Hi all! Been reading the posts and replies for about a month now. Very helpfull. Nice folks. Now it's time to tell what I found.
Super brief background: Honda wrench 25 years, used to be pure GM(raised that way}. Bought 97 F-150 2 years ago 90k then. 126k now. Love it.
Two weeks ago I noticed a bit of play in the steering wheel.
OK, standard check, tie rods, idler, center link, Pitman arm(squeeks). Everthing on the norm looked good.

I started checking on the other side of the steering botowards the steering wheel) I had my daughter pitch the steering wheel back and forth. What I found was kind of disturbing. The tiny u-joint at the steering box was very loose. Hmm. Not a normal thing to wear out.

Ordered a new steering shaft. 100.00 retail, I asked the Ford parts guy if I could get jobber price since I'm somewhat still in the biz. He said fine. Got it for 80.00. Anyway, I went to pull the old one out, the bolt that holds it to the steering box seemed rather loose. The bolt by the wheel was tight. After getting the the shaft out, the u-joints were fine. The problem was the splines at the steering box were worn because the bolt at the factory was probably not tightened correctly.
Put the new shaft in and the steering is better than it's ever been.

Other than that little item, It's been a great truck!

Your mileage may vary.

 

hmmm that's not a good thing to find loose
Good that you got it fixed though.
While you were under there did you jack up the front end and check the balljoints?
Are you still a Honda mechanic? Did working on your Ford make you want to convert

 

Racerguy, my 97f150 2wd pittman arm started squeaking around 75k and at around 90k i stuck it with a needle grease fitting. Squeaking immediately stopped. I'm now at 145k and squeak has never returned. Front end seems to work fine today. With 145k on the truck would you recommend pitman arm replacement or would you think arm is probably ok if no squeak and no front end sympton. I plan to keep the truck. new question: With 145k , would you suggest replacing any other front end components ((ball joints, upper control arms,etc) as a matter of course? truck has never been in accident, used near salt or abused. thanks,

 

I dont think there is any sense replacing the parts if they dont show any signs of wear. If you put a jack under each lower control arm (has to be under the control arm so the spring compresses a bit) to unload the balljoints you can check for play in them by pushing and pulling on top and bottom of the tires. If there is any play (Ford's newest warranty spec is .060" which is way too much in my opinion) the balljoints are worn. Also take a pry bar and pry up on the tire in between the ground and the tire (with the balljoints unloaded with a jack still) and see if there is any up and down movement in the balljoint. Again Ford says .060" but usually if there is much at all they should probably be replaced.
With the wheels back down on the ground have someone move the steering wheel back forth and look for play in the tie rod ends, idler arm and pitman arm. If they have more than just a tiny bit of play in them they should be replaced too.
Most shops will check the front end pretty closely if you take your truck in for a service that includes a multipoint inspection. If you take it in for an alignment check they will check it thoroughly too.

 

Hi Racerguy, to answer the first question, sad to say I didn't check the ball joints. I will next time I put it in the air.
And no I don't turn a wrench anymore. I totally changed careers. I now work for a major aerospace(sure you know who it is) company in the Puget Sound managing UNIX servers. I did keep a few customers for a number of years because the new income didn't make it.
Changing the steering shaft was a piece of cake. I'm sure you know, that when you work on basically one manufacturers vehicles you get very comfortable with the engineering and assembly. But what I've seen so far seems well engineered and put together.

Take care.

 

Good to hear that you were smart enough to get of the fixing cars field
It's getting worse all the time but after doing it for a while it's sure not easy to quit and start over again.
Oh well
At where you work now are you safe from all the layoffs they seem to have done and are maybe still doing?
I've got a friend in Tacoma whose husband was layed off from there and it doesnt sound too promising for him.