Hello all, I bought an 04 Pacifica a couple days ago, the drivers side tie rod end was broken when I bought it so I replaced both outer tie rod ends. The issue that’s bothering me now is it jade a terrible vibration. According to the previous owner it had the vibration before the tie rod broke but being just a spare ride he never bothered to look into it as it was very rarely driven. When driving under roughly 30 it shakes so bad the steering wheel moves back and forth nearly an inch. From 30-40 it’s in a transition then above 50 it becomes much less severe but still bad. I don’t think it’s a balance problem since I’ve never seen an out of balance tire move the steering wheel like that. I don’t think a rim is bent but I haven’t looked at them closely. I considered a broken belt in a tire but don’t see any of the obvious signs. I’m also not convinced it’s in the front or rear definitively because it can be felt both in the steering wheel and in the seat. Can anyone point me to at least the ballpark area, right now it feels like I’m in a different town than the ball park lol.

 

Two (2) things that need to be evaluated are 1) tires/wheels and 2) lower ball joints. To evaluate tires/wheels jack front wheel off ground (one at at time) and spin it up while you safely observe. To evaluate lower ball joints (lower control arm assembly) jack up front wheels onto blocks or timbers. Have a friend slowly shuffle steering wheel left/right while you safely observe from below. (also check inner tie rods) New chinee control arm set avail on ebay for less than $90 delivered.