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97 chrysler town & country steering wheel shakes!! help!!

21K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  Sirphilip 
#1 ·
Hi there!!
I have a 97 town & country LXI 6cyl fwd/ now this is the problem! For some reason the steering wheel shakes a lot and a wobble it feel in the front end when start moving a slow speed! Well it happening even at a faster speed now it getting worst and worst and it's like it coming from the front driver side it's like if it was one of the tire is going bad. But now i had change the tires and balanced them, the driver and passenger side axles ,driver side hub with bearing and both sides brake rotors! I'm focusing more in the driver side because that's where it feel the most I also done wheel alignment, and still the same problem. There's nothing else i can think of that it can be. Some one suggested that it may be the motor mount that may not be center and it can cause the axle to go out of place and someone told me that may be the tie rod the inner or outer that's what I'm checking next. This thing is driving me crazy. Any one have any suggestion? Help please!!
 
#2 ·
Welcome!

I would definitely have the tie-rod ends, C/V joints, front stabilizer bar endlinks and bushings ALL examined on your 1997 Chrysler Town & Country given the age of the vehicle. It might be a wheel bearing issue but I'd check those things out very soon and see what you can find.

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#4 ·
You might also try swapping the front tires. Putting the left on the right and the right on the left. Sometimes this will get rid of a pulling/wobble problem, but sometimes this will also get rid of a pulling/wobble problem, or at least, it will CHANGE a wobble/pulling problem enough to tell you that the problem has something to do with the tires.

**If you do this be SURE you hand torque the lug nuts to the APPROPRIATE measurement and DO NOT over torque them!
 
#10 ·
Same with me. I replaced my drivers side axle a little over 2 months ago and had the wobble at low speeds(and under load). I just got another axle last week because the problem started up again. These are on reman axles. If it happens again I'm going to get them to order me a NEW axle.
 
#6 ·
well the right side axle I bought it brand new! kind expensive but I though it will not hurt the try but didn't fix the problem so I put back the old one to see the different and it was the same but since I had bought the new I just put it back in!! so I dont think my problem is from the axle per say but real close to it!! my next stop will be tie rods ends and stabilizer bar endlinks and bushings. see what's going to happen!!
 
#7 ·
hi put a floor jack under the A frame and jack up the van--now grab the tire at the top and bottom -and see if you have any play-grab the tire at the front and back and do the same-any sign of play will be a lead in to your problem-top to bottom could be ball joints -left to right -tie rods
 
#11 ·
1. I assume the alignment shop checked the front end ball joints and tie rod ends.
2. If you have wheel covers, remove them.
3. Any mention of a bent rim when you had the tire work done?
4. Is there a lot of weight visible on the wheel, say 4 or 5 oz (the oz is on the weight)?
5. Have you tried using the spare tire to see if that makes a difference?
 
#12 ·
FOLLOW UP!!


I finally changed the Tie-rod ends inner and outer on both sides, the ball join on driver side, the sway bay link on both sides,and the shocks and both side and Thanks God the problem is gone now. I noticed that when I took the Inner Tie-rod they were real bad, so thanks guys for your suggestions and ideal. thanks!!
 
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