Steering. Forums

Wanderer007

I have a Fiat Ducato base vehicle,which to my way of thinking has too much play in the steering wheel,i`ve had the wheels balanced, but the steering wheel still vibrates,it has power steering,so is light on the steering,perhaps i`m being to finicky,has anyone else experienced to much play in their steering.

Ric.

MandyandDave

Job for Sunday if the weather is fine! Could be one or more of the following:

1. Worn track rod end(s)

2. worn lower ball joint(s)

3. Excessive 'free play' in the steering box ( you don't mention model year?) N/A after '92

4. Driveshaft joint (CV) failed

5. Lower wishbone arm bush(es) worn

Simple checks, Raise front of vehicle enough for tyre to clear ground, grasp the wheel top and bottom, and attempt to 'rock' the wheel to and fro,
A little amount of movement is acceptable anything more than a few millimetres needs investigating.

Repeat procedure with your hands at 6 and 9 (imagine a clock face) again a little movement is ok.

Finally, whilst wheel is still clear of ground, place a tommy bar, prybar, length of scaffold, spade or whatever you have handy, under the tyre and attempt to lift the wheel upwards, if you have someone do this while you look at the lower ball joint to see if there is any 'lift' in it.

Best of Luck,...Dave

Motorhomersimpson · Moderator

Hi Ric,

Dave has just about covered everything, and well explained.

But also you need to check the wheel bearings, you describe vibration, that is often a symptom of the bearings needing to be replaced, seems common on Ducato’s.

Fairly easy to check, with the vehicle on the ground.

As described by Dave, look at the wheel as a clock face, place your hands 10 and 2, now see if there is any movement at the wheel whist pulling with both hands, there should be very little movement if any, if there is a large amount of movement, get the bearings changed, the sooner the better, as this problem could become serious.

Homer………Rob Very Happy

Brambles

Hi Ric, I think most points have been covered, but you mention vibration, which I read as slack in the steering wheel until i realised you mentioned having the wheels balanced. The guy doing the balancing should have checked tyres are round. While wheel is off the ground give it a speed and check for being untrue or any bumps that could cause a vibration.
The next point I wil mention is wheel shimmy. This is a common problem even on perfect steering joints on certain surfaces and speeds. If the wheel alignment is set dead ahead then wheel shimmy can occur (like castors in that darn supermaret trolley that vibrate all over the place), and need to be set toed out very slightly on the newer Ducatos. (Some vehicles have toe in all depending on the suspension set up and geometry). Usually though if tyres are perfect and balanced then wheel shimmy vibration in the Steering wheel is more evident with worn track rod ends.

Another good test is just to vibrate the wheel by hand to take up slack and increase movement to where the road wheels just start to move. check this for both sides (will need an observer for nearside). If one side needs more movement of steering wheel then that is the side with the fault.
Also check for slop in the steering column shaft joints.

Worse comes to worse is worn joints in the steering rack, but bear in mind there is a certain slack in the input shaft to the rack for the power steering control valves but you should feel spring tension in this slack.

Detecting wear in a lot of ball joints can be very difficult and what appears to be ok is often not so if you find nothing its is worth having an experienced mechanic also check it out.

Hope what I have written makes sense,
Jon.

Wanderer007

Thanks for your detailed replies,i did as you recommended and there is a bit of play in each wheel,but nothing substansial,a new steering rack was fitted about 1000 miles ago,so perhaps the problem is with the track ends etc,the vehicle i have is an Autotrail Fiat ducato badger,registered in May 1995,with nearly 60000 on the clock,i`m a bit wary taking it to a garage,wish one of you guys could take a look at it,as you know what your on about.

Ric.

Motorhomersimpson · Moderator

Hi Ric,

You have a pm.

Homer..........Rob Very Happy

Motorhomersimpson · Moderator

I have copied this from Ric's other post.

[quote:f4a15b7d85]Wanderer007
Newbie

Joined: Sep 25, 2004
Posts: 7
Location: Wales
Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2004 7:21 am Post subject: steering

---------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------

The problem i had with my steering has been sorted, it was a bulge in the front tyre,which i replaced also had the brake pads checked,which were ok,hope this helps anyone else who has a similar problem.

Ric.
[/quote:f4a15b7d85]

I went and test-drove Ric’s van, the immediate thing I noticed was that the steering was not vibrating but more of an oscillating action.

This was at all speeds, this led me to believe 1 or 2 things could be the problem, bearing in mind Ric had recently had his wheels balanced, I guessed the tyres were okay, so it was either a buckled wheel or warped brake disc’s, I tended to go with the disc’s myself, these are heavy vehicles and as such the brakes can take a hammering.

Anyway, lessons to learn here don’t trust your local wheel balancer, to check your tyres.

Really glad you have it sorted Ric, now you can enjoy the van to it’s fullest.

Homer…Rob Very Happy

Brambles

Ric - glad you have the problem fixed.