My 92 F250 is giving me fits and I can't figure out what the problem is. If you turn the wheels either way then let go of the wheel (while driving) the wheel will not return to center. When it first started doing this, I bought a grease gun and greased all the fittings in the steering linkage. Didn't work. Crawled back under there, noticed that only the fitting on the short drag link was holding grease. Spent 250 bucks on a new long drag link, tie rod ends, and alignment at Les Schwab. Still no good, not to mention they aligned my truck wrong (pulls to the left now). Now I'm starting to turn toward power steering. The pump has plenty of fluid. Could the fluid just be old and need to be replaced? What are the chances one of the lines is partially plugged up? Any ideas or suggestions for what to look at would be greatly appreciated, as I'm at odds right now (and also a little torqued that all those new parts didn't help a dang thing ).

 

Do a search on Steering. I remember a return mechanism involved in the power steering but do not have the experience to help you. You have to use the durations on the search to get all of the older posts.

 

Couldn't find anything. How are the rubber boots supposed to fit on the tie rod ends- flush against the flat part of the tie rod end or overlap it? When I put the new front end parts in, the boots started to slip down over the flat edge of the tie rod end, maybe they don't have enough grease because the boots are installed wrong? I'm just trying to think of any possible solution right now. I'm starting to worry that the short drag link may need replacing too, as it appears to be losing grease slowly. Any other suggestions guys???

 

Come on guys, someone has to be able to help me out here.

 

Steering box too tight.

 

R/R the steering gear box and have that knuckle-head re- align it. good luck.

 

Steering box too tight? What exactly do you mean by that D Harry? luckild, any idea what might be wrong with the steering box? Is this something I can rebuild, or will it have to be replaced? It's going back in tomorrow for a re-alignment, so I'll see if that helps. Thanks for the replies.

 

For the money on a re-built,you can't go wrong. Unless you want the pratice. You'll need to find a reliable parts supply and a machine shop. The biggest problem I have found have been worn out parts and a adjustment does not work most of the time.Good luck.

 

Would Napa have this, or would I be better off going to a junkyard? I remember hearing on here somewhere that the steering boxes were the same for a lot of years on everything right down to the Ranger and Explorer- maybe I could find a good condition box out of a Ranger and swap it in. Thanks for all the help.

 

I am definately not an expert but my Ford F-150 4X4 is also giving me grief in the steering department and my mechanic said I need new ball joints??

Karyn

 

There is an adjusting screw and locknut on the top of the steering box. If there is play in your steering, this is how it is 'dialed' out. Except to do this correctly you need an inch pound torque wrench and to diconnect the steering. After so many miles and those big tires the boxes gets some play, some of which cannot be adjusted out. If you keep tightening the screw down, the steering just gets tight and the steering wheel will not return after rounding a corner.
This happened to me. 86 f-150 160,000 miles 2wd. 302efi. The box was shot! Still play in it, but too tight. Has someone worked on your rig and tightened it too tight ? If you truck is 10 years old and alot of miles with big tires- it might be time. Try loosening the screw a little. I replaced it myself. rebuilt was $170 plus $25 for the pitman arm puller. Got a quote for $450 so I did it myself. Not too hard. Hardest part was getting the new box back up in the truck by myself. Jacked it up with a floor jack and then tied a rope to it and inched it up to where I could get a bolt on it. Don't put in a junkyard steering box. You don't know how many miles are on it and for the effort to change it out, just put a rebuilt in. You might need a new long drag link too.
Good luck. It's a 6-pack job.
Harry

 

I would firstly take it back to your alignment shop and have them align your truck CORRECTLY. If you do anything to the gear box, they will claim that "you" or the shop who installed the box, messed the alignment up.

I just got done doing a new gearbox on a friend's 93 F-150 for the EXACT same reasons. The meshload on the box was too tight as well, but couldn't be corrected.

Take a 5/8" box end wrench and a short flat screw driver, turn the screw it, counter-clock wise, as much as possible. The lock-nut may be super tight, so I would recommend PB Blaster or similar, to help loosen the nut up so you won't strip it.

I doubt that adjusting the screw will help. And for the trouble, I would recommend replacing the box. It is a REALLY simple job to do, but it is awkward, so a buddy really helps.

We were lucky that we didn't have to adjust the new box.

You will also need a pitman arm puller to yank that off the box.

 

I'm running stock size tires (265/75/16's) and my truck has 162K on it. I just had the alignment re-checked, they had to do a camber adjustment. Another 40 bucks thrown at it. So far, the long drag link and the tie rod ends have been replaced, but not the short drag link because it seemed okay (the other parts wouldn't hold grease, that one would).
I called a guy today, and he suggested two things: check the joints in the steering column for play (couldn't find any there) and jack up each front tire, knock the tie rod end loose, and rotate the tire back and forth by hand to feel for any notchiness or roughness. I think I'll try that next. Napa quote on a new steering box- $275 plus a $111 core. OUCH!
Do I absolutely need a pitman arm puller, or would a regular 2 jaw bearing puller do the job? I hope that box doesn't need to be replaced, I can't afford that right now, but I really don't want to drive this much more the way it is. Thanks for all the help guys, I'll let you know what I find out as I go.

 

If you can go to Autozone and RENT the pitman arm puller. You may be able to get the pitman arm off with the 2 jaw puller, but there may be a heck of a lot of expletives and wrenches thrown! The pitman arm puller is a solid "C" shape designed specifically to pull the arm off, and works great at it too. Although a nice NEW gear box from NAPA would be nice, I got a remanunfactured one from Autozone for $170 w/ a 160 core charge.
I just did mine about 3 weeks ago, and it took me a lil' less than 2 hours to do it by myself. I've also replaced the pump, and the two combined really woke up my steering.

Good lukc with yours.
Luke

 

Luke, was your pump making any noise?

Did you also replace the pressure hose(s) from the pump to the box?

We just replaced the box, and it eliminated EVERY problem I had.