Steering instability around corners

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drewpotter

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Hi, has anyone experienced a gen1 Raptor have a steering shimmy when going around a corner with a bump in the road? It progressively has gotten worse where particularly at highway speed around a corner, a small bump or crack in the road makes the steering wheel want to move further in the direction of the turn as you go over the bump. Depending how fast you are going, the truck borderline gets out of control for a fraction of a second and you want to put 2 hands on the wheel. My suspension is pretty much worn out in the front and leaking so I am replacing it hoping this is the reason for the issue. I have no reason to believe there is any damage to anything and I had the front end checked out, with the only diagnosis that my shocks were shot. Any comments/ ideas would be much appreciated. (2011 Raptor, 125,000km)
 

waddellw

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My front suspension blew at 75k miles and now I'm at 95k with all blown, I can kind of get a feel for what you have going on but I feel like it could also be power steering related. How heavy is your steering? Not revving at all sitting still is it exceptionally hard to turn? I've blown 2 power steering pumps and that's when I've gotten the two hands on the wheel at all times.

Also since it is happening at higher speeds what tires do you have and are they balanced well? I had a set of Mickey Thompson Baja claws and those shook like mad all the time. They got out of balance and stayed there.

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(My stats are in miles not km)
 
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drewpotter

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Power steering feels fine... wheel is easy to turn at speed or sitting still. the shake around corners is almost as if the wheel is too easy to turn and you have to put 2 hands on the wheel to not oversteer. I think replacing the front suspension is the likely fix as it kind of feels like there is no dampening and you are just bouncing on springs. Got fairly new stock Raptor tires and there is no shaking whatsoever in a straight line so all should be balanced...

---------- Post added at 06:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:49 AM ----------

When your suspension blew, did it go all at once/ was it obvious? Or over a length of time? how did it handle when it went? Where did you purchase your new shocks and how$?
 

waddellw

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Power steering feels fine... wheel is easy to turn at speed or sitting still. the shake around corners is almost as if the wheel is too easy to turn and you have to put 2 hands on the wheel to not oversteer. I think replacing the front suspension is the likely fix as it kind of feels like there is no dampening and you are just bouncing on springs. Got fairly new stock Raptor tires and there is no shaking whatsoever in a straight line so all should be balanced...
I know the feeling of bouncing on springs. It does move around a lot more. Riding springs gives no resonance dampening so they do tend to shake and keep shaking. Get a rebuild or a little upgrade and hopefully that'll solve your issues!

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---------- Post added at 07:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:54 AM ----------

Power steering feels fine... wheel is easy to turn at speed or sitting still. the shake around corners is almost as if the wheel is too easy to turn and you have to put 2 hands on the wheel to not oversteer. I think replacing the front suspension is the likely fix as it kind of feels like there is no dampening and you are just bouncing on springs. Got fairly new stock Raptor tires and there is no shaking whatsoever in a straight line so all should be balanced...

---------- Post added at 06:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:49 AM ----------

When your suspension blew, did it go all at once/ was it obvious? Or over a length of time? how did it handle when it went? Where did you purchase your new shocks and how$?
To add on, my front passenger side started leaking first, it started to lean a little and the bumps on that tire got much more pronounced. Soon after the driver's side have way also and they slowly but steadily got rougher and the front sat lower and lower. Offroading bumps and potholes got to a painfully rough level even slowing down a bunch. A few thousand miles later the rear started to act off, it was rougher too.

I noticed the lean to a side and I looked at the shock and physically say some fluid coming out where it was easy to tell something was off

Everyone I know has asked if I lowered my truck on the front, it sits a fair amount lower than normal.



On one of the raptor shock exchange sites I found this sheet and I believe it. Before they blew and got really worse I did notice a decline in performance even way before they started messing up. 5eb87f06318f1656436143c7f1999381.jpg

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---------- Post added at 07:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:01 AM ----------

I don't have new shocks yet, still deciding between a big upgrade or a shock exchange. But I'd say after 40k miles the noticable decline began and then hit bottom when they gave out

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waddellw

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Aaron

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It's 100% your shocks doing that, Mine did the same thing when they were blown.
 

whoisbigman

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Find Walter Burch at Aftermarket HQ. You need new shocks or a rebuild. Also, removing front sway bar keeps tires more planted in corners, but allows truck to lift a lot and roll more. after you get used to it, it's more fun to drive.
 

Lugnut2683

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Hi, has anyone experienced a gen1 Raptor have a steering shimmy when going around a corner with a bump in the road? It progressively has gotten worse where particularly at highway speed around a corner, a small bump or crack in the road makes the steering wheel want to move further in the direction of the turn as you go over the bump. Depending how fast you are going, the truck borderline gets out of control for a fraction of a second and you want to put 2 hands on the wheel. My suspension is pretty much worn out in the front and leaking so I am replacing it hoping this is the reason for the issue. I have no reason to believe there is any damage to anything and I had the front end checked out, with the only diagnosis that my shocks were shot. Any comments/ ideas would be much appreciated. (2011 Raptor, 125,000km)

I highly suspect that your shock is blown. I had similar symptoms, a leaky front passenger side shock, had it rebuilt, and all symptoms gone.
 
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