I've got a '98 Econoline 150 (160,000+ miles) and it has got steering slop out the wazoo, I was wondering what the solution might be? I was contemplating a replacement box but that's super expensive. The column has nearly 1/16 rotation of play when the column is locked or unlocked. I was going to replace the coupler but it is still good and has no play in it. I feel it is a safety hazard and it really reduces drivability.

 

My 2000 E250 with 252K miles has something similar and after a lot of front end work already the steering box is the only part not replaced yet. I believe it will cost about $300 which all things considered isn't a bad expense after all those miles. There is a lash adjustment on the box but it can only compensate for so much wear before it runs out of adjustment.

I've replaced all four ball joints, tie rods & ends, drag link, shocks (Bilstein), coil springs, bushings (ProThane urethane) along with adding a Hellwig sway bar. Driving my van compared to a '99 E250 with barely 138K miles the difference is apparent, making mine feel quite sloppy.

I'd suggest first inspecting all components up front and make sure nothing else needs replaced------last resort will be the box itself though--I'm facing the same thing soon.

 

The ball joints have always ben regularly replaced at specified intervals, drag link is fine, tie rods are also fine, shock are original (I plane to replace them soon), coil springs are corroded but OK, bushings are shot, and sway ba is stock. I will double check all this and see what I can do. If anything, I'd actually rather rebuild the box than replace it, I have a farely rare Mark III Industries van.

 

Get a helper to rock the steering wheel left & right in the "slop out the wazoo" zone while you inspect what's going on underneath. Be sure wheels are aimed straight ahead. Check all the tie rod/drag link ends for play & pay particular attention to the motion of the Pitman arm. The steering box shaft should only twist left & right. On an old, heavily worn, steering box the Pitman arm will go up & down, before moving left & right.

This is a notorious source of steering slop & can often be adjusted away, but you've got to be careful b/c wear is concentrated in the most used straight ahead section of the steering gear. The "lash adjustment on the box" JWA mentioned can do wonders eliminating slop, but over tightening will bind steering beyond straight ahead. A badly worn box can't be adjusted to both eliminate slop straight ahead & not bind when wheel is turned. However a compromise will often help. Before attempting to adjust put front end up on jack stands & note effort to steer lock to lock. Then loosen nut locking adjusting screw & adjust half a turn at a time. As you remove slop w/wheels straight ahead check the feel steering left & right, there's a narrow window before you sense binding.

 

That sound like an excellent idea.

 

I checked into a new steering box from Ford list price of $271 (core charge $225 ???) which to me is still relatively cheap IMO. Within a few weeks I'll be changing my steering box which will then complete a near full rebuild of my entire front end. With a few simple tools it should be an easy swap out-----if I think of it I'll document the process along with necessary tools and unexpected things that happen!

 

I checked the pitman arm and it does not move up and down, with the wheel, so I don't rightly know how to go about it now :P

 

wwwwwwwwww

 

I have a 92 and have also tried everything. Full rebuild, new steering box, new Bilsteins, steering stabilizer. I'm out of options on mine as I've adjusted the steering box both ways several times. I'm basically convinced that it is what it is, and am hoping to just replace the van with an 01 or 02 with less miles. Good luck, I'm hoping I will someday sort mine out.

 

Try a little more toe-in.It will track straighter and not tend to wander.

 

I'll relay that to my mechanic, I'd do it myself but I can't afford a heavier duty floor jack, and being a conversion van, it has skirts along the running boards.

 

Scotty your experience concerns me since a reman Ford steering box was next on my list of things to replace. The '99 E250 I drive occasionally (138K miles) has wonderful tight steering where my '00 E250 (253K miles) feels like a motor boat. Not sure if your '92 is significanly different from my '99 or '00 but I'd hate to dump about $300 into a new box and gain nothing.

It has recently been aligned when front coils were replaced---less than 2,000 miles ago.

 

Well my situation has improved drastically. You may need a steering box and that's all. I just completed a 5000 mile summer trip and as always, i was using my Toyo Open Country e-rated tires at almost full inflation per the sidewall. Since i had been floating all over the road and bouncing up and down on pavement changes, i decided to drop the pressure after i had read something about it here on the forums somewhere. The argument was, should one use a tire at maximum inflated pressure per sidewall or adjust down depending on load. The Toyo is a very rigid tire but i had never really thought about dropping my pressure since pressure changes, unless extremely low, have never made much of a difference on any of my vehicles. I usually keep em towards max pressure to hopefully maximize fuel mileage.
Well, sorry for the long post, but i dropped em from 70 to 50 since my van wasn't heavily loaded and the difference is absolutely amazing. SO much better than it was, smoother ride, quieter ride, less drifting and a much happier wife.
I think i've solved my problem, perhaps this will be of help to you. So far, i haven't seen any change in fuel mileage with the lower pressure, but i will bump it back up a bit when i tow my camper.

 

Oh, also, i talked to an alignment guy who knows Fords pretty well. He told me that i had actually gotten my steering box too tight and should back it off some. He explained to me that if it's a little tight it will tent to "stick" in one direction at freeway speeds causing you to have to compensate for it all of the time with the steering wheel, just as you have to the opposite way when it is too loose. He told me about 2 inches of play in the steering wheel is about perfect. Once again, i hope that helps you.

 

Well that's actually it, there is about 3-4 inches of play and it pulls to the right, we had it algined and that didn't do anything, but I think the frame may not be square.