2001 Steering Issue

[joshk]

This may be a little long, but I hope it makes since...

Truck: 2001 7.3 4x4 - stock - 70,000 Miles

When I bought my truck 10k miles ago it needed new tie rods and ball joints.

I went ahead replaced the tie rods and ball joints because my truck wonders all over the road. Now that I replaced them it still has a slight wonder to it. between about 11:55 and 12:05 position of the wheel it feels like it not turning. You know how you turn a sharp corner and let go of the wheel it turns back and goes basically straight? Well my truck goes back to the 11:55 position and I have to turn it back right to straighten up.

I also noticed that the when sitting on flat pavement its harder to turn right then left. I also noticed when I was intalling my EGT gauge my brake master cylinder (i think some call a booster?) was leaking. I heard this can cause issues.

I crawled under the truck and had someone turn the wheel between the 11:55 and 12:05 position. All the tie rods are tight, I did feel a clunk when I put my hand on the inner tie rod shaft. I looked at the steering gear housing and the pitman arm shaft seem to clunk and almost have play. I went to the top and noticed a jam nut and a allen headed bolt. I thought it was a adjustment so I moved it in 3 turns but it did not make a difference.

So what do ya all think?

im going golfing so lets hope it don't fall off on my way

[joshk]

After driving it I noticed that it still wants to wander around after adjusting the top allen head bolt. But my steering is harder to turn at speed.

[joshk]

After doing some digging I think my steering gear has gone bad.

[APEowner]

It sure sounds like your steering box (gear) is bad. Ford had some issues with them. I've had a bunch of them in my truck including one that was bad when we installed it. The good news is that they made some sort of change (or at least they changed the part number) and the last one I put in has about 100k on it and it's just starting to feel a little sloppy. On thing that you might want to try is backing that adjustment off. You'll still have the play in the box but it'll return to center the way it's supposed to and some of the wander will go away. If you replace it you might want to think about a NAPA box. I don't have any first hand experience with them but they have a lifetime guaranty.

[joshk]

Originally Posted by APEowner

It sure sounds like your steering box (gear) is bad. Ford had some issues with them. I've had a bunch of them in my truck including one that was bad when we installed it. The good news is that they made some sort of change (or at least they changed the part number) and the last one I put in has about 100k on it and it's just starting to feel a little sloppy. On thing that you might want to try is backing that adjustment off. You'll still have the play in the box but it'll return to center the way it's supposed to and some of the wander will go away. If you replace it you might want to think about a NAPA box. I don't have any first hand experience with them but they have a lifetime guaranty.

Thanks for the information!