steering feels alil lose

[hillbilly-f250]

hello all..
i have owned this 06 f250 for about 2 months now and little things are starting to bother me..big one is the steering..truck drives straight and tire wear seems to be good.. just feels loose like theres to much play in the steering wheel.. i have checked the tie rods and ball joint and they seem fine and tight..so not sure where to go next.. my tires are pretty worn but the wear is good..maybe a new steering stablizer? somone was telling me on my steering box i can tighten the steering wheel play but dont wanna go that far unless i know for sure thats where i need to be
thanks for any replys
Jeremy

[armyguy209]

I think that is just the way these trucks are. It bothers me in mine too. I replaced all ball joints with dynatrac ones. I put in a redhead upgraded steering box. Put a brand new rize dual steering stabilizer with king shocks.

All to no avail. Still loose steering.

[kirbybc12]

That's the way it is on all of them, even my 6.7 feels that way like my 6.0 did. Mine was always loose and felt like it needed an alignment.


Sent from my iPhone using AutoGuide.com Free App

[ZMANN]

you need to unlock the steering wheel truck not running

and then from the driver side wheel well grab the steering input shaft to the steering geer and rotate back and forth untill you feel resistance ,, see how much it moves
before the sector shaft starts to move ,, a lot of these trucks have excessive slop in the box that can be adjusted

[snopro_03]

I rebuilt my front end almost a year ago, balljoints,tierods,pitman arm, and added dual steering stabilzers, (my balljoints were shot). My steering wheel felt exactly the same loose and all over the road. I turned the adjusting screw on my steering box a total of 3/4's of a turn and the problem was gone. Just make sure your play is in the box not somewhere else if your going to start turning on the screw.

[twoicebergs]

There is an old TSB about this condition. Play in the steering is one issue, but so is the stabilizer. I have found that the steering stabilizers tends to go bad on these trucks. I replaced 2 on my last truck and one on my newer on. They develop a dead section and that can become very noticeable with larger tires, but not all the time. Another problem tends to be the tires. Some tires are worse than others for flexing and react differently depending on tire pressure. Another correlation is oversized and aggressive tread to wandering. These conditions will give you that "where is the truck going now feeling". I had that feeling on my last tire change, so I went out and measured all the tires. As expected, I had to match the fronts and rears for circumference; that, and a new steering stabilizer fixed the problem. A few years back, a friend's truck felt like he was driving on ice, in the summer, after putting on new tires. I can't remember the brand, but it was bad! Those tires only lasted about a month before he swapped them out.

[frdbronco8]

Originally Posted by snopro_03

I rebuilt my front end almost a year ago, balljoints,tierods,pitman arm, and added dual steering stabilzers, (my balljoints were shot). My steering wheel felt exactly the same loose and all over the road. I turned the adjusting screw on my steering box a total of 3/4's of a turn and the problem was gone. Just make sure your play is in the box not somewhere else if your going to start turning on the screw.

Anyone have a link to this or a picture? Wouldnt mind trying it on mine, feels kinda loose compared to my F-150 I just traded in.

[snopro_03]

Originally Posted by frdbronco8

Anyone have a link to this or a picture? Wouldnt mind trying it on mine, feels kinda loose compared to my F-150 I just traded in.

I don't have any pics. If you pull your air intake off and remove the fan shroud that runs down that side you will be able to see an allen screw with a jam nut on the top of the steering box. I would suggest 1/4 turns until you feel the steering is where it should be. Keep in mind only adjust the box if you know the rest of your front end is tight, adjusting the box to much can ruin it.

[hillbilly-f250]

well atleast im not goin crazy then...what il do first is new tires and go from there..thanks all

[TxOutlaw]

Originally Posted by snopro_03

I don't have any pics. If you pull your air intake off and remove the fan shroud that runs down that side you will be able to see an allen screw with a jam nut on the top of the steering box. I would suggest 1/4 turns until you feel the steering is where it should be. Keep in mind only adjust the box if you know the rest of your front end is tight, adjusting the box to much can ruin it.

Bringing up an old thread, but as OP stated, I have the same issue. Loose steering, everything else seems snug. No wobble, good tire wear.

I tried to adjust that allen screw and couldn't budge it. My box has 2 nuts on that screw, one larger on top then one smaller. Do I loosen both nuts or just that top one (all I did)??

Any Help Appreciated!