Grease your front axle U joint's. Put a pump or 2 in everyday, if it doesn't clear up, you need to figure out what one is bad (sticking), or replace both. When mine was doing that (same exact thing you are describing), I greased the heck out of them, and it stopped after awhile. I also turned my hub's too lock for a bit, to force them too move.

These truck's have no grease fitting's anywhere (except the axle u joint's) so I was neglecting them (I didn't realize they had grease fitting's). I put 2 pump's in every oil change now.
It's been 2 yr's since I had the problem.

 

2006lariat,

It always makes me feel better when someone says they had "the exact same issue." I will try what you suggested once my dad returns the grease gun. I saw in your sig. you have the 58v Swamp's FICM upgrade. Would you recommend? I've been told mine is on it's way out and was looking at that upgrade. Some recommend it and some don't. What do you think?

 

On the 58vlt FICM, I haven't had any problem's with it. Some ppl argue that the injector coil's were only designed for 48vlt's, but than they say the FICM is ok down too 45vlt's. I know from stereo's (which I am sure is not the same) that too little voltage, is worse than a little too much. (burn an amp up in a hurry) (a FICM is just an amp, that turn's 13.7vlt's into 48) Too little of voltage will destroy (overheat) the coil's on the injector's as fast or faster than the whole 7vlt's over that I am actually running.

That being said, do your research, and make your own decision's. I gained a hair more fuel mileage, but cant tell you if it was just from putting a "good" one in and now the injectors are just working right. Some claim HP increases too. If you gain any HP it would be so minimal, you wont notice. Ppl that claim they can feel a 10 or 20 hp increase in an 8,000lb truck.........are reaching for ropes that are attached too nothing.

With this, I recommend Swamp's too you, But do not discount ficmrepair ed. Alot of folk's on here use him, and highly recommend him. I have never utilized his services.

In conclusion, Get your FICM working right, either at 48 or 58vlts, before you destroy your $250 a piece injector's!

I won't talk anymore about it, as it just turn's into an argumant.
Talk too swamp's, they are very intelligent and will answer any ?'s you will have! Good or bad. They also sell 48vlt FICM's. AGAIN CHECK OUT FICMREPAIRGUY ED too.

 

I would never say anything Bad about a 58 volt Ficm

On to the topic at hand

I think your steering issue could be a Few diffrent things like U-joints,ball joints, a 4x4 hub thats locked in, Tie rod, Bad steering Dampner ect....

to check a U-joint & 4x4 Hubs Do NOT Jack the truck up tires need to be on the ground and have truck in 2WD and you need to turn the tires to the left stop (all the way) get out and turn Both sides axel by hand. The Axel shaft should spin freely and not bind at any point in the Axel revolution. And then turn right till it stops and repeat

And by having the truck on the ground when you rotate the axel shaft this will also verify that the 4x4 Hubs are not still locked in. If you find the axel shaft will not spin at all the Hub is still locked in from a Vacuum leak or a BAD Hub

Look at the Steering Dampner make shure it hasent been hit by a rock the tube should not be dented in

To check the Ball Joints you need to jack the truck up and push & pull at the top and bottom tire. there should be No play. With the tire on you also have to overcome the weight of the tire. So its easier to check with the Tire off. there should be no play

do you have any tire wear like cupping worn edge anything

 

I hit them with the grease gun today until I saw grease coming out. We'll see how it goes. If it's that easy, that would be great!

 

Not too sure how much this will help, but I vaguely recall two such trucks experiencing the exact symptom you describe. Both ended up with new steering box replacements for a successful repair. But not before checking everything BLADE35 suggested above. BTW, if you do opt to replace it, be sure to replace the pitman arm as well.

 

Furthermore, if you haven't already done so, LOSE the P rated tires and spend the coin to put on the proper LT tires. They are rated that way for a reason.

 

E rated is what your truck is supposed to have.

 

Guys,

10-4 on the E rated tires. I'm going to get them lined up as soon as finances permit. I was good for about a week after greasing up the u-joints and then it happened again, so I don't think it was that. I seem to notice it happens more when I hit the brakes going around a turn, but not necessarily every time. Like when I get off the off ramp and stop at the intersection with my wheels turned right and I've been on the brakes the whole time. I let off the brakes, hit the gas to go and let the wheel go loose on my hands for it to go back to center and it doesn't. The steering box thing make a lot of sense. I've already had the PS flush by my local Ford dealer and I noticed a difference in steering smoothness, but the issue with not returning to center remained.

m-chan68, what kind of coin are we looking at for a steering box and pitman arm replacement? I'd say on the "mechanically inclined" scale, I'm a 6 out of 10 (10 being you ), could I do it myself?

For the E-rated tires, what do you guys think about Mastercraft brand? My bro-in-law works at a tire/alignment shop and usually can get me decent deals, especially on the Mastercraft. I really like the BF Goodrich A/T's too. He was talking about taking me up a size too, I think from 265 to 285.

 

m-chan, why the pitman arm as well?

 

A steering box is not terribly difficult to change out. More so that the box is heavy, is what will make the job awkward. A pitman arm replace along with it is required, is because you will never be able to separate it from the box without doing damage to the arm. For how relatively low of a cost the arm is, it's not worth wasting the time trying to separate it from the box. As far as price, I couldn't tell you, due to the variation in price from Canadian dealers versus American dealers. Tires is a matter of personal preference, so I won't comment on that. All I will say though, is you will need to recalibrate the PCM to recognize the change in tire size if you so choose to do so. Let me know the outcome.

 

I found some things on another forum that pointed me to a place in Seattle, WA called Red Head Steering Gears. After just giving them a brief description of my issue over the phone, they thought it may possibly be a "busted tooth on the steering shaft or piston." They'll do a full rebuild for $650ish, but there is a core charge of $150 - $250 depending on how good the core is. So at worst, a complete rebuild for $400 doesn't sound horrible. I'm sure shipping from PA to WA won't be cheap either, especially if that thing is heavy. I can tolerate it, but I don't want my wife driving the truck in bad weather and going off the road because I wanted to cheap out. It does tend to pull you all over the place when it gets bad. I would imagine people behind me think I'm falling asleep when it happens.

 

$650 sounds way steep. At that price, I would almost think that one from Ford may even be cheaper. What is the model year of your truck? Better yet, a VIN would be better, since looking up by year tends to produce multiple choices.

 

It's a 2005, CC, SB, 4X4. I will try to get the VIN tonight and PM you. What will that help find?

 

The Ford part number for the steering gear that you can bring to your local dealer to price out.