new truck owner, need some advice, pointers

[jchaussee]

So my uncle is selling me his 99 f350 PSD for 4k. Is red, short bed, 4 door, 4x4, leather , etc. But is has 290 k. Tranny was rebuilt about 20 k ago, but front end sucks. The steering wheel is off kilter by about 30 degrees, pulls real hard when breaking, steering is really loose and it clunks and pops in the front end. I can feel it in my feet. So I need to know what all needs to be done to fix this. Also what other things should I address so it will last several more hundred thousand miles. Thanks in advance

[SuperCrutyPS]

You should probably check your ball joints, the pitman arm and all the tie rod ends. The steering box might be worn out too.

[jchaussee]

Ya. I figured I would just replace all the joints and bushings in the front. Was also reading about a dual stabilizer. Do they make a big difference, and is there a thread around on how to rebuold steering box? And how to I get steering wheel back to normal?

[jchaussee]

Anyone??sure I am not first with this issue

[Macon]

Duals don't make a big difference until you start running large tires. I don't know if there's a thread regarding steering box rebuild, have you tried searching? An alignment after you replace bushings and bearings is your best bet to correct your steering wheel.

[jchaussee]

Ya. I have serched. Found a few things on google. Wheel may be to far off for an alignment to fix

[jchaussee]

So, I finally started to look at front end. It's seems that there are u joints connected to wheels. What are those? Never seen before . New to me

[glamisdave05]

I don't think a dual setup will help you. I replaced my stock stabilizer with a unit from Procomp and it helped, but I only have 122K. Try having your wheel balance and fronte end alignment checked too. Sounds like you have a few other things going on as well, but those might help.