Hello all, this is my first post. I looked over this thread https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/r...559&i=56471951 , but my issue came on suddenly, so not sure if something happened. First, info about my truck, then the start of my issue:

My truck is a 2005 F-250 SuperCab that I purchased new. It has a 6" Skyjacker lift kit, 37" Toyos on 18" wheels. It has a Powerstroke w/4" exhaust, Diablosport programmable tuning (set years ago), high flow air cleaner, factory turbo charger (Garrett variable geometry, I believe) - so only modest mods.

Here's my issue: This afternoon, I was on the interstate on-ramp and a semi was approaching in the right lane with a line of traffic behind and a semi in the left. Since I was a bit ahead of him on approach, I nailed the accelerator while on the on-ramp to ensure I had plenty of room for him behind me as I merged, and the truck did as always pushing me back in the seat and got-er-dun with lots of torque, acceleration and a roar from the exhaust. Once merged and with ample room between me and the semi, I let off the accelerator and immediately felt and odd "floaty" feeling in the steering wheel. I have never felt this before - it felt faintly like the steering was wandering left and right. It straightened out and I didn't think more about it. On the way home, the steering was fine until I got on it a little bit and immediately the steering went wonky again. But this time, it was really pulling to the right, like the alignment was out or I was in a rut. I switched lanes and the steering was really wonky, as if I were traveling in a rut, shifting left to right and right to left as I tried to compensate with the steering wheel. I turned into a parking lot and inspected everything. Nothing seemed out of sorts. I just drove from Gainesville to Tampa and back 3 days ago with no incident, but all of a sudden today, after romping on it on the on-ramp, the steering has gone nuts. With only 34,000 and never having been off road, nothing should be worn. Wondering if the torque from acceleration may have caused some kind of issue. Really odd. Had it towed home and even the mechanic/tow truck driver said nothing looked out of sorts. Drove it again around the block and after turning right, the front end pulled left so the steering wheel was cocked at about the 1-2 o'clock position. Really odd! I pulled into the driveway and, again. looked over everything and all looks/feels snug. While all grommets appear okay, I noted that the grommet on one end of the steering damper (Rancho, I believe) is cracked up a little with a few small bits missing around the outer perimeter. I yanked back and forth on it, but it didn't give a bit. Granted, I have not jacked the front end up (with the tires and lift kit, my floor jack doesn't have enough reach to get the tires to clear the pavement ) Could a grommet that had just begun to fail on a steering damper cause the alignment/steering to want to fling from left to right as if driving in a deep rut? I would believe it if the bushing were missing, but it's there and I can't manually get the damper to budge while yanking to and fro on it.

Any ideas? I'm stumped

-Kent

 

Welcome to FTE, Powerstrokin250.

Those two statements are in conflict. 34k miles with a lift and large tires will wear out your suspension components very quickly. I recommend that you get the truck into a suspension shop and have the front end inspected. I'm willing to bet you need new ball joints, possibly some bushings, and maybe a new steering gear box.

If you think the issue is the steering damper, then remove it and drive the truck around the block.

 

Check the pitman arm, make sure it's not loose on the steering gear. Torque spec is 350 lb-ft, so if the installer just hammered it with an impact and called it good it could have loosened up and actually galled the pitman arm keying out.

How are the brakes on it? Any excessive pressure to stop or other issues?

 

Thanks for the reply. I have not had a vehicle with a lift kit or 37" tires, so I am unaware of it accelerating wear of ball joints, etc. I don't doubt your supposition, but it just struck me as odd that the issue came on all of a sudden and so pronounced.

Any way to check the steering box/what to look for? In the other thread it said to jack up the front end and have a buddy turn the steering wheel side to side. If the steering box has failed, I assume I would see the steering arm "clunking" while turning? I assume I would feel play if ball joints or other linkage (or wheel bearings) are failing, but not sure how to determine if the steering box is okay or not.

 

Where are you at in G-ville? I have a really good mechanic about an hour away from you if needed. As said above, check the pitman arm, if your steering wheel has changed position, something shifted underneath. When I did my lift, my wheel was cocked about a half a turn, an alignment and unscrewing the tierod helped.

 

Whoooops! ^

I'm on the fence here, the situation you describe sounds like the PS pump blew up and took the gear box with it or possibly the other way around. (Hard acceleration, on an already hard working system with those 37s is certainly possible, imo.)

Do you still have ease of moving the steering wheel? (aside from the "rut" like feeling)

On the other hand, I think my fellow members are onto something with the arm and/or rod ends. Something sounds like it gave in with the linkage. But because the way you describe how this all started, puts me on the fence.

Thankfully the steering system is not all that complex

Good luck!

 

If he still has power brakes, he didn't kill the PS pump or completely destroy the steering gear. The way the Hydroboost works off pressure from that pump, he'd have maybe two brake applications before the accumulator is depleted and the brakes became essentially manual application.

 

WHOOPS. Missed that it was powerstroke.
OH boy, You diesel folk and your hydroboost problems. All that torque and yall can't even run accessories without using some kind of boost
Good luck!

 

You do know that gassers use a brake booster too right?

 

LOL tushay.
After I wrote it I was like damit -_- ... maybe he wont notice... LOL

 

Brakes are fine; no change. What's really odd is that when I pulled into the parking lot after the steering got really wonky, it felt as if the parking brake was on, as the truck didn't want to roll. I checked and the parking brake was not on, so I put it in gear and mashed the accelerator a little and then put it in neutral. It stopped immediately as if the brake was on. Tried it again, and once again, it stopped immediately. I checked all around outside for the smell of a dragging brake, but nothing. the front differential was cold and the rear differential was a little warm. After sitting for about 20 minutes waiting for the tow truck to arrive, I started it to move it into position for the flatbed and the issue had resolved itself; it rolled freely. Really odd as to what caused that.

Close to campus. Ernie's in High Springs did my lift and exhaust when I bought it new. Need to find a good suspension person closer to me in Gainesville.

Yes. Steering resistance is still the same and it still turns very smoothly. Just lost a lot of responsiveness. You can move the steering wheel left to right a lot more before much wheel response. No clunks or odd noises when turning, just lost responsiveness - hence the "rut" feel. Gotta be a tie rod or linkage gave way. Didn't have time today to get it checked out. Will try to find a place that works on these bigger boys tomorrow.

So two issues to decipher: what failed in the steering components and what caused it to not want to roll last night, but then oddly cleared itself up. I have already had the friction plates in the rear diff replaced once. I hope that's not failing again

 

The wonky steering issue was two-fold. The drag link failed and the steering gear box has a LOT of play. As I am finding out, the steering gear boxes are not that well-engineered, especially with the size tires I am running. The drag link got replaced and I am researching a better, heavier-duty steering gear box to the replace the original.

As for the weird braking issue, the right front brake like somehow got kinked by a combination of a hard left turn and going over bumps. The tire hit the steel brake line that feeds the union to the soft line and bent it. This caused the brake fluid to only seep back, as happens with a collapsed soft line. Rerouted the hard line to fix.