I think I got that all listed. My truck likes to wander. It had 1 or 2 really good days since I bought it over a year ago. It came with Firestone Steeltecs and stiff ball joints. Had the front end lube done and drive great for a little bit. Then I wanted tires that had treat and not get stuck in a puddle. I put on Discover ST in a 285 series (60 lbs pressure in all 4). It drove great for a few days, then started to meander a little. I took it in and was told ball joints were bad. Had new ball joints (upper and lower, both sides) and alignment done. Truck drove fine for 1 (ONE) day. Thought I was losing my mind. Check all things, lugnuts, etc. Seen steering box was leaky. Talked to some friends and ended up changing the steering box and tie-rod end connecting to the pitman arm. Took back and had alignment check and was told it was off (again). (What does changing the steering box have to do with the alignment ?) Took truck home and drove great for the 5 mile drive. Next day, it wandered. What the f***. rotated tires again (usually about every 5k miles) inside of drivers front tire is all chewed up. Got back in to shop and had mechanic check it out. Said everything is tight, spring mounts good, ball joints good, tie-rod ends good, etc. Was told maybe a bad steering gear box, his statement - something has a tight spot, the steering is not self-centering. So, just to say I did, I swapped tires and rims with a friend who is running OE Steeltecs. He does not like my coopers at all, drives fine, but seems to wander just a litle bit. Called tech-line for A1 Cardon truck parts. Numbskull there told me that I needed to loosen the wormgear screw 1/4 turn. That would fix my problems. So I did, now I have very loose steering and a truck that still wanders. I dont want to put my expensive coopers back on till I find out what the problem is. I have 2 very chopped tires fromthe drivers side front eating them, BUT THE ALIGNMENT IS FINE according to my mechanic (I use 2 diffrent shops, one for parts changing - cheaper- and the other for detailed skilled work - alignments, tire balance, etc.
I think maybe the cooper discover ST tires are not strong enough for all the weight and that the sidewalls are getting progressivly weaker. BUT, this does not explain all the problem because the truck still wanders with the OE type steeltecs, but not as bad.

So, what do you think is going on ?


Driving on the freeway hauling a trailer is quite the white knuckle adventure.....

 

Fords deffinition of wander
Wander
Wander is the tendency of the vehicle to require frequent, random left and right steering wheel corrections to maintain a straight path down a level road.
Is this what you are having?

and here are the possibilities

Unevenly loaded or overloaded vehicle.

Loose or damaged steering gear mounting bolts. REPLACE or TIGHTEN the bolts

Loose lower steering column U-joint bolts. TIGHTEN the bolts

Loose, worn or damaged lower steering column shaft U-joints. REPLACE the lower steering column shaft

Wheel alignment. ADJUST as required

Loose, worn or binding steering linkage(s) or tie rod end(s).

Improper steering gear preload/meshload.

Suspension components.

 

according to Ford definition - yes. It is no longer a steering wheel, it is a guiding wheel. Simply suggesting that perhaps the truck needs to go slightly left or right and hoping it follows. The truck drives like its got 300k miles on (and it does) but everything is NEW, except the shocks. Roads are fairly decent, truck meanders while loaded or empty.

Everything is tight, from steering wheel to rag joint to steering gear box to pitman arm to tie rods to knuckles and ball joints.

Now, having said that.... Seems there is excessive slop in the steering wheel, up to 2 inches before resistance is felt. But, according to my mechanic friend, who watched the shaft, rag joint, gear box, etc... He said it all moved together like it should. Unless there is a joint fromthe steering wheel to the firewall. If there is, that is where there could be some slop. I just dont recall seeing one.

This problem is plauging me enought that I am looking at a newer truck. I found one that suits me, but the dang thing was made in mexico. The first digit of the vin being a 3 will make me walk away from the deal of a lifetime.

 

I vote ball-joints....

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/3...ll-joints.html

and

Ball%20Joint%20Installation

and this...

http://catalog.powerstrokeshop.com/p...tegoryID=90666

 

I wonder if when they installed the new steering gear box they made sure that it was centered when they put it all together? The steering gear box has a "sweet spot" in the center that allows it to come to center after a turn. It's a spot in the worm gear where the mesh is different than the rest.

I had a Toyota 4Runner that was badly damaged in a head on collision and it had to have a whole new steering system installed, including the steering gear box. The truck never did drive correctly and required constant corrections. It also wouldn't return to center after a turn. I took it to two shops who both told me that everything was tight and correct. Finally a third shop discovered the problem with the steering gear box not being centered at assembly. They adjusted the box to center and the wanderng problem went away. I know a 4Runner is a lot different than an 8000# F-250 but the principles are the same.

My F-250 had multiple steering problems when I first purchased it. It wandered and it also felt loose. I made the mistake of tightening the steering gear box and instead of making it better I then had a truck that not only wandered but had a tight steering wheel and memory steer, meaning I would correct and then I would have to correct the correction to get it in a straight line.

I took it to a shop reccomended by a friend as the best for trucks like ours and they told me bad ball joints, upper and lower, one bad tie rod end and the biggest one of all according to the technician, the pitman arm nut was loose and was putting just enough slop in the system to make it wander all over. Also, they said the steering box was way too tight. That was of my own doing.

I had all of the parts replaced and had it aligned and then adjusted the steering box to Ford spec using their procedure and haven't had a problem since and it's been eight months. The shop would not adjust the steering box lash as they said they never reccomend anyone but Ford to adjust that and when I admitted to them that I did it they said now you know why.

Sorry for the long post but this is something I have had a little experience with (I am certainly not a diesel mech) so I thought I would share and hopefully help you out.

 

Does he have the spec to measure the Preload/Meshload

Steering Gear Meshload Rotating Torque @ Steering Wheel 2 Nm (18 lb/in)
Minimum Steering Meshload Rotating Torque @ Steering Wheel 1 Nm (
Maximum Worm Bearing Preload (For Inspection Purposes Only) 0.9 Nm (8 lb/in) 13 lb/in
Total Meshload Over Worm Bearing Preload Over Ends (For Inspection Purposes Only) 0.45-1 Nm (4-9 lb/in)
Worm to Piston Preload (For Inspection Purposes Only) 0.11-0.34 Nm (1-3 lb/in)

 

I vote ball-joints also. Are you sure they all were replaced?

 

I've got the same problem, 2000 F250, lariat,towing package, Michelin tires when the truck had 6 miles on it. It's been doing it from day 1 when I picked it up from the dealer with 2 miles on it. Had it back 6 times under warrenty before I gave up. Replaced all the ball joints, ty rods, steering etc..... Same problem. I have 120,000 miles now and I've gotten used to it, not so bad, great truck.

 

Does your truck always wander in the same spot on the road or is it all the time. Mine has a tendancy to wander a bit with new tires, but you have too many symptoms to be just new tires. The chopped wheel on the inside. Have you checked the shocks? My right front tire did this after I changed shocks. Turned out to be a bad shock. The play in the steering wheel. Have you checked the power steering pump? It sounds like everything else is new.

 

I recently replaced my ball joints and had alignment. Since then, my steering also seems to be loose and I can feel bumps in the road much more. It just doesn't seem quite right. Hopefully, I can track down whatever is causing it.

 

I had a chance to drive another truck like mine today, with new tires and much lower miles. his truck drove just like mine, wandered, over-correction, loose steering, etc. He said its done it since he bought it. Maybe its just a thing with these. Still upsets me, I know this is capable of driving straight, because it has done it in the past. I did buy antoher set of rims and I will be putting on new tires, something 8 ply or heavier.

My mechanic neighbor tells me that part of my problem is the sidewall flexes on my discover 285's being they are only 2 ply. After driving a week with a friends set of 265 steeltecs that came on the truck new, the wander is better, but far from an enjoyable drive pulling a loaded trailer on the freeway. Come to find out the steeltecs are just a 2 ply sidewall as well.

So, haveing said this, would a set of 8 ply sidewall Cooper Discover ATR 285-75 tires ride (ie. STEER) better than my current Discover ST 2 ply tires ?

I really dont want to just throw another thousand bucks at the problem only to not have it fixed.

 

Jeffdoer- Bloody frustrating isn't it!!?? One thing I have not seen mentioned yet is the TRAC bar. That is what keeps the diff centered in the truck. And if it has wore out bushings, loose brackets, misadjusted or otherwise loose that will cause wondering. And it is nothing that will ever show up during an alignemnt. Does your truck have any lift or has had any lift? Also, for steering gear boxes I would highly recomend a place in Everett Washington called Redhead Steering gears. They are not just another remanufacturer. They add bearings where none existed and have a very high quality standard. I have it on my truck. and Hauling my 28ft tow behind down the Freeway at 70 is a one finger ride.

Oh yeah, another thought. Check the front Wheel bearings also. That should be caught during an aligment, but not always if the tech is not paying attention.

 

AH HA!! I have asked the shop about busings and wheel bearing before. I know there are some bad busings, I can feel it when I hit bumps.

As far as I know, I am only 2nd owner and this thing has never been lifted or off-roaded. It was only used as a daily driver by the first owner, had a 120 mile round trip commute.