1997 F150 steering problem.
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Cargo Master
Joined: Apr 2001
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1997 F150 steering problem.
Replaced all ball joints, tie rods, and sway bar links. Had truck aligned.
Truck tracks straight perfectly, everything feels "tight", but when you turn slightly to right or left (a few degrees of steering wheel motion) the turn becomes more "abrupt" on it's own. It's precisely the same degree of movement on each side.
Haven't replace pitman or idler arms, they feel tight.
Ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Truck tracks straight perfectly, everything feels "tight", but when you turn slightly to right or left (a few degrees of steering wheel motion) the turn becomes more "abrupt" on it's own. It's precisely the same degree of movement on each side.
Haven't replace pitman or idler arms, they feel tight.
Ideas?
Thanks in advance.
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Cargo Master
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 2,220
Likes: 26
Interesting. It didn't duplicate before, but the truck hit a large pothole which busted two tires belts, bent one rim, and spit out the dried out sway bar link bushings in chunks.
I'll drain and replace the steering fluid since it's ancient anyway and see what happens.
I'll drain and replace the steering fluid since it's ancient anyway and see what happens.
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 7,907
Likes: 143
Since you didn't mention the pot hole misshap, something could be bent as well throwing the geometry off when the wheels are other than straight ahead.
A bent steering Knuckle will do it.
When the wheels are turned either way the wheel turn angles are different each side to account for the difference in radius.
If either one is different, one side trys to be domiant and you could feel it as an attempt to pull the steering wheel.
Tow-in/ tow -out can tends to do the same thing if very far out of spec.
I think you still have unfound damage with that hard a hit.
Please tell all that happened in the first post on any request for opinions and not as the thread progresses.
Good luck.
A bent steering Knuckle will do it.
When the wheels are turned either way the wheel turn angles are different each side to account for the difference in radius.
If either one is different, one side trys to be domiant and you could feel it as an attempt to pull the steering wheel.
Tow-in/ tow -out can tends to do the same thing if very far out of spec.
I think you still have unfound damage with that hard a hit.
Please tell all that happened in the first post on any request for opinions and not as the thread progresses.
Good luck.
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Cargo Master
Joined: Apr 2001
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My bad. Since it was aligned with no remarks by the alignment tech and I installed fresh ball joints etc I made the mistake of assuming it was good to go in that respect.
Neither side is dominant. They precisely match in odd behavior! Steering feel is crisp.
After impact it had vibes from the belts, so it got two new tires and an unbent rim from my stash (verified by tire shop). I inspected the front end and since one ball joint had considerable wear and the others were moderate I replaced them and did the tie rods on principle. Sway bar link bushes were toast on both sides. All else looks clean and feels tight. I'll do the pitman and idler arms since the truck has around 300K miles, but they show no play. The impact got the passenger side tires but the hole didn't reach to the driver side.
Could a bent drag link cause "symmetrical misbehavior"? It's not a wear part so I didn't toss it as it had no visible bends or damage.
Neither side is dominant. They precisely match in odd behavior! Steering feel is crisp.
After impact it had vibes from the belts, so it got two new tires and an unbent rim from my stash (verified by tire shop). I inspected the front end and since one ball joint had considerable wear and the others were moderate I replaced them and did the tie rods on principle. Sway bar link bushes were toast on both sides. All else looks clean and feels tight. I'll do the pitman and idler arms since the truck has around 300K miles, but they show no play. The impact got the passenger side tires but the hole didn't reach to the driver side.
Could a bent drag link cause "symmetrical misbehavior"? It's not a wear part so I didn't toss it as it had no visible bends or damage.
Elder User
Joined: Mar 2010
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Had the same issue on a '99 F-150. It was the pitman arm. With the front end up on stands, use a 2 x 4 or similar to lever the steering linkage "up", watching for free play in the pitman ball joint. Without lifting the suspended weight of the linkage, the wear in the pitman is harder to spot.
Dave
Dave
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Cargo Master
Joined: Apr 2001
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Thanks! That makes perfect sense as I didn't relieve pressure on it when inspecting.
I have new pitman and idler in hand and will post results.
EDIT:
The Pitman Arm was the problem. Once unloaded it had a lot of play. The idler arm had much less wear but I replaced it anyway.
That confirms that both wheels may be "aligned" to each other just fine yet only get "advice" from the steering box due to pitman arm play.
The alignment tech missed it, but Dave G. was dead right.
I have new pitman and idler in hand and will post results.
EDIT:
The Pitman Arm was the problem. Once unloaded it had a lot of play. The idler arm had much less wear but I replaced it anyway.
That confirms that both wheels may be "aligned" to each other just fine yet only get "advice" from the steering box due to pitman arm play.
The alignment tech missed it, but Dave G. was dead right.
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