I was talking about the brackets that the axle pivot bushings are bolted into, where they attach to the frame. Those brackets are riveted/bolted to the frame/crossmember.

 

You made a mistake by changing the ride height AFTER you got an alignment. These trucks are very sensitive to ride height(most vehicles are by the way), and it will need alignment again after that change.

 

Yeah, I knew I'd have to have it realigned after I put new springs in. The manager from Tires Plus said they will do it because they should have caught the worn rivet/loose subframe assembly before they aligned it the first time. When you wiggle the front driver's side tire there is a lot of play. The subframe assembly has as much as an 1/8in of play in between it and the frame. It is pretty obvious. But I guess hindsight is always 20/20.

 

I got new ball joints in a few days ago. It seemed to help a little, but it still isn't right.

When I took the driver's side ball joints out, the lower ball joint came apart. Half was in the steering knuckle and the other half was stuck in the crossmember/axle housing(?). I had to beat the piece out of the crossmember with a 5lb hammer.

The truck is definitely easier to turn, but something still feels like it is shifting while I'm in mid-turn. Then, when I come out of the turn and straighten-out, the truck either pulls a little to the right or left or seems to wander a little to the left and right.

Also, when I took the driver's-side hub apart, the spring that keeps it from locking/unlocking was snapped in half. This might mean that the driver's-side axle sometimes spins. Would this affect anything? I'm going to the junkyard tomorrow to look for a replacement hub spring.

I'm also going to get a mirror tomorrow and look at the top part of the subframe assembly where the steering box is bolted to. The bottom/back part of that subframe piece is where I replaced the loose rivet with a bolt. I'm thinking maybe the weld along the top of that piece is cracked.

Any other suggestions as to why my truck's front-end is acting so funny?

 

If it's a 4x4 its deffinatly the front axle joints. mine did exactly as you described. The popping comes from the stiff u-joint finally letting go and turning some, mine actually got a wobble going when i tried to fight it the first time it happened, it scared the s*&% out of me. It wouldnt do it all the time just now and then, but last fall i took out the right axle shaft a saw spicer on the joint i knew it was old and i couldnt even flex the joint with my hands. And the pull one way or the other is just the joint not allowing the axle to return to center. Change the axle joints and steer wherever your heart desires!

 

I just had the axles out to change the ball joints. I didn't notice anything, but then again I wasn't really looking too hard. Is there some kind of test I can do to see whether or not the U-joints are bad?

 

Crank the wheels and try to rotate the axles buy turning the joint by hand at the joint. I'm almost positive this is your issue mine acted exactly as you decribe, i didn't believe it at first once my buddy told me what to do it fixed it! and the joints are less then 20 a side and since you already had the axles out it shouldn't be to hard to do

 

I'm going to go out and try it now, but how could this be the source of my problem? The front axles don't spin unless the hubs are locked. They aren't, and the transfer case is in 2wd.

 

But everytime you turn that joint has to flex, and if it doesn't want to it will fight the steering. They get stiff because they don't get used alot. And mine were 25year old originals

 

This is a somewhat common problem on F100/350's that began in 1973 (affects 2WD's & 4WD's), and was magnified when unknowing owners installed larger tires.

The bolts that retain the steering gearbox to the frame rail work loose, the box wiggles around...sooner or later...the frame cracks.

While Ford was aware of this problem, the only thing they did was to change the grade and length of the bolts. There was no Ford "fix-um" for the cracked frame rail.

Dealers had to weld on a new piece of heavy gauge sheetmetal, then used the new bolts Ford recommended.

I'm not aware of any subframe. The parts catalog pic shows the flange on the gearbox butting up against the frame rail, then was bolted on.

There is no subframe pictured in the frame section of the catalog. Perhaps someone already had to fix the frame, and the 'subframe' is the result.

 

I tried it. When the wheels are straight, both axles rotate freely. When I cranked the tires all the way to the right, the driver's-side axle still rotated freely, but the passenger side axle wouldn't spin at all. I only tried by hand, though. I didn't put a breaker bar on it or anything.

 

NumberDummy, there are no cracks anywhere on the frame as far as I (and a few other people, including a couple of mechanics) can tell. The piece I'm calling the subframe is really just a piece of the frame, but it is bent at the factory in such a way as to look like a totally different subframe piece.

 

EXACLY what mine did! you found your issue!

 

So would you suggest replacing the u-joints on both axles or just the passenger side?

 

Also, I've never done it before, so do I need a press or can I just use a hammer to beat the joints out?