On my way to work today i had to take a sharp turn and the passenger side front wheel I thought went over the lip of the road and tugged a little. I was not going fast i had just left a stop sign and was avoiding a garbage truck on the other side of the road that was taking up half of my side as well. However immediately after the truck started tugging left every 20 feet or so and it felt almost impossible to steer almost like one of the front wheels was not aligned with the other. I managed to guide it to a side street about a 1/4 mile away and took a right turn (turned the wheel completely to the right) onto it, I got out an looked under the truck and nothing seemed abnormal and the wheels looked like they were aligned with each other. The tie rods are only 2-3 years old the Ball-joints were replaced last year..i cant think of any steering components at the moment the would affect it other than those two things. It scared the **** out of me because it kept trying to hop onto the other side of the street and the wheel was jerking almost as if it was in 4x4 and the wheel was turned all the way (i was going straight for that 1/4 mile). After i turned onto the street it went away and did not come back at all on my way into work.

EDIT: My truck is an 04 F250 ECSB btw.

 

I had something like that happen to me. I hit a bad pot hole and my abs starting kicking it and out, but no abs light. Making it impossible to steer. Ended up pulling the fuse for now until I figure out how to deal with it.

 

i would check the draglink as well. I'm not entirely sure if that would be completely esponsible for the issues you're describing. But it is the connection between the steering box and your tie rods. A bunch of slightly worn components could be a culprit. or like Adrian said it could be something in the brakes. stuck caliper pin or piston.

I would start by getting the front end up in the air and checking for play in the suspension and checking for free spin in the hubs.

 

Good to know guys thanks! I had my steering box replaced 2-3 years ago but it was a used one and the mechanic gave me it for free so I couldn't complain. Maybe its time for a redhead steering box lol.

 

How old are your U-joints? Sounds like one is binding up.

 

^^^^ agreed

 

I'm having a similar problem. Mine will be pulling one way and while I'm counter steering it suddenly flops and pulls the other way and keeps going back and forth. doing around 25 mph I can hardly keep it on the road. I've had it in the shop and they couldn't find anything and every time they test drove it, it didn't do it. I picked up the truck and went 2 blocks away and it started doing it, so I turned around went back and went with the mechanic for a test drive and it didn't do it. They have checked out all the linkages, balljoints, wheel bearings, and can't find anything. It just comes and goes. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Intermittently binding U-joints are difficult to diagnose while they are in the truck. Pull them and inspect the bearings under the caps.

 

Thanks for the info. I came across another post that had the same symptoms and the same answer.

 

Mine are fairly new about 2 years old maybe, but i had the hubs locked and 4x4 off for about a month because they hubs would not disengage (ESOF ****) so they would bind every sharp turn.

 

Just wanted to throw up and update, I still have not had time to get the U-joints checked because my 95's speedo and odometer died and I'm not a mechanic so it would take me several days with the schedule I work lol. good news I guess is that school ended yesterday so now ill have more free time to get this looked at, but here is the update of what happened today.

Today i was on my way to work again and i took not a sharp but an decent right turn going uphill and i didn't brake really, and i noticed that it was jerking slightly again. It was almost too insignificant to notice but i noticed that once I turned the wheel about 1/16th of a turn to the right it was like the truck wasn't turning then it would slightly jerk and turn harder than normal when the steering wheel is turned that much. It continued to do this until i got to a red light then i turned the wheel left 90 degrees then i started to turn it right and when i got to that 1/16 of a turn passed center i felt a little resistance but i kept turning it and once i got to about 45 degrees it felt like it kinda let go almost. I did the whole thing one more time and i never felt the resistance again and after the light turned green and i started driving, the steering was fine.

 

That is sounding more and more like a binding U-joint.

 

Yeah, i have been thinking about it today and those U-joints are old i think. Like haven't been replaced since I got the truck from my dad old lol when he used it as a plow truck so I'm thinking they might be worn out a just a little.

 

I would put a new PS pump in it (cheap and easy), then lock the wheels with the dials, leave it in 2wd, and make sharp turns in a parking lot to detect any u-joint binding.

 

So i found out that the U-joints have never been replaced lol. Also on my way home from work yesterday the truck did the same thing and today....holy **** it was horrible today it was jerking like crazy. I was on a straight road and i let go of the wheel it was jerking left and right about an 1/8th of a turn in each direction I just muscled the steering wheel the whole way to work, the whole time i could hear like a little whine almost coming front the front cant tell which side though and it was only when the steering wheel would pass the center and turn right. I parked at work and i checked my hubs just for the heck of it and the right one's **** seemed to be kinda loose, they are MM hubs. i got about 1/4 of the length it turn to lock of play in the ****. Would that cause one side to lock intermittently causing the jerking of the wheel? If so Ill try driving tonight with the hubs out and see if it fixes it.