There's a problem with my front-end and I'm not sure if it's with the suspension or the steering. I could be driving straight and there will be no problems, but when I try to turn left or right, it is difficult to steer. Sometimes, while I'm in mid-turn, I feel something shift in the front-end. Then, when I come out of the turn and straighten it out, the truck pulls to the left or right depending on which way I originally turned-a right turn or a left turn. Or, instead of pulling to one side or another, it will wander all over the road. It feels like the lugnuts aren't on the lugs and the wheels are shifting all around.

When I bought the truck, it had 33x12.50 tires on 10" rims. I drove it a few thousand miles and I didn't have any problems. A couple of months ago, I found a set of stock wheels (7" or 7.5," not sure) with good 31x11.50 tires already on them. Sidenote: I'd like 9.50s or 10.50s, but can't afford them right now.

Just after I put the new wheels/tires on the truck, I had it aligned. The original tires (the 12.50s) were wearing heavily on the inside of the front tires. So even though they were wider tires than the 11.50s, there was probably less rubber touching the ground because it was WAY out of align. Just a narrow stip of rubber was touching the ground with the 12.50s on.

So, a few weeks and a few hundred miles later, this problem with the front-end (as described above) starts. I took it back to the shop where I had it aligned and they looked at it. The technician (not mechanic) said he didn't see anything wrong with it, but for some reason it was out of align again, so he re-did it for free.

At first, I thought the problem was fixed, but after driving it for 40-50 miles, the problem came back again.

Me and my dad (he's owned and worked on Ford trucks for the past 40 years) looked-over everything and all looked OK. All the ball joints seemed OK, so he thought it must be the steering box. I put a different steering box in it that we took out of a newer ('92) F150. This seemed to help a little, but not much.

I also put a new power steering pump in it a couple of months ago.

The stock springs and shocks are still in it. I took the left front shock out for giggles and there was no rebound at all. When I compressed the shock it just sat there, compressed. I also noticed that the coil spring insulators are worn almost to the point that there is nothing there. The insulators are the rubber pad that the coil springs sit on. With these insulators worn, would it make the coil springs shift just a little bit? Is this the cause of my problem? I got new coil springs, insulators, and shocks.

The truck is an '84 F150 4x4 with the dana 44 IFS.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to what is going on?

 

No replies, huh? Maybe because my post was too long?

Shorter version: steering in my truck is difficult. Sometimes when I go around a turn it feels like something is shifting.

Any ideas?