2002 E150 Traveler 5.4liter V8 187000 miles: van goes down the road straight, issue arises when moving the steering wheel from 12 o'clock position to either 11 or 1 o'clock and then back to 12. You have to constantly re correct from the initial steering input. It is not an OMG what is happening sway but it does make drinking your coffee a bit of an issue.
It happens as your changing lanes or avoiding something in the road.
Tires are new Michilen LTX's inflated to 50 pounds all round.
Van has been on a lift - bushings all look good (POS kept up the maintence) and all suspension bits are tight.
Is this a steering box issue? Power steering pump sticking?
Suggestions? We did put the sway controller on the front steering - helped a bunch btw.
Thanks
EZ

 

Best thing we did for our '93 E150 was a "slightly new" steering box last year. With no steering or suspension modifications, it's stable enough that our driving-for-a-year son is confident on the open road. Many swear by a steering stabilizer. Check the bushings (rag joints?) along the steering column.

Sixto
93 E150 Chateau 5.8 191K miles

 

Redhead steering box. Do it.

 

I replaced my steering box with a Ford/OEM reman'd unit, steering is more precise but almost to the point its too precise, almost twitchy if not paying attention. I think the lack of worn gears makes this so but there's no getting around steering is better now. (BTW replaced original box due a leaking lower seal---no practical way to replace just the one seal.

While you say the bushings "look good........." that's no real indication they are actually in good working order. It wouldn't hurt having the ball joints along with every other steering component checked, not just "looked at........."

Honestly though your conditions sound pretty typical of the E-Series especially those light weight E150's. Has this thing been weighed, its actual weight as driven recorded or known. Add in whatever conversion package and tire selection and you might be running at the very edge of the chassis's designed loaded weight. That too could affect steering feel.

We'll talk about potentially worn springs another day...........

 

do you have a rear sway bar ? I also have a conversion van and the best thing that i did was heavy duty springs all around and installed a rear sway bar from helwig. most conversion vans are undersprung from the factory.
These vans seem to eat steering boxes a new one is never a bad idea , you have a fair amount of miles on you vehicle.

also have you vans front end checked out by someone used to working on trucks ! sounds like there is some play in there somewhere. good luck

 

when you say sticking do you mean the steering is hard to move then becomes easier?

it could be the u joints on your steering shaft that connects the steering wheel to the steering box , these can become balky with age .

try some penetrating lube on them this sometimes unfreezes them

 

If you are experiencing a "dead, do nothing zone" between 11 and 1 it may be because of having too little +caster. The caster specification is very broad at +1.5 to +6.5 and for best results at highway speeds you want to be +5.5 or more. IMO.

 

Is pulling out the steering box a big job? The pitman arm looks difficult to remove.

 

A pitman arm puller should make quick work of that.



You can rent one for no net cost, leave purchase price as a deposit, at Autozone. Make sure it's the better quality rental tool, not the cheaper ones for retail sale.

Sixto
93 E150 Chateau 5.8 191K miles

 

Consider this a rant-Can an E150 ever handle as good as the E250 or E350? I was packing up for a camping trip and my buddy engineer Dan who drives both the E350 and E450 diesels said my van handles like a pogo stick. He said that I needed new front shocks. It sways, rocks, and rolls when I turn hard.

I replaced all 4 shocks 3 years ago and have put on less than 25k on them. Last year, I replaced all the tie rods and ball joints with Moog (thanks JWA!).

I just arrived from a 4200 mile car camping trip in Canada and northwestern US and it gets tiring driving this rig.

 

Thanks for the tip! I may replace my slop box.

 

Is the sway controller the official name? I need something to keep my E150 from rolling around corners. I don't drive it like a Porche. Seems like I always have a parade behind me while driving in the mountains because I am careful with this beast.

 

There's sway bars and there's steering stabilizers which are essentially a shock absorber between the frame and drag link. I've read about stabilizers being part of Ford's ambulance package and there are aftermarket options. I can't imagine a stabilizer improves cornering. It's more for straight line... umm... stability.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mo...view/make/ford

Sixto
93 E150 Chateau 5.8 191K miles

 

Whether its easy or not is completely subjective.......

In my case the Pitman arm was a complete bear, better to do this while the box is still mounted to the frame. The puller shown can be useful but my '03 with barely 190K miles at the time required a lot of heat and larger puller.

Removing and then realigning the lower U-joint was a bit of a PITA too but not impossible, assuming persistence is a big part of your vocabulary.

I did hire this job out but was present the whole time.

I get this rant, 100% Frankly I've never had any affection for the E150 chassis (pre-08 anyway) but in general once that chassis approaches its claimed GVW its almost borderline dangerous to drive safely. E250's are a step up, can have the suspensions upgraded to rival an E450's GVW but the limitations are frame strength. Because the E350's use the same frame as an E250 they're rated to carry more weight, have larger brakes but ride significantly more harsh, need to be loaded near their GVW to smooth out the ride.

Short answer CoolFeet is no, the E150's will never be E250's or E350's----your buddy is correct.

 

Finally got the van into a competent shop: tech test drove it with me and confirmed the issue. Up on the rack the bushings are good, no slop in the steering box or steering mechanisms (tie rod ends, etc). Put it on the alignment rack and everything is with in spec.
Will have the van aligned, power steering flushed, and just for grins have the steering box adjustment tightened a skosh (half a turn on the nut) just for grins.
Thoughts??