I have just got my truck running for about a month, and have put on new tires (235/75 radials) and new shocks (Monroe gasmatics) but I'm disappointed to find that it just sways back and forth, all over the road. I took it to a friend who is a mechanic, and who was nice enough to lie under the truck and look at the tie-rod ends, while I gently turned the steering wheel back and forth, and he said they look solid. We decided, never-the-less, that there was a lot of play in the steering wheel, and he showed me how to tighten that up, by turning in the worm bolt into the steering column, and it tightened up considerably. Now the steering wheel response is immediate but, guess what? It still sways back and forth as I drive. The feeling is like this: I'm drifting over to one side; try to gently correct, and the next thing you know there's this swing, its almost like a "clunk", way over-corrected to the other side.

My mechanic friend says that if the tie-rod ends were bad, then that would be bad bad, real bad, like look for a new truck bad.
And that would be a bummer, because, since FTE helped me get in a new timing chain, I have just been loving this truck. Except for the handling, it runs like a top.--------Aquagirl

 

Hey Girl, I sent you many e-mails and made bumps to the Timing gears thread but you never replied.


We'll get to this problem but first ,I want to know how YOU did with the other stuff.

 

So what else was done to the steering?

New Tire !

How about a Wheel alignment?

New Shocks !

How about the coil springs ?

Equal Tire pressure ?

 

a job well done.

Hi Dennis!

I just had to search back for my post of 6/22 to remember how things had wrapped up. After staring late one night at some of the pictures you sent, I decided I knew how to line up the gears, and then the chain went on real snug. After faithfully grinding down and painting every part I took off, she started up on the first turn of the key. Since then I have been driving all over place, camping, hauling hay. No, I never made it for cake to Alberta, but, let's say I've been "river to river without a horse" down here in southern Illinois.

Now, I'm just looking at the front springs, and, all I can say about them is that they look like they're "in place", and I sure hope they won't need to be "re-placed". And all the bushing donuts look fairly solid. I know my truck has the heavy duty C6 transmission (don't know why for a F100) and the suspension also looks heavy duty. Coming back from under each spring is a huge long forked arm which attaches to the frame just behind the cab mount. I don't know if that is what Ford calls "twin I-beam suspension"???

All I did to the steering is snug down that worm bolt. When you say alignment, do you mean that toe in, toe out? Would I be able to notice irregular tire wear?---Aquagirl

 

If the alignment off and the springs are weak,you will see abnormal tire wear.

With these trucks it comes a time when the springs are so fatiqued they can't bend the I-beams any more.

There is an idler arm that can wear out too.

The others are I-Beams & Control arms.
I wonder if the guy checked it ?

 

Are the radius arm bushings good? If they are worn, it will wander all over the road. These bushings are on the "huge long forked arm" where it meets the frame.

Marty

 

yup, radius arm bushings effect the caster dont they ? which effects directional stability? maybe have it aligned, might tell a lot

 

Also check the inner I-beam pivot bushings. Might be a little hard to do as they're under suspension load at all times.

 

Might sound stupid, but are the steering box bolts (to the frame) tight? Mine were loose and caused the same effect.

 

Hey guys!

So I just got back from the 9 day trail ride, hung myself out to dry a bit, and now getting back to my problem w/ my 1973 F100. It went kinda like this: I was complaining that when I drove it was "drifting". I tightened down the steering knuckle worm bolt, and friend of mine Joe drove it and he said, yep, your tires are still "hunting" on you. I talked to an alignment speacialist, and he said, so it's "darting"? Finally, my brother Danny drove it and said she's "bird doggin" no doubt.

Since the tie rod ends and other bushings looked OK to me, I finally decided that I had to check the king pins. When I jacked up the driver's side and held the wheel top and botttom, sure enough there was all that play. But when I finallly kept my hands on the tire and tried to poke my head through to look down at the king pin, I saw that that was solid as a rock, and apparently the bearing/race retaining nut was never tightened down properly (when I had done the brakes and changed my calipers earlier, at which time, I had replaced most of the bearings and races). The outer race, on this drivers side, was noticeably scored, about a 1/16 of an inch out, but was still smooth to the touch, and hadn't discolored. So I just repacked the outer bearing and put it back together again. My friend Joe, at this time was telling me, that really, you are supposed to torque those retaining nuts down to a spec, rather than relying on my technique of backing them off a half turn, because of the weight of the tire, and never being able to be sure that you have cranked the nut all the way tight to start with.

Anyway, I thought quite sure that I had the problem solved. I went ahead and checked the passenger side king pin, and that was solid. Drove it, but that drifting and hunting and darting and bird-******* was still going on.

Then my brother asked me, what exactly did I do with that steering knuckle worm bolt, and I told him I had tightened it all the way up. And he said , hold on there sis, what did you say? that steering column knuckle is a fine adjustment. And he made me back the bolt off a full turn. This finally resulted in a 1000 percent improvement. I would say that the truck is now "driveable", although its still kind of "wandering" back and forth on the road. Danny says I'd be wasting my money on the alignment (they want $44.95) until I have gone through checking out that my tie-rods, king pins, ball joints, brakes, and the tires, are all in perfect shape.

So I have made a bit of progress, but not quite there.---Aquagirl.

 

Is this a 2 wheel drive truck? If so check the rag joint on the steering column. It's located on the bottom of the column, under the hood, between the column and the steering box. First of all, there should be a rubber or plastic disk bolted between two round metal plates, 1 on the column and one on the steering box. Have someone turn the wheel for you while you watch the joint, if the column moves but the steering box shaft doesn't that's your problem.

The coupler has 2 large metal pins mounted on the steering box disk that protrude through slots in the column disk. This is the fail safe arrangement that Ford built in. When the fiber disk disintegrates, you still can steer the truck.

This is a VERY common problem with these trucks and the part may still be available from Ford. With such a critical safety component I felt better using blue oval brand. It is not difficult to change at all.

If this is a 4X4 then it might have a u-joint instead of a fiber coupler (rag joint). The same test applies as the u-joint can wear out as well.

 

Your brother might have saved you. A steering box overtightend can loose its self-cetering ability and even jam in extreme cases. Small adjustments are made over a short while until no longer needed (for another long while, but not as long as the last "long while" ).

Bearing are sold specific to the race. They are cheap. After you have done the races about 4-8 times it gets really easy. Buy US or JA made. Accept Brazil if you have to, and do not buy Chinese made at this time. Get a $8.00 bearing packing attatchment for the grease gun (full size) I know you allready have full of synthetic grease.

Why didn't you alignment expert guy check out this whole suspension for you????
You must have a NTB or something nearby. Not all shops do I-Beams. It requires a bender tool. Call NTB or equivilent, go to that shop, and let them check your suspension for FREE! You will need them again when you fix everything anyway. I ain't no 44.95 to diagnose AND align a Ford truck so it goes strait. Everything has to be perfect for this truck just to handle safely, much less good.

One more thing... these wider tires. Tread width much larger than bead width is not a good thing to improve handling. GL