Hi, I have been having an issue where my Truck shimmys at all speeds. The truck likes to drift over to the right and when it hits a bump the steering wheel shift to the right. The truck was justhad an alignment. When I jack up the truck from the center I notice the passenger lower control arm hangs lower than the driver side.

The truck has new shocks, tie ends, ball joints, upper control arms, calipers, rotors, wheel bearings, and tires. The lower control arm bushings look okay. The rack and pinon do not seem to be loose or wobble. The sway bar and links are tight.

I cant figure out the reasons for the wobble. My best guess is the rack and pinon is screwed up on the inside.

Please help Thanks.

 

Welcome to the forum

What year Ranger and what engine?
Coil spring or torsion bar?

Bent rim, bad tire?

 

Hey Ron, Thanks for the reply. The rims do not look bent to me and the tires are new and balanced. I have a coil spring - 2.3l 4 cyl.

 

Clean title, not "rebuilt" or "salvaged"?
i.e. bent frame

If one side hangs lower when jacked up could be frame is tweaked

Was it just front wheel alignment or 4 wheel alignment?

 

The truck has a clean title. The carfax does say it has had damage on the side of the hang. It does not report any frame damage. It is a 2wd so I assume it was only the front two tires aligned.
When I first bought it, I never noticed any type of wobble. Only after hitting a pretty deep pothole (Also the side of the hang) and changing the upper control arms did I notice a wobble.

 

4 wheel alignment is not related to 4 wheel drive vehicles, specifically
It tells you if all 4 wheels will track the same down the road, will show if there is tweaked frame or bent suspension parts
Ranger have a solid rear axle so not much adjustment, lol, BUT front wheels need to be adjusted to track inline with rear wheels

Wobble can indicate rear wheels and front wheels are not on the same track

With Ranger sitting on the ground, so weight is on the tires
You can use a carpenters type level and measure the center line of the axle down to bottom of the tire, and put a mark on lower side of the tire, do all 4 wheels
Then measure the distance between front tire and rear tire's mark on each side, that's the Wheelbase of your model Ranger, you can look that up with the year of Ranger
They should come out exactly the same distance on both sides
This is not a super accurate way to do this, lol, 4 wheel alignment is best way
But if they are not exactly the same then there is an issue