On very bumpy roads my steering feels very loose, the steering wheel goes left and right rapidly and I'm wondering if the steering damper it shot. Does anyone else experience this? My truck has Fox 2.0's and they do a good job, but I'm kind of concerned about the "dribble" feel in the steering. I can remove the damper and see how it feels as I compress it in my hands, but looking for a solution.

 

I get a lot of vibration from the road, and on rough roads you might see as much as a 1/4 or more of movement each way. Yours sounds like it might be worse then that tho. I'm starting to get used to it. I came from a '16 F150 and a '16 Denali HD so the steering has been one of the biggest adjustments for me. The dealer replaced a front tire and then road forced them, and made it quite a bit better, but I just had the tires rotated and it's back to doing it again, but not as bad. I'm running 50 psi in the factory Michelins with Fox 2.0 shocks. They filled my tires up to 65 when they rotated them, and I almost had to stop and pull over on my 75 mile trip home to drop the pressure. Steering wheel shook the whole way home and it rode noticeable rougher.

 

I feel like I also get some "sloppy" steering but I think in my case it could just be the stiff suspension. The rear end definitely has a bounce to it even with a 300lb cap on and 65psi tires. Soon the deavers will arrive so hopefully that helps with the bounce. I have a 2 inch spacer in the front and I am thinking about changing to a full spring 2.5 inch lift if that would help my bouncy/sloppy steering. After that I'm really not sure what else I could possibly do.

 

I too am running 50 psi in my tires and I also took off the steering damper, feels good, no slop or weak compression.

 

I wonder if a Bilstein 5100 series steering damper would help at all?

 

I just installed a BDS/Fox dual steering stabilizer and mine is still sloppy. Do you guys have the adaptive steering? I'm starting to think the adaptive steering is the issue. Or it could be just the way these trucks are. I'm coming from a 2016 Denali also and was use to its tight steering.

 

Do you have a leveling kit and if so, did you correct the caster? If not, there's your culprit.

 

My truck is all stock, no lift and no adaptive steering

 

Yes, I have the Icon Stage 1 level kit, which came with alignment cams and they were installed.

 

Jimzpsd, what you're experiencing is, unfortunately, normal. Trucks with independent front suspension don't experience this problem; but trucks with solid front axles do. It has to do with the weight of the front axle assembly and the method in which the front axle is located.

Preventing the axle from moving forwards and backwards are the two, huge, long steel radius arms that mount with a bushing to both the front axle and the frame. The bushings both cushion the shock of bumps and allow the axle to articulate up and down.

Preventing the axle from moving side to side is a Panhard rod. It is a single thick steel bar which connects from one side of the frame down on an angle to the opposite side of the axle. It also has bushings on both ends which allow it to move and thus allow the axle to travel up and down.

The steering gear is a traditional recirculating ball hydraulic assist worm and roller box with a pitman drop arm and a track rod and drag link arrangement, along with a damper.

The problem lies in the fact that when you travel over bumpy surfaces the extremely heavy axle assembly is literally trying to bounce upwards and / or sideways as the bumpy surfaces dictate. The Panhard rod and radius arms do their best to hold the axle in place, but it moves a bit. As it moves, it is abruptly changing the steering geometry...the axle might be suddenly to the left of center or suddenly pulled back behind the centerpoint of the fender wells. The amount it is actually moving is rather small, but each of these movements are transmitted back through the fixed track rod up to the pitman arm of the steering box and back to you at the steering wheel.

The steering damper tries to "dampen" these shocks but it cannot eliminate them completely. Some people think by adding a "heavy duty" steering damper they can solve the problem. Well, unless you are running larger than stock tires or your original damper is shot, the improvements will be minimal to non-existent. Typically, adding a stronger damper only serves to make your steering heavier and perhaps wear out your steering box sooner.

Personally, I think Ford has done a very good job in isolating the steering wheel from the bumps. I've driven many solid front axle rigs and this one is the best at controlling it. This is the one area where GM HD trucks have an advantage. Because they have independent front suspensions, the control arms are basically rigidly mounted and simply cannot move laterally or longitudinally. As icing on the cake, the left and right sides are isolated from each other so bumps on the left side do not upset the right side like what will happen on a solid front axle.

 

Thanks for the good write up Troverman, I completely understand the physics of the steering/suspension being tested, I owned a '97 F350 CCLB 7.3, 4x4, it had almost the same axle (D60) only it had leaf springs and not coils, I drove this truck for 18 years and never felt these issues before, just seems odd that Ford tolerates this in something "new and improved". On some roads it feels as though the axle is coming loose, its not going to, but the sensation is surprising to say least. I'm kind of disappointed too. My best description would be..........it feels like something up front is loose, ie, tie rod end, drag link, pitman arm, etc., but its all tight and new.

 

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 bet it's called typical wear because MFRs spec their suspensions with such a wide gap tolerance that almost everything is "within spec", when in actuality, your ball joints, etc. are worn to the point of causing the uncomfortable characteristics described in this thread.

If the dealer isn't helpful, at least have a reputable suspension shop measure your tolerances to see which parts might be the likely culprit for the issues, then go from there. If dealer isn't willing to correct the issues, I'd still be replacing those parts. Too much at stake not to.

At least this has been my experience. Hope this helps.

 

I agree with you that my 04 F350 6.0 4x4 with a leveling kit and larger tires had tighter steering than my brand new truck when i traded it in after 10 years.

 

My thought is this: when a truck is brand new, the rubber bushings in the panhard rod and radius arms are really tight and nice. But at 16k miles, they have probably already started to elongate and crack slightly. It doesn't bother some people, but you and your daughter are noticing it. Likely, the same thing happened to your 2016 truck.

Knowing the quality of the Ford shocks, the steering dampers are probably failing early, too. They aren't subjected to as much impact as a road shock, but you could also be feeling increased feedback through the damper if its failing.

What I found it that replacing the radius arm bushes and panhard rod bushes with "poly" bushings is the best thing to do. These don't crack and last so much longer than the rubber ones.

Most worm and roller steering boxes like what's found on these trucks have a screw or bolt that allows you to "tighten" or "loosen" the steering. This won't affect feedback, though...it just makes the steering effort more or less.

My truck has 12k miles on it, and the steering seems identical to how it was when new. I live in one of the worst pot-hole ridden frost-heaved areas of the country, and my 350 dually is one of the stiffest-riding trucks out there.

Good luck, hope the dealer can help you out.