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Hello all! I’m new here and I am having some issues with my steering. I have a 2004 Dodge Intrepid SE, 2.7L. Here’s what’s going on:
- Steering wheel is off center (needs to be to the left in order to go straight; if I pull the steering wheel to the center, the car moves to the right). That’s probably something with the alignment.
- The steering wheel shakes/vibrates when driving at highway speeds (60+).
- There is a ‘clunk’ noise that happens when I turn left, but not when I turn right, or return the wheel back to it’s ‘center’ to drive straight. It is a single ‘clunk’ / ‘bang’ / ‘thud’ that is not continuous. It makes this sound at low speeds (pulling out of the driveway, turning left after a stop, etc).
Can anyone help me out with this? I’m due for an oil change soon and I get this fixed at the same time, but I want some hints as to what I will expect from the mechanic (mostly price wise!).
Thanks everyone for your help!
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The steering wheel off center. you need a front end alignment. are the tires wearing abnormal? The front wheel shake is your wheels
are out of balance and need to be balanced Try rotating your tires to see if the problem goes away. As for the clunk sound try putting the
emergency brake on and give it some gas to see if the clunk is heard this will also check the motor mounts. If nothing found then inspect
your front end cv joints,tie rod ends also check your front struts and bearings Btw when you get the alignment done tell them that the steering wheel needs to be straightened.C8-)It does sound like you have an alignment issue but it also sounds like you may have a suspension issue as well which will effect the alignment, with alignments you can’t have ANY play in any of the suspension components. The vibration is probably a tire or tire balance problem but the easiest thing to start with is the tire balance as you can often see a tire problem while it rotates on the balance machine.
Here is a video that I did on finding suspension noises that might help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scFbb43fwqk
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