Just last week my work truck started to wander excessively.

At first I checked fluids and all was fine.

Yesterday I decided it was not safe to drive anymore, so all this within 1 week.

When holding steering wheel straight the truck will jump right or left causing a need to over correct, Need a minimum 12 ft wide path to keep going straight. When not moving, the steering has very little slop with no signs of excessive play.

I did a lot of searching & reading and this is what I have so far.

There are a lot of threads on miss diagnosing and making repairs that do not solve the issue, so I want to double check my thinking

1) Fluid level Fine no signs of leaks
2) Tie Rods. Jacked up 1 wheel and no play
3) Pump no signs of squealing low probability
4) Gear motor. Possibly tighten the backlash, but this is not a small wander.
5) Universal joint on axle. Maybe. Hard to understand how this could be cause of major issue
6) Ball Joints. All new quality parts last year. No sign of play.
7) Steering stabilizer bad. Maybe but I can not imagine a new steering stabilizer would have such an effect.
8) Bent Tie bar. Tie bar is not straight, but this is old issue. The two wheels are aligned to the eye.
This leaves me to want to test the gear box and the U joints.

To test the gearbox, the test is drive next to a curb and turn into the curb so wheel can not turn. Look for play.

To test the universal joint, you pull the tie rods, rotate wheel left right, spin wheel 90 degrees rotate wheel left right.

Am I missing anything before I start this?

 

You need to get the whole front end in the air at once, not just one wheel. You need a large screwdriver or a pry bar to see if there is any play in the tie rods, just because they are new doesn't mean they're good. You need to check the pitman arm at the gearbox to make sure it's tight and not slipping or stripped. Also to check if the gearbox shaft has up and down play, you need to check the rag joint on the steering shaft also, Check your ball joints. It may not be one specific thing it may be multiple small things that have become a problem all at once. You stated a rod was bent and the tires were aligned by eye? Well, that's one sure way to invite other components to wear out before their time. I have first hand knowledge of just how this happens and I have replaced every component on my front end in the last 2 years EXCEPT the shock and the gearbox. Almost all the play is gone now, but I still have about 1 inch wiggle in the steering wheel, my truck is 2003 F350 4x4 with the 5.4L

 

RE: one tire in air

I did check with full front end in air.

I then separately put one wheel on ground as long time back this was recommended on my 79 F250 as a way to isolate tie rods on one side.

I don;t recall seeing a rag joint on steering so will look this up.

 

Checked the rag joint and everything is tight.

What I would like to get is a clear test that can be used to rule out the pump vs gear box.

Its hard to explain, but with wheels perfectly straight I can turn steering wheel quick to left then quick to right and steering wheel will be 45 degrees CCW from starting point even though wheels are back to straight

I then go quick to right then quick to left and the steering wheel is straight again matching the straight wheels.

I then go quick to right then quick to left and the steering wheel is 45 degrees CW from starting point even though wheels are straight.

Does this point to a pump issue or gearbox issue or something else.

 

Bump .... ....

 

Sounds to me that it's your gearbox. Try adjusting it. 1/4 turn at a time until the slack has been taken up. Be careful though, too much adjustment can make it so it will not come back to center after turning, you must take it out and drive it for awhile after each adjustment. That gives the ***** in the ramp time to seat. IMO, if you go one full turn on adjustment and it still isnt any good, I'd buy a new gearbox.

 

Had this on our 2002 ... went from loose to crazy like a clown car with no centering. It was the gearbox. The one we got from the cheapy place works fine... next time I am going with the Red Head brand as they seem pretty good.

 

thats not aligned and a bent tie bar would be a huge issue.

 

I hate these threads that you try to give some help in... then the guy disappears.

 

yeah well.....:-)

 

heh yes...it is the interwebs after all. Hopefully he got helped. I am still voting for gearbox on this one.

 

Yeah my F350 is doing some wondering. I replaced everything rebuilt the whole axle (ball joints were shot one hub was done for so I tore it all apart put it back together with Dana Spicer and Ford stuff
im gonna adjust the steering box but will most likely need one replaced

 

If its not too bad, the adjustment might help, I had about 3 to 4 inches each way, I ended up going a full turn on my box, now I might have 1/2 inch total?. Itll work for what I use my truck for.

 

I was thinking of doing one of those ram style steering box modifications. I found a place out in Texas but I’m not sure how good they are. I have a crew cab v10 that I’m parting out and I can take the box off that and use that while the other is being rebuilt. But I’m gonna try and adjust it before I do anything

 

still hear. Repair has been delayed since azn shipped the wrong parts

for sure steering stabilizer was shot Oil poured out when turned vertical


new tie bar is going in. Then I will see if gear box needs replacement