Hey Guys,

I have a 1994 F-150 4WD with the Dana 44 front IFS. My truck drives straight with the wheel turned about 150 degrees to the right. Being that far off, I was wondering if pulling the pitman from the steering box, straightening the wheel and reinstalling would at least get it close enough for a proper alignment to straighten it out. Right now the tie rods and threads on the drag/steering linkage all have about 14-15 thread exposed outside of the adjusting sleeves. I'm guessing I would be able to straighten it to the point where the steering wheel will be off 30 degrees to the left, but then the alignment should be able to adjust for that. This of course is depending on how exactly the steering box works. If one pulled the pitman from the steering box, would it be able to turn indefinately in either direction?

 

you cant change the pitman arm, it will go on 4 different ways, so youd move it 90 deg and it would be facing the side of the truck. Do you have a lift or anything on the trruck?

 

The steering box has left-right-center. When an alignment is done, if the shop is worth a crap, they center it and adjust the tie rods so the alignment specs are met with the wheel at center. Not an easy trick, but that's the way it came from the factory and that's the way it's supposed to be. I would never accept an off-center wheel after paying for an alignment. Pulling the steering wheel or other components is NOT the fix.

 

Yes, it has a 6" lift.

 

I guess I'm just wondering if the tie rod sleeves can adjust for the steering wheel being off that much

 

Does it have a drop pitman arm?

 

Yes it does.

 

Take it to an alignment shop and be sure to tell them about the steering wheel issue. If you spray the tie rod sleeves down with pb blaster or whatever you like, the alignment tech will have a easier time turning the sleeves and will be more likely to get it right. You can only unscrew them so far before they become a weak link.

 

Okay. This issue has been there since I bought the truck. I replaced the tie rods, steering linkage and drag link, but I set the threads to the same in the sleeve as they were before, so the steering wheel stayed aligned the same. I didn't replace all that with the intention of thinking it would fix that issue, I just mostly needed new tie rods and pitman ball joint anyway, so I just replaced it all. So the adjustment should be easy.

 

I'd get it to the alignment shop ASAP, you'll kill the front tires in short order. I do alignments nearly every day, and we adjust the toe to within .02* of spec (depending on vehicle). Generally we give it slightly more right toe-in to combat road crown so it'll go straight. I'll try to get new parts as close as possible to where the old parts were, however they will always be different lengths due to being made by different companies, hence why counting threads isn't reliable. I've never seen a steering wheel more than 80-90* off......has the wheel been taken off at some point in the past? The steering shaft will only attach to the box one way, and the Pittman arm will only realistically go on one way as well.

 

I have no idea. I've owned the truck for about a month. I haven't been driving it. I've just been taking my time on the weekend to fix this or that till its ready for inspection and emissions. The tires on it are Cooper mudders that need to and will be replaced. I plan to get the alignment done when some new tires are installed. Till then I don't mind any wear that might be happening to the Coopers.

 

Look, just follow the steering shaft, near the steering box, there will be a plastic sleeve, slide it up, there will be a joint with a bolt in there, loosen the bolt and you will be able to separate the steering shaft from the box, center the steering wheel, then slide the joint back in place and tighten the bolt.

If you need more help, take a look at picture number 2 here:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...x-rebuild.html

P.S.: If someone is wondering why i keep posting this old thread of mine, it's because everytime someone check the pictures, it helps them stay on the hosting site (3 months inactivity = delete) and i'm not very interested in re-hosting/re-posting all the pics in that write-up again.

 

Does this really work? My steering wheel is off a little to the right.

 

It might work but it does not address the problem, which is the steering box is not centered. In the OP's case, he is off half a turn to the right. If he has 5 turns lock-to-lock, that means he has only 4 1/2 to the right, but 5 1/2 to the left. If the vehicle has variable ratio steering, then you are really FUBAR when you are off that much. His truck may or may not reach full lock to the right, and may reach full lock to the left early enough to stress components with the PS pushing against the stops.

If it's just off a little, a proper alignment is the answer.

 

is there any slop or play in the steering ?