My 2007 F250 CC 4x4 just recently developed the "death wobble at ~ 85K miles. My daughter has been driving it fror the past couple years, so I haven't been paying as close attention as I should

I took a look under the truck with assistance from a buddy and learned two things:

1. I had a serious diesel fuel leak from the fuel pressure regulator.

2. The upper end of the track bar moved about a 1/4" when sawing the steering wheel back and forth. Everything else looked okay, but it appears that the diesel fuel leak softened up the bushing and is likely what caused it to go bad.

I did the "blue spring upgrade". It was fairly easy thanks to the great instructions on this site. Special thanks to Rusty Axelrod for posting detailed pictures.

As far as the track bar replacement, it was really simple. Here's a quick write up as promised:

Tools Needed:

13 mm open end wrench
24mm open end wrench
30 mm open end wrench
30 mm socket and breaker bar
Hammer

Part Needed:
AC3Z-3B239-A, Front Bar. This is for an 07 F250 cc 4x4 6.0L. List was $138.25, my cost was $117.51

Instructions:
1. Loosen lower track bar mounting nut (passenger side at axle) with 24mm wrench. Leave the nut on the last few threads.

2. Give the side of the track bar end a few good wacks with the hammer. You hit it on the end of the bar, directly outside of where the tapered hole is. This should cause the taper to release. The nut keeps the bar from falling completely off when it releases. If for some reason this doesn't work, you can use a pickle fork to separate the joint. Mine came right off with a couple hits.

3. Use the 30mm socket, breaker bar and open end wrech to remove the upper track bar bolt. This is on the underside of the frame rail on the drivers side.

4. Pull down on the track bar to remove from the upper bracket. It's a fairly hefty steel bar, so be prepared.

5. Remove the nut loosened in step 1 and remove the track bar.

6. Check the ball joint on the axle for the lower track bar mount to make sure it is not worn. Mine was good. If it's bad, you will have to get that part and replace it.

7. Insert the lower end of the new track bar on the tapered joint (may sure it it right side up) and screw on the 24 mm nut.

8. Place the 13mm wrench on the end of the tapered stud of the lower ball joint and use the 24mm open end wrench to tighten the nut. The 13 mm wrech keeps the ball joint from rotating as you draw the nut up tight.

9. Raise the upper end of the track bar into the mounting bracket. You will likely find that the holes do not line up perfectly. To align the holes, just fire up the truck and turn the steering wheel slightly in the direction you want the bar to go. For example, to move the end of the bar to the left, turn the wheel to the left. It's much faster with a helper to turn the wheel while you align the holes, but I did it by myself with a couple iterations of turning the wheel, raising the rod to check alignment and repeat.

NOTE: Turn the wheel slowly as it is actually going to try and make the truck and axle alignment shift from side to side. The other thing I noticed was that it tried to push the rubber sway bar bushing out of its bracket. A couple light taps with the hammer and it slid right back.

10. Once aligned, install the 30mm bolt and nut and tighten everything up snugly. I read somewhere that it's supposed to be torqued to 150 ft lbs. I just used a 3/4" breaker bar and gave it a good amount of force.

11. Take it for a test drive over known problem roads and see if it's cured.

Total time for the track bar was about 45 minutes, just taking my time and figuring out what wrench sizes I needed. I didn't include any pictures as it is pretty easy to understand. If you can't locate the track bar under the truck, you probably shouldn't be trying to replace it

John

 

Thanks John, I have part of the bushing hanging out of mine now so I'll be doing mine this week sometime. Price wasn't as bad as I expected considering the size of that thing!

 

Yep. Also, you can get a few bucks back at the scrapyard as well

 

Isnt there a polyurethane bushing that can be pressed in there? That seems to me to be a better long term fix.
Wait I found one 99-04 F250 Track Bar Bushings Red

 

Thanx Lou. Rep ya later. I might give that a shot.

 

Can anybody confirm if these tools also apply to the 2008 F250? I think the 13mm wrench isn't needed,
cause I don't see any bolts on top of the passenger side ball joint.

Tools Needed:

** 13 mm open end wrench
24mm open end wrench
30 mm open end wrench
30 mm socket and breaker bar Hammer


Thanks,

 

+1 with loubell. If the joint is ok just replace bushing. Not the hole bar.

 

The 99 - 04 track bar is different to the 05 and up track bar. It's possible to replace the bushing with enough tools, but for $117 I sure wouldn't bother. One thing - the big bolt has to be done up to 404 ft lbs of torque, not 150. Judge your 3/4" breaker bar accordingly - if it's a 2 foot model, you didn't get it tight enough. If it's a three foot, maybe. I used my truck wheel nut torque wrench that goes up to 700 ft lbs so it was easy.

Brian

 

Thanks.. I just bought the bullet and got a new track bar with bushing
installed for $150 from Ford.

Out of curiosity, for those of us without the benefit of a lift, how would you recommend removing the Driver Side bolt? Put it on jacks and remove
the tire? It seems like the Sway Bar is partially in the way and I want to
(if at all possible) not have to mess with the sway bar.

Thanks,
Alby

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...r-bushing.html
Picture #2 in post #13 works fine on a 4x4.

 

Thanks.. Looks like a full left turn of the wheel is good enough.

 

This post got me ta thinkin'. My truck hasn't developed the dreaded death wobble yet, but it does tend to wander a bit. If I'm not on my toes and constantly making little adjustments to the steering while I'm driving, that thing will all of a sudden go off course. Is the fix the same or should I be looking at something else?

 

When I changed my track bar it was very easy. The hard part was breaking the ball-joint taper loose - and it was hard only because I lost my puller and had to look for it! For the big driver's side bolt you have great access through the drivers side wheel well, I didn't even turn my wheel. I use (from memory) a 1 5/16" socket, might have been 1 3/8", and a couple of adaptors as short extensions. Lift up on the 4' ratchet to undo, as soon as it breaks loose you can do it by hand, and there is a semi-captive nut on the other side so no need for a wrench. Same deal doing it up, torque to 400 ft lbs, done. The nut moves around if you try to use an impact wrench to do it up so you don't get a good torque.

Brian

 

Was there a switch to Metric? I think on the 08 the driver side is 30mm
and the passenger side is 24mm.

 

It may well be 30mm, and it was always metric, for years now. But when you are talking big 6 point sockets, close enough is good enough... I happen to have a set of 3/4 drive imperial inch sockets that usually fits close enough for whatever needs undoing.

Brian