frame rails, and i jacked up the areas close to the subframe mounting points, and there is no give. the entire car moves when you jack up that area.

with the car on jackstands, wheels off. if i run the engine and put the transmission in drive, the axles spin but there is a clunking noise coming from the passenger side it seems like. with the car off, if i spin the passenger side axle there is a clunking noise, when i spin the axle back and forth, seems like alot of play in there. i can duplicate the noise by spinning the axle on the drivers side but the noise still seems to come from the passenger side.

any guesses?