I have a 95 F350 powerstroke 4x4 auto trans. It does not happen all the time but ocassionally when steering either right or left the truck does not want to react to the wheel. I can best decribe it as a crown in the middle of the road with all 4 tires on either side. When I try to turn it has resistance and then when it reaches a certain point the truck will shoot in the direction I am steering. This happens both left or right. It does this randomly but when it does do it you can hardly keep it in it's own lane. I can not narrow it down to any specific time or whether or not the truck is warm or cold.

My local mechanic decided to change upper and lower ball joints on one side, two tie rod ends, and the center drag link. Also, an alignment. All this did was empty my wallet by $6-7 hundred.

 

could be a steering gear or steering shaft going to the gear. jack the front of the truck up and grab the tires at 3 and 9 o'clock and try to wiggle it back and forth to check for looseness. it shouldn't have any if the mechanic did what he was supposed to. its strange that it does it everynow and then. The whole system is a mechanical linkage so if its bad it should be bad all the time. also shake the tire from the top and bottom this will double check the ball joints.

 

one more thing to check is the track bar. that is the bar that hold the axle from side to side movement. it attaches on the passenger side of the axle and angles upward the engine crossmember. use a bar or just grab it and move back and forth and up and down to see if the bushing have any looseness in them.

 

just for a piece of mind i would look it all over.

steering shaft
u joint on shaft x2 i think
rubber between shaft and box connection(its under a plastic cover)
u bolts
leaf spring bushings
track bar mount and bushings
steering stabilizer

pitman arm hitting on frame or drag link etc

bushings that are pressed into steering nuckle that tie rod bolts go through.


just some things i would look over

 

do you think it could be in the brakes? I was driving it today it feels that it happens when I come to a stop at an intersection and then turn left or right. I remember back and it does seem to happen after I come to a stop and take a turn. Usually when the truck is cold. It will continue to pull and then right. When I realized this today I made some fairly quick stops and this seemed to help. After about 5-8 miles it went away. What do you think?

 

pulls left and right