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I've also had an 08 and 12 Superduty, and ran the same Icon leveling kit on all of them, and they all had tight steering until the day I traded them. This 17 model drives like crap and only has 600 miles on it.
Have any of you guys with prior year Superdutys studied the front end components on the 17 vs older years to see if they changed something in 17? I keep blaming mine on the Adaptive Steering, but it seems like some of you without it are having the same issues I am.
I guess I was lucky, however I'm going to go take pics of a 16's front end and compare them.
Thanks for letting us know.
My 13 with 56,000 is a touch "looser" over bridge joints, but
I still have the original shocks and tires.
I'm one to wait a few years after a new model gets released.
I hope you can track it down.
Has anyone figured out what is causing the rattle in the front? I have about 6,500 miles on my 2017 and it's had a rattle since around 2,000 miles. It's seems to be getting worse. I just installed a BDS 2" leveling kit with the fox shocks thinking it was factory shocks making the rattle; wrong. I have wiggled everything until last night I grabbed the lower drag link (or whatever it's called) that connects to both hubs and the I can twist it slightly. The twisting action is very easy to so with one hand and it makes a clunk noise from the toe rod ends. Can my tie rod ends already be shot at 6,500 miles? Is this normal? This rattle in the steering wheel and peddles is driving me nuts.
FYI, I installed fox P/N 985-24-001 steering stabilizer and it made a world of difference. I still get bump steer but not nearly as bad. It won't fix the wondering issues people are having but it makes for a more pleasant drive.
Thanks - Jason
My time rod ends were shot at 18k. Dealer said they were designed to wear like that??
so I paid to have them replaced got tired of arguing with them. Guess what no rattle.
My time rod ends were shot at 18k. Dealer said they were designed to wear like that??
so I paid to have them replaced got tired of arguing with them. Guess what no rattle.
Thanks for the response. I will be headed to my dealer soon to wiggle the tie rods on a used truck. If they are still tight, I will have a fighting chance to have mine replaced under warranty. If the used truck exhibits the same play, I will have to do what you did and replace them myself. My dealer is pretty cool about warranty stuff so we'll see. Did you have Motorcraft tie rods installed or another brand?
Motor Craft.
I tried the let's go check a new truck and see if they do it.
Didnt work. They say they designed to have up/down play just not side to side.
The problem with the up/down play is it lets the entire 40lb tie rod bar wiggle a lot.
Its kinda strange how I purchased my truck..
I was getting my 16 F350 serviced and waiting for it. Sales guy I know well talked me into test driving a 17 F250.
I drove it less than a half mile on crappy roads. Returned to the dealership and purchased within an hour.
Why.... not only did i love the new chassis to death the way the suspension and steering worked was amazing compared to my 16 with 23k on her.
Completely enamored with the ride and drive of the 17 I was beside myself.
Well at least until about 10k miles now at 16k the front end feels almost uncontrollable at times. Even my 19 year old daughter who uses it time to time for her horse trailer. Came home the other day and said "what happened that thing can scare ya on the highway"?
Been to dealer to the point they are getting frustrated at me complaining.
Service manager and tech went for a ride with in my truck then pulled up to the twin of my truck brand new on the lot. Drove it and they both finally agreed mine is weird.
Only to find out a day later that multiple trucks had been in for the same thing over the past couple months.
At this point there sticking with its just typical wear of the front suspension. They cannot find any problems in any way.
My 06 F350 SRW drove slightly better with 150k on it.
I'm going with bad pitman arm, not enough caster, bad joints, or a loose trac bar.
There is no reason a '17 can't drive as well as an '08 or '15. It's all the same stuff. Any decent Ford truck guy should be able to sort it out in short order. You just need to find one that understands steering and suspension, and doesn't just blindly follow "specifications" as the alignment machine might be measuring it wrong, or the engineering spec is for little girls, and not manly work trucks.
Some times you just need less, or more of something, and not a factory spec. It's hard to find a tech that can say "more caster" or "more camber" by feel, without even putting the truck on a rack. It takes a level of understanding that no one is willing to pay for.
I'm one of the best Gentech's on the East coast, you should have seen the frown on my dates face when I told her what I do for a living. (even though it's plenty technical and very important) Techs are hated everywhere, she thinks I'm a grease monkey or something.
It's worth while to reset the sector gear as well.
Also our fleet GM's have bumpsteer. So I don't know what ya'll are going on about there. They don't have side to side axle movement like we do, that induces some force into the steering. But they do toe in and out as the suspension cycles. Combined with empty shocks, it's quite noticeable.
Even though rattle is gone for now something still isn't correct. Steering used to awesome now the truck driver especially like a wondering junker. Even after another alignment. Kinda bummed but will take any advice. Love the truck still even after a failed waterpump at 28k and a dpf at 21k.
just don't have time for my truck to sit at dealer while they scratch head
Lose the track bar drop bracket, if you're using one, and get an adjustable trac bar from BDS.
I spent 27 years under heavy and light duty truck front ends, School me on the difference between the out come of the two.
My fleet of 14 2017 F-250 all have 2" Rough Country lifts with Drop brackets and the correct Caster Camber bushings, and not one of them have any hint of Play, Wobble, or Bump steer. Nine of them tow all day long 16' Landscape trailers loaded with what not. You'd think if there was such a problem one would have at least a hint of one of the Issues.
If you drop the trac bar with a bracket, but don't use a longer pitman arm (like a 4" lift would), the steering rod and trac bar will no longer be parallel. Meaning that they will no longer move together in unison. If you lower the trac bar, you should lower the steering rod. Or don't lower either, and use an adjustable bar.
I think the adjustable bar being higher, might have a positive effect on geometry as well. I'd have to bug a circle track guy with that. Everything I dial is IFS/IRS with the exception of spec Cobra kit cars (Ford 8.8), but they are pretty simple to figure out.
I think most of the bump steer is un-avoidable because as the axle moves left and right, it's going to impart some force into the steering. Better dampers and such might mask the problem somewhat.
My Track bar & Drag Link are parallel like stock with the drop bracket . Curious if you have installed the Drop Brackets ? Who is making a drop Pittman Arm for a 2017 F-250 with a 2" to 2 1/2" level. I used them on my old Leaf spring trucks with 4" and up. The adjustable track bar I tried just pulled the axle back over but the geometry stayed the same. At 64 yers old I have done my share of lifting trucks.
My Track bar & Drag Link are parallel like stock with the drop bracket . Curious if you have installed the Drop Brackets ? Who is making a drop Pittman Arm for a 2017 F-250 with a 2" to 2 1/2" level. I used them on my old Leaf spring trucks with 4" and up. The adjustable track bar I tried just pulled the axle back over but the geometry stayed the same. At 64 yers old I have done my share of lifting trucks.
My old shop is now a Marriott High rise.
Sounds like you know a good deal about this stuff. Is there any true advantage of an adjustable track bar for leveling kits? I have the BDS track bar relocation bracket for my 2" kit and it seems to be just as good as stock. Axle sits dead center. I know Carli really pushes their adjustable bar. Maybe to fine tune the axle location? This is my first solid axle application so I have no idea what I'm looking at.
Not that I could tell, At three times the cost I returned and saved the money for Wheels tires. There's a lot of Brackets being used without issues. Over 2 1/2" I'd give it another shot
Not that I could tell, At three times the cost I returned and saved the money for Wheels tires. There's a lot of Brackets being used without issues. Over 2 1/2" I'd give it another shot
Thanks for the info. I will keep this setup and save for wheels and tires as well.
