Yep, wheel bearings are fine. I even tightened them just a tad past spec to make sure that wasn't it.

Shocks are brand new and thus have new bushings.

I even had a shop check it out - they couldn't find anything wrong with the front end. Said it all checked out to be perfectly tight.

 

My 01 also wanders, it was fine when I first bought it almost 2 years ago. Tires were new then. I have since put on new shocks and stabilizer shocks. Tightened the steering box (helped a little) Had the ball joints checked along with the alignment. I'm thinking about changing the toein/out and see if it gets better or worse.

 

50 PSI in the front tires?

What does your door sticker recommend you run in front? Mine says 75 PSI in all 4 tires.

 

Greenlawn; your track bars are the big long "arms" that go from the front axel (4wd), or from the twin i-beams (2wd) to the frame of the truck. They usually bolt to the frame right about were your feet would be when your sitting in the truck. My truck wanders horribly too, and im getting a rather loud clunk when i go over bumps. Think its time for new bushings? Not sure as im looking into it also, got over 300k on her and so far thats the only big problem.

 

The steering gears on these trucks are notorious for wander as they get aged. There are valves inside them that are very sensitive to dirt and contamination. I believe they are called reed valves. But they can open and close when they are not supposed to. But the sensation created is more like a darting than wander and constant correction is needed to keep it straight. A remanufactured box may be defective from the get go if the valves weren't replaced. Also excessive toe out or insufficient positive caster could cause wander. Tires worn on the outside edges could cause wander. Too wide of a tire could cause wander, especially if it's a soft compound tire. The steering pump is just that, a pump. I doubt that's causing a wander. Usually when a pump is going away you'll experience instances of no power assist.

 

Door calls for 50 in the front, 70 in the rear.

Just looked at them in the rear. Bushings are cracked and look very worn. Could that be it? I'll go buy a pair today if so!

How could I inspect that reed valve? Do they not replace them when they rebuild the boxes?

 

Maybe a caster increase is in order.

 

Made a few discoveries today......

Track bar bushings are shot. They were actually worn down so bad the metal was starting to grind. Unfortunately nobody had them in stock, so I'll have to replace them after the holiday.

The sway bar bushings were pretty worn as well. Don't know that the sway bar would affect the front end at all, but I'll replace those as well. Another special order item, but I can obviously do those pretty quickly.

Thanks for the help guys.....stay tuned for an update. I may just decide to keep this truck after all.

 

You can find it on this website under the TSB section. I found it under my truck. A 2006 F250. Basically they will recommend inflating your tires according to the specs on the inside of your drivers side door. Also checking for the correct torques for a ll your suspension and steering components. Personally I had this problem. I replaced my steering stabilizer under recommendation from my local Ford ( genius's) Dealership. The old one was weak. But they failed to mention about the TSB. So when I found it online I made sure my tires were inflated according to the door (Not by the tires, which was 10psi more) and I ended up adjusting the mesh load on my steering box. Problem solved. There are more procedures in the TSB. I would FOLLOW it step by step.....Hope this helps some of you. I know it was frustrating for me with the correcting of my steering...

 

Track bar bushings worn would contribute to wandering. Sway bar would not, but while you're getting dirty and the truck is down you may as well do those too. They don't cost that much. Valves in the remanufactured steering box may or may not be replaced, depending on the remanufacturer. The better companies (top tier) replace everything in them and the lesser companies only replace what's needed at the time they have the core so they can charge less and/or make more profit per unit.

 

Ok a delayed update!

I put in the new tracking arm bushings and got an alignment.

Nope

Not fixed

Still wanders.

Any other ideas?

I do have exactly one inch of play in my steering wheel while the wheels are straight and the truck is off. How much is it supposed to have?

 

As I stated previously, wandering is usually caused by something loose in the steering/suspension. Darting is usually caused by steering box with power steering. Check everything connected to the steering wheel from the wheel all the way down to the tie rod ends. A worn rag joint or coupler, loose steering box to the frame mount, etc, can cause wander.

 

Park your truck with steering wheel straight, engine off, with one finger on top of steering wheel. You shouldn't be able to rotate steering wheel more than an inch.
This was a problem with my truck. I got a new steering box from red head steering gears from washington. Took me 4 hours to replace. There is also a good write up on this forum how to replace it.

BTW where did you find your track bar bushings?

 

My 01 has had small wandering issues since new. We tried to track it down years ago, but with no luck. I soon did not even notice it or have to think about keeping it on track, and 9 years later it is exactly the same. Funny thing is that when someone else drives it for the first time they notice it right away so I guess I just got used to it.