I'm just looking for some advice on this one -- I'm told everything I'm about to describe is normal by the mechanic I've brought my truck to, but steering seems dangerous on my 1984 F-150 4WD. I also took the truck to an alignment shop after the tie rods and ball joints were replaced, and the truck drives the same now as it did with the old parts. They did make some adjustments so my steering wheel is now straight, but it's just as difficult to drive now as it was before.

The truck is hard to steer straight. The truck sways/swerves and you really have to focus to keep the truck between the lines. When I brought that issue up to the mechanic, he said that it is normal for my truck because of the TTB front end suspension.

Can you guys help either confirm that it's always going to feel a bit "funky" when driving this truck, or what other questions I could answer so you could give me a better answer? If there's another thread I should have found/read, feel free to provide it. Thanks in advance!

 

Two things to consider are...Steering Shaft Rag Joint and/or Gear Box.
I had the same issue as You, and both parts fixed the problem. The Rag Joint was shot causing wander and the Gear was replaced with a Red Head Gear.

 

Ford did not sell these trucks with a uncomfortable feel to the steering. They steering like any other truck when everything is correct.

You have had several people look at it, so we can assume they have checked all the "normal" things.

Check the steering box and the rag joint like was mentioned. This is very simple, get in the truck and get someone to gently wiggle the steering wheel while you look under the hood and at the pitman arm coming out of the steering box. See if they are wiggling the steering wheel just a little bit, but the pitman arm is not moving. See where the movement stops. I will tell you problems at the box and the rag joint present themselves as a steering wheel with "slop" in it. In other words there is a certain amount of freeplay where the steering wheel is very loose and the truck does not react.

If you do not seem to have slop in the steering wheel, but it has that uneasy feeling, I would suspect the frame is cracked behind or around the steering box where it's mounted, and or the rivets in the crossmember in that area are missing or very loose. You may be able to start the truck, and get someone to turn the steering wheel back and forth(with a little more authority than the first test) so you get some strain on the box and the frame, and see if the box is moving when it should not be. This frame cracking problem does happen more often than you would think.

 

Welcome to FTE.
All good information above.
What do you drive everyday and have you driven in the past?
I ask because if they are all newer cars/trucks they could have rack & pinion steering.
The R&P feeling and steering is very tight so when you start driving something with a box bolted to the frame could feel lose.
Just saying it could be.
Dave ----

 

I will agree the old steering boxes don't feel as tight as the newer rack and pinion steering, but it still should give you confidence as you drive it down the road, especially a flat road. You might have to compensate a little more with this type of steering when the road drops off to one side more than with a newer vehicle.

Another thought came to mind that I have had happen; Someone has tried to adjust the steering box. Could this be true? The reason I know this, they tell you not to do it in the vehicle, but me being hard headed I have tried it a couple of times anyway. All I ever ended up doing was making the steering stiff and vague, which reminds me of your description. If you think this could be part of the problem, I would go get a rebuilt box. I will tell you even if the box has not been messed with, a rebuilt box will always be an improvement over the old original box. These trucks are getting pretty old now.

 

Amen. There should be no reason why it shouldn't track straight if all of the components are squared away and tire choice is sensible for DD use.

 

I had to install radius arm drop down brackets and axle pivot drop downs too.
All I did was install HD springs and all hell broke loose. Tracks straight now.

but I also replaced all tie rods, ball joints, and found "the frame crack" under the P.S. box, and fixed that too, then installed a Red Head steering box

 

What is the Caster set at now? It should be on the alignment printout. If you have 1.0 or more then I would suspect the steerign box is just worn out. But if you have less than 1.0 degree you need to address that.

 

Welcome to FTE! All of the above is good advice. The suspension bushings make a big difference, and especially the ones on the radius arms. When they are bad you'll get a thunk under the driver's or passenger's feet when hitting bumps, braking, or steering.

But for having to concentrate on keeping it between the ditches I think it is the steering box. I had one that took all my concentration to drive, but a rebuilt steering box made it drive so well I didn't have to think about it. However, there are rebuilt steering boxes and better-than-new steering boxes. The rebuilt ones rely on the box itself being good where the shaft rides in it without a bearing. So if the box is badly worn it won't steer well even if all the other parts are new. But Red Head installs a bearing at that wear point, and the box literally is better than new. In my case the rebuilt box I installed was apparently good, but that's the luck of the draw. If you aren't going to keep the truck forever then the rebuilt, at half the price of a Red Head, may be the way to go.

Oh yes, there is no way to improve things by adjusting your box. You either have some "feel" and lots of slop, or no slop and no "feel". It won't cost much to try, but if you do don't forget where it was as you will have to get back to it. Been there, done that.

 

First nothing against Totus that started this post but I see he is 26 years old.


My post of what he has driven before this truck was a real question for a young driver that has driven nothing R&P cars & trucks and to add to that everything most likely had over drive tranys.


If he was use to the tight R&P then started driving a 30+ year old truck it will feel loose.
When driving I bet he thinks the motor is screaming when going down the road with out an OD trany?


I just wanted to point out that younger drivers may not of had the fun of driving older cars & trucks and I mean DRIVING as it did nothing to help you drive like todays cars that drive you.


If he took it to I think was 2 places and both said the same thing then what do you think it could be?
I will go with what you guys said that there could be warn out bushings so I would change them out just because of age and go from there.


I have a 28 yo son and if not for my dad (grand pa) and my self being into cars/trucks he would not have driven anything older than my 02 Durango.


He has driven a 62 C10 250 six w/3 on the tree, 75 AMC factory v8 Gremlin both with 4 wheel drum brakes. I am sure grand pa had him out in others that I don't know about.
He never said they were all over the place but did say not as tight as my Durango or his Subaru.


I do hope Totus finds something and can get it fixed so he can enjoy the truck.
Dave ----

 

Red Head is the way to go. I'm a believer!

 

Thanks to everyone that's posted! You're absolutely right that I haven't driven anything that's this old before, so I really do have no idea if it's normal. Just seems like it should not swerve on it's own as much as it does, and it sounds like the consensus is that it isn't normal to constantly be fighting the steering wheel to stay between the lines.

I'll check out the Steering Shaft Rag Joint and Gear Box this weekend. I'll post the alignment results from the shop for caster when I get home. The mechanic's shop I've been working with is right down the street so I may have him look at it with me since I'm new to all of this. Before this truck, I'd never even driven anything with a carburetor. It's been a learning experience, but I love the truck and I appreciate everyone's help.

 

The steering wheel shouldn't rotate much at all with the engine off. If you have slop there you need to have someone gently turn the wheel back and forth while you follow the linkage to see where the slop is.

 

When a ttb is set up correctly, it will track straight and steer like any other truck. Getting them there can be a challenge. I have several. Alignment shops are not always in tune with the ttb and generally have the younger generation (my generation) working there. Not that they are uneducated, but they didn't work on these when they were new or know the common failure points and tricks to make them right. Do you have a print out of the alignment report? That is a must for troubleshooting after checking joints, box, frame and bushings. I also had to drop the radius arms to gain caster. Working on these things is an art!

 

Here's what I got back from the alignment shop a couple of weeks ago:




Alignment Paperwork