Feelin' a little shaky

[bradleyheathhays]

I've got an '02 Ford Taurus with 99k miles that's got something loose in the front end but I'm not entirely sure what it is. When under moderate to hard braking there's a quick shaking in the front of the car and the steering wheel jerks in sync with the shaking. Jacked up one front wheel, left the other on the ground, and sure enough the wheel moves when pushed at 3 and 9 o'clock, but not at 12 and 6.

Any advice on where to go from here?

[davester]

Look underneath to see what's moving when the wheel moves due to this.  tie rods would be a common cause, but could be other bits as well...

[CadillacLuke24]

Could be the rack as well. My Cadillac would get the death wobble after hitting a bump, and the rack in that car is shot. 

[bradleyheathhays]

Right on thanks for the good advice.