^^^ What he said. Mine was almost 3 turns loose. I could take a pry bar and pry on the pitman arm and move the shaft axially about 3/8 of an inch. That's really loose! Tightened it up a few turns and it's a lot better. Probably should still replace it, but it gets me by for now.
Have fun with your new powerstroke

 

to set tire pressure. rub chalk across the tread. go for a slow ride around the block. if chalk is wore off the inside but not the outside of the tread, the tires are over inflated. if chalk is wore off the outside but not the inside, the tires are under inflated. if wore off evenly. proper pressure.

i run 55 psi front and 35 rear. if i need to move weight, i will air up to 55-60 rear. once empty i air back down to 35.

 

I think you mean chalk missing in CENTER of tread, over inflated and chalk missing on INNER and OUTER tread under inflated. The way you described it would be be camber issue. Most of us know what you meant but there are guys who read this and only know what they read.

 

I knew what he meant but thanks for clarifying.
The issue I have did not change with air - it's gonna take cash I'm afraid

 

I am not trying to be "Captain Obvious" but follow this recommendation ONLY when you are running stock tires on the truck. My next door neighbor put low psi rated tires on his vehicle and then tried to inflate them to the specs printed on the door label for tire inflation. Sounds nuts but apparently this happens more often then one might think. Sitting in the house doing some writing and then "BOOM". Go outside and he is standing in his driveway with this "I F'ed up" look on his face.

 

New tires are "E" rated to 80 PSI.
I'm running 70 in all four and will drop that to something lower as soon as it returns from the shop. It's going to be rolling empty most of the time and I see no point in rolling on rock hard rubber.

The mechanic at MDS gave the truck a thorough check-up and as for the "wandering" issue, he says it's a combination between a worn drag link, tie rod end, inner tie rod, and worn out box.
Total (including alignment) - $1075.72

There's a laundry list of other issues unrelated to this thread but I'll be forking over 4K when I go to pick it up on Friday.

The good news is, he said I bought a very solid truck and the 7.3 is in very good condition - that softened the blow a bit.

I'll see how it feels when I pick it up and ask his opinion on the dual steering stabilizer. Like I said before though, seems like cheap insurance.

Thanks for all the input.
Jim

 

I'd be inclined to check each and every one of those items out myself. I don't know your mechanic but that looks like too many things to be off at the same time with that kind of mileage on the truck. It sounds like the list I'd expect from some chain store garages who are paid commissions on sales.

 

Jim,
Did he say anything about the fact the truck only has 88K on it? Do you know what it was used for before you got it? Glad the motor checked out good. All the rest can be fixed pretty easy.

 

I did some checking through car fax and a few other sources before the buy. I know it doesn't really reveal much but the results were no accidents and the mileage was valid.

I have no idea on the history other than it has had two owners before me. Doing some minor detailing over the weekend reveals a lot of fine dust inside everything so my guess is some desert off-roading possibly pulling a trailer/ toy hauler (common around here). I know a guy who does a lot of this kind of fun and there's usually plenty of beer involved. Trust me, I'm not judging (I enjoy my beer as well as the next guy). That said, there's no telling what kind of a beating it took. I've been off road with the chap I mentioned and it can get stupid (and his truck shows it).

As for the shop. My gut feeling is good and I trust my friend (not the guy mentioned above). He's been through most of the local shops with his dodge diesel and his pusher motorhome as well. He swears by these guys without question.

To me a typical scumbag's list would have included stuff like the serp belt, shocks, radiator flush and more. The estimate they provided stuck to the list I gave them to the letter. The only variations were because I left the "wandering steering" issue open for interpretation and they are only changing one of the tie rid ends, not both.

I did send an email back requesting that they let me fix the cruise myself. See, you guys already have me wrenching on it and I swore to the wife I wouldn't