I've noticed in the last two months or so that sometimes when I make a turn (left or right), the steering wheel doesn't want to return to center like normal. If I wouldn't force it back to center, the truck would keep going in that direction. I have to force it back, not hard, but I do have to force it. The issue is sporadic and I haven't noticed any patterns in when/why it happens. Power steering fluid level seems to be fine. Sometimes on rare occasions, the ABS light flashes if I'm going slow and turning sharp on dry asphalt, but that's about it.

Has anyone had this issue or know what may be going on?

 

Do you have a steering stabilizer? If so, that could be the problem.

 

Have you ever flushed and changed the ps fluid. If not you need to. Not in the manual but makes a world of diff. I also installed a magnefine tranny filter in the return line.

 

69cj, I have not done a flush, but would be glad to try that. I'll look around here for the instructions, but if you know of a good link, hook me up please. Thanks.

 

if youre getting an intermittent abs light i would jack it up and check both front wheel bearings.while its up also check the ball joints for play.also make sure the hubs arent locked in.thats probably not the case though,you'd feel that for sure on dry pavement.

 

Yeah, my brother-in-law works for a tire & alignment shop. He looked over it when I first got the truck and didn't see anything obvious. Might try the power steering fluid flush to see if that does anything. Just need to figure out the steps for doing it right.

 

how do you go about checking the front wheel bearings?

 

I had the same problem with my '04 a couple of years ago and it was diagnosed as the front U-joints. The dealer replaced both and the problem went away.

 

Your Front Axle joints are greaseable, (mine are anyways) Grease them up good. My truck was doin what you are describing, and I greased them good, than added a pump once a week for a couple weeks. I didnt know thyey were greasable and neglected them for a while, now I grease them every oil change. My problem went away after a couple drives.

 

Did you ever fix this issue? If so, what was it?

 

To be totally honest, I hadn't done anything because it hasn't happened in a long time, but a few minutes ago, my wife called and asked me why "this truck isn't steering right". I talked to a friend a few weeks ago who had the same issue with his truck (2005 F250) and he flushed the PS fluid and put new in and he said that worked for him. I just need to get time to do that. Probably greasing those fittings the other guy suggested wouldn't be a bad idea either.

 

To flush the fluid get 3 or 4 qts. of Mercon V synthetic tranny fluid. Siphon as much out of the reservoir with a turkey baster as you can and then top back off. Disconnect the return hose from the hydroboost unit. That should be the top rear hose. Put an approx. 18" piece of 3/8 hose on the boost fitting. Jack the front of the truck up and start it. Have the 3/8 hose run into a large soda bottle. With the engine running you can turn the wheels lock to lock or pump the brakes. This will force the old fluid into the soda bottle. do not let the reservoir suck air. When your satisfied with the color and smell of the fluid coming out your done. I left about a 4" piece of hose on the booster and installed a magnefine filter between the two hoses.

 

I did something similar with my VW Jetta. I used my MityVac to suck the PS fluid out of the resevoir, removed the return hose and plugged the return nipple on the resevoir. Then I filled the resevoir up with fresh fluid and hooked the MityVac up to the return hose. I kept filling the resevoir until the fluid running in to the MityVac ran clean. Worked very well.

I haven't flushed my PS on my truck yet, but I suppose I should soon.

 

Over the Christmas break, I had some time off, so I had the PS Flush done by my local Ford dealer. Afterwards, the steering was noticably smoother, but then it happened again about a week later and still continues to happen...almost worse now, I think. It's to the point this morning on the way in that I said out loud to myself in the truck, "OK, this is ridiculous." It's usually after I make sharp turn when I have to force the steering wheel to straighten up. Like getting on an interstate on-ramp. I turn hard left to get on and then go straight, but even after the wheel is straight, it wants to pull left. As I go, I push against it more and more and it sort of "lets loose" and then wants to pull to the right, so I have to fight that. I noticed this morning that it actually made me swerve on the interstate. After maybe 5 miles or so, it seems to get better, but then, when I get to my exit and turn to go to work, it starts all over again. I'm not sure what else to try, I had the Ford dealership look over all the steering linkages, etc. when they were doing the flush and only found that the right tie rod end was a bit loose, but I don't see that causing this issue.

Also, oddly enough, several days after this started getting bad, I got a letter from Ford about this exact issue. I can't remember if I did something that would've prompted them to send it to me, but whatever. Anyway, it basically said don't use "P" rated tires and basically it's normal that the wheel does this. I couldn't believe that they were saying it was normal...hopefully they weren't referring to the extreme that I'm experiencing. That brings up the other point though, I DO have "P" rated tires, but what do the tires have to do with it? I don't want to spend $1000 to go to other tires and then have the same issue. Has anyone had this happen to them to the point that correcting the pull makes them swerve?

 

Sounds like a bad front u-jount. Thats what mine was doing. One arm of the u-joint was rusted so bad we had to cut it to get it out.