I have a 79 f250 4x4 with a steering problem. All new suspension,redhead steering gear,and all front end components are new. No play in steering column, sector shaft or gear box.
The truck does not pull to the left or the right like an alignment problem,and the steering wheel returns to a center position on it's own after coming out of a turn, indicating the caster is probably alright. My problem is while going down the road straight, the steering wheel straight, and after making a hard turn left or right, and returning back to a straight road with truck going straight, the steering wheel will either be left or right of center depending on which way I turned ,GO FIGURE. I've checked all bolt's and mounting points,everything is tight, even scribed marks at the leaf spring / perch mounts to see if there's movement while having a buddy turn the wheels lock to lock on a hard surface. Something must be moving, I know this is a long post,but i tried to give all the details to eliminate answers to things I've already done and tried. PLEASE HELP!!!

 

It sounds like you have done everything right, but sometimes the simple things get you.

Have you checked the steering wheel itself? The center hub may be loose just enough to move the direction you are turning to. The only way you could be sure is to take the steering wheel cover off and scribe it and turn the wheel hard in both directions to see if anything changes. Man, this is a weird problem. Good luck.

 

Thanks Gary for responding. Checked it out, and it's not moving.

 

are the ubolts tight?
are the centerpins broken?
check all 4 corners

 

I had a similar problem on my '76 CC, except that I could feel the play in the system. After a LOT of searching, I finally found the problem. Where the steering shaft connects to the steering box out-put shaft there is a collar with a bolt to squeeze it tight over the splines. The bolt was loosened off inducing 'play' in the system. Tightened that bolt (9/16 head, I think), and no more steering play.

 

spring bushings ? if it was a half ton with a loose track bar mount or bad bushings you could get this but on a 250 with leafs ??? How does it feel when you drive over bumps with the wheel turned ?

 

All u bolts are tight and bushings are new. I'll check the steering shaft collar to make sure it's not loose, allowing the steering wheel to turn to different positions. Also after thinking about this dilemma, it seems like the problem started after replacing the ball joints. I had to disconnect the new center link from the steering block with a pickle fork, which i don't like to do, if I plan on reusing the joint. Also, installed new sleeves in the axle yoke for the upper ball ball joint preload which if something was wrong there, it should only effect the camber.This problem is driving me crazy, keep the responses coming.

 

My thoughts exactly.




How tight are your u-bolts? How did you tighten them?

Is the steering box tight to the frame?



.

 

proper preload on the balljoints was next question
the exact symptoms were what I noticed when the spring centerbolts were broken on a WesternStar I used to drive

 

I had a Chevy 4x4 that leaked power steering fluid on the front left leaf spring and u-bolts all the time. That centering pin was always broken, lol.

 

Well if it's any consolation mine does the same thing. Except mine's a '78 F250 4x4. I've went thru everything. I even replaced the steering shaft with one from borgersen. I was hoping there was an answer in this link when I saw it!!