Hello,

I have a 99 E350 7.3 Chateau standard length, with about 190k miles on it. We take it on long road trips and I notice that the steering has alot of play. The wife sometimes sways back and worth when driving because she is overcompensating when trying to stay in the lanes. I have the Hellwig heavy duty sway bars on it, Bilstein HD springs, new steering stabilizer, and Michelin LTX M/S on the van.

I had an alignment done at a shop and these are the notes the tech called out:

1) Left front camber/caster non adjustable, will need adjustment bushing.

2) All steering joints have excessive play, outer tie rods, and inner tie rods, recommend replace toe sleeves also due to rust.

From the above, can someone point to how I would find the correct adjustment bushing, outer tie rods, inner tie rods, and toe sleeves for my vehicle? Or is there an all in one complete kit that is sold?

Also, I have read that some folks replace their front end at times but no real improvement. I have seen threads where the steering gear replacement was the biggest change. I was therefore looking at the Redhead upgrade here as well. I was looking on their website and it looks like they sell as 32 spline and a 36 spline. Anyone know which one would fit?

Lastly, is there cost savings to doing this all at once as opposed to separately?

TIA,
John

 

I bought my Parts at Rock Auto...the Camber bushings are like 5 bucks so whoever does the alignment should supply them since they have to put it on a Machine to align it properly, and insert the correct degree bushing to make it correct. evrything else you can replace yourself IF you have a Ball Joint Press and the " Special" Econoline tool to remove the uppers..... After you change all the Parts you can , y ou need to find a Heavy Duty Service shop to do the Alignment since most guys cannot do it since the twin I beam stuff confuses most of them....You also should look at the radius arm bushings as well since they can cause issues if they are worn ...as doo weak springs..... I bought Moog Parts....Good Luck

 

Thanks Blageurt.

I think I might just have a shop do all the work as I do not have a ball joint press or the special Econoline tool.

So far, I was thinking about picking up:

- RedHead Steering Box
- Moog Caster/Camber Adjustable Bushing
- Moog Right Tie Rod End Adjusting Sleeve
- Moog Left Tie Rod End Adjusting Sleeve
- Moog Left Inner Tie Rod End
- Moog Left Outer Tie Rod End
- Moog Right Inner Tie Rod End
- Moog Right Outer Tie Rod End

I put in my vehicle on the parts finder on Moog but getting multiples of some parts, some with different specs so I will have to decipher which one is right for my vehicle. I'll look into the other parts you mentioned as well.

Thanks,
John

 

@ limerence : what should a "special Econoline tool." be?

 

BFH if I recall.

I have a ball joint press and a bunch of different "attachments" for it and I recall using the BFH a bunch when I did the ball joints on my 97.

 

You would have to ask Blageurt since I was referencing what he wrote. But since I dont work on these cars much, I knew I didnt have the "tool".

 

It's the tall one with the cut-out.....https://www.toolsource.com/ball-join...8.html?tsqtid=

 

looks like it's easy to make

 

Probably is.... but my Time is worth way too much for me to even consider that...cheaper for me to buy it ...I think I paid $ 75 for mine.... Thats about $ 50 in your money at current exchange rates......

 

5 minutes to make doesn't seem like much time to me
but I don't make 600 bucks an hour