When I make a right turn and then start going down the road it feels like the steering wheel wants to stay turned to the right for a bit and then it suddenly jerks back to center. I also hear a repetitive squeaking noise when I start driving which speeds up as I go faster. Is this a sign that my right front u-joint(s) are going bad?

I have a 1984 F-150 4x4

 

If your hubs aren't locked, the U-joint doesn't rotate. Sounds more like a wheel bearing. Stop driving it immediately. Jack the wheel off the ground and try to shake it top to bottom and side to side to check for slop.
A wheel bearing that is allowed to totally fail will result in loss of the wheel and brakes and a possible crash.
At the very least, the damage is very expensive to repair, if allowed to worsen.

 

The repetitive squeaking will not be a u-joint if the hubs are unlocked.

Knock the tie rod loose and jack the wheel up and turn it by hand. U-joints can get stuck and balljoints can wear and get rusted/stuck also.

 

I am away from the truck right now but will further inspect it when I get the chance. I watched some videos on youtube on how to inspect the u joints. I recently replaced the tie rods and center link thinking that was the issue, they were rusted and the boots were comprised anyway. Obviously that wasn't causing this issue. But when also inspecting for ball joint play when doing the tie rods there didn't seem to be any. I'll just have to take a second look.

 

When I bought the truck the previous owner mentioned he had serviced the front wheel bearings. Makes me kinda suspicious....

 

I have personally heard of at least a couple of these trucks where the balljoints would get stiff and not want to turn because of rust. I doubt you could feel any play in them if this happened.

There is also the possibility there is something wrong with the steering box. But check the other stuff first.

 

Could be the steering box also I agree. A lot of fluid has leaked out of the box and caked on the bottom with dirt. When I was testing the steering after getting the tie rods on some fluid squirted out of the box when I turned lock to lock. The steering also stutters when turning the wheels while parked, even though I tightened the belt.

 

Should I just go ahead and replace both outer u joints, inner and outer wheel bearings, and the spindle bearings at once?

 

You could.... Depends what you find when you take it apart. If you're going to go that far, I'd replace all 4 ball joints while you're in that far, too.

 

The balljoints are a big job. But if you find something wrong and have to go in, I would replace/repair everything up in there, you do not want to do this job again.

 

Ok, I took a look at everything tonight. No play whatsoever from tie rods, bearings, or ball joints. However, when I lock the hubs (Warn) there is play when I rock the wheel back and forth. The passenger side, the one that binds up after right turns, had more play and would not move when the steering wheel was turned fully in each direction. The driver side has less play and would spin freely with the wheels turned. The squeaking noise is coming from the drive shaft tube just in front of the rearmost u joint.

 

Also, I noticed the wheel seals on the front axle looked new, so the PO most likely had done work on both bearings like he said. I am thinking about just going ahead and replacing just the front u joints as they have play and are pretty rusty.

What do you guys think?

 

That still doesn't explain the right hand pull... pull the hubs. ..test drive...evaluate. ..reinstall hubs opposite side. ...repeat

 

When you say pull the hubs and test drive what do you mean?

 

I would replace the steering box if it's leaking. I don't see anything in your latest descriptions that would cause the stuttering of the wheel.