Spooky Handling.......

[6.0newb]

O.K., sorry for the pun but the timing was right.... Seriously though, I have an issue with my 2004 F250 that is scaring the piss out of me right now. It's tough for me to pin down because one, this is my first Super Duty, and two, I've only had it a year and I don't know what previous issues may exist. All I know is that it seemed to start when I purchased a set of Yokohama Geolander ATS tires. I had about 113,000 miles on the truck when I bought them. I bought the truck with 99,000 miles on it and it was running a set of 285 BFG All Terrain tires. The tread was pretty low but they ran really smooth and the handling was fine. I drove it for almost a year with no issues other than needing a set of rotors. I decided to try out the Yokohamas and started having issues from the get go. They could not balance them to save their lives and for the first month or so, it felt like the truck was riding on a road covered with marbles! I was scared to get on the highway but that eventually went away. I have no idea why other than the tires started to wear and stiffen up a big. I really hated the tires at first, but started to get used to them until I went in for a rotation. I was heading home and hit a curvy stretch of road and almost ended up in the curb twice! It felt really loose and the back end felt like it wanted to slide out. There was almost no road feel, almost numb. I drove around awhile trying to figure out what the heck was going on. I tried taking a couple of turns really hard to try to force it to plow and it reacted really strange. It seemed to plow at first and then it would grab, kind of like a delayed reaction, and then the back end felt like it wanted to come aroune, like in an overcorrection situation. I thought maybe they forgot to torque down one of the tires or something. I got it home and checked them all and they seemed fine. I checked the ball joints and the track bar and they seem fine. Steering parts seem fine as well. The only thing different was the rotation and now it's suddely floating all over the road again. It tracks just fine but as soon as soon as it gets some steering input, it gets squirrely. It's like the back end is loose or something. I'm thinking of taking it to a local shop. The main guy has a similar truck and may have some insight, but I just wanted to see if any of you have experienced something similar. Again, it just came out of the blue when the tires were rotated, not gradually like with a worn part. The only other thing I can add is that the tire shop set my pressure in front at 65 and the rear at 80. Isn't that too much for regular driving without a load? Could that make the back end behave wierd?

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks!

[03f250stroke]

have you got under the truck and made sure everything is tight first?

I replaced the whole front end of my truck, I mean everything and put new shocks on and was AMAZED how much better it rode and handled. it felt like a new truck. everything is still super tight and I grease everything up every other oil change. been a year since doing that.

[6.0newb]

I have a set of shocks ready to go on and I'll for sure check everything. It just seems so odd that everything was fine until that tire rotation. I really hate those tires. I'm seriously thinking of just telling them to warranty them and I'll pay the difference and go back to the BFG's. Never had this much trouble with a set of tires.....

[03f250stroke]

you could probably have them prorated and see how much they will give you for them, that way you get some money out of it. I put some firestone destinations on my dads 05 and he loves them. I got them for a good deal at my local firestone and he tows with them and daily drives the truck. not a single problem

[20stroker02]

80 psi might be a little high with out a load but shouldn't be the main problem. The Superduty's have a problem with the steering gear box, (I have the same issue, put new Toyo AT's on last week and suddenly the truck was all over the road) you can adjust the gear box but you need to be careful of over tightening (I adjusted mine and it seemed to help). I've also heard that worn sway bar links will cause wandering.

[6.0newb]

I'm definitely going to check all the bushings and rubber parts. That steering adjustment seems like a good thing to look at as well with the mileage I have. The truck doesn't really seem to wander. It tracks pretty straight, but the other wierd thing is that the wind on the highway was affecting it much more than normal. Again, all this came on suddenly after that tire rotation. If it has nothing to do with the tires, the only thing I can think of is that something let go suddenly, like a bushing or sumething like that.

That gearbox adjustment seems like a good place to start. What does it address? Wear in the box or just loose steering? I had a box rebuilt on an old F150 once but it was loose as a goose and the truck would wander and I was constantly giving it steering input. My current truck tracks just fine but steering input makes it a little squrrely above certain speeds. Other than that the box doesn't really feel loose or vague. Where is that adustment located?

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Last edited by 6.0newb : 10-26-2009 at 09:19 PM.

[03f250stroke]

replacing the sway bar bushings make a huge difference on these trucks for sure

[20stroker02]

If your box is loose you would have 1-2" of play in the steering wheel at highway speeds, you can check the box by getting someone to turn the steering wheel while you are watching the pitman arm, if the steering shaft is moving without moving the pitman you have a loose box. The adjuster is on the top of the box (it is a jam nut with an allen head bolt) do not over tighten the screw it can cause the box to jam up at any time (usually at full crank), a good adjustment practice is start with 1/4 turn increments (don't break the jam nut loose without having a allen key or socket in place, the nut will tun the bolt at the same time). Also sway bar links would not be all of a sudden but changing your tires or even rotating them can amplify the worn characteristic.

[6.0newb]

Thaks for all the info! I'm going to check out the box for wear and tear just because of the mileage on the truck but I am thinking it was the tire pressure being higher in the rear. The tech at Disount said the door pillar sticker recommended 65 in front and 80 in the rear. I told him I thought that was just for maximum load conditions but he said it would help get rid of the cupping that the tires had from being over inflated in front (which their shop did of course..... ). Anyway, I gave him the benefit of the doubt until it scared the crap out of me again today. I swung in to Desert Rat where I know one fo the guys has the same kind of truck to swap info. Long story short, I ended up letting the tire pressure out until they were all at 65 and it behaved MUCH better. I still hate the tires, but at least it hadles like it should now. Thanks again for all the input fellas!

[ilike2play]

This has happened to me as well with my 04 F-250. First when I put new Firestones on and recently after just replacing the rear tires with Michilin AT2 265/75/16s.I felt like the back was sliding around. I had read a review on the AT2's from one guy saying it felt like driving on ice for the first 3k miles then after that it was ok. I know you are using a different brand but I suspect you are having sway due to the high soft tread, it is the tire walking on the "new shoes". I took off my pair of AT2 Mich and put a set of Nitto Terra Grapplers 285/75/16's on and have not noticed much of the sliding around feel. I have been told by mechanic yesterday that my steering gear is worn and so I have a hard time keeping it between the lines anyway, so add certain new tires and it makes control all the harder.