Hi all,

Buddy of mine came by the house the other day. He wanted to rotate his tires. Afterwards we took it for a drive. On the way by, I drove it home. Well, let me tell ya. His truck, (05- F250 CCSB) was so easy to steer. I nean, a big difference between his truck and mine, (see signature.) I would think our trucks wouldn't be too much difference in steering. We both have 20" stock tires and rims.

Should I be looking at something here? I've replaced all ball jonits, tie rods and drag link a couple months ago.

I sure would like to have easier steering .

 

You didn't list it but do either of you have a redhead steering box? I do and after I installed it I've felt like sometimes the steering is to easy and has very little feedback. Often times and on our trip to Florida and back I found myself having to focus on keeping the X centered in the lane especially in turns. My alignment looks ok but I guess I should have it checked.
To your specific issue since you said you've done ball joints and other items I saw some posts recently regarding ball joints that are to tight and can make the steering even have some memory. Maybe search that issue.

 

Have you owned the truck since new? I bought my truck used 150k miles with a bad steering gear, it still had all of its power assist but had flat spots ect. I replaced it with a Redhead and now have a tight steering gear but not much power assist.

.

 

I bought my truck used with 93,XXX mile. PO took good care of it. I followed Fords manual on doing the front end. Torqued the ball joints in two steps. After first torque. You rotate the knuckle full range back and forth. Then torque to final spec. I have no memory steer issues though. Factory gear box. Ted head doesn't make a good gear box for my year truck. 04 and older, yeah.

I've had this truck since 2012 and has steered the same. I didn't know the steering was different until I drove my buddies truck. Maybe it's just a bad pump

 

I might be the pump, but despite you two guys having the same diameter tires, do you have the same offset from the mounting flange? If the center of the tire is spaced out farther from the centerline of the vehicle on your truck it's has a higher scrub radius.

Superdutys have the highest scrub radius of any of the competitors. I was involved with the brakes during this trucks design and development, so also there when this problem rose its ugly head. Ford even asked if you could do some things with the friction material that was alternate universe physics.

The easy check would be to measure center line of the tires between the trucks to see if there is an offset causation.

 

Good info Jack. I'll take some measurements and post my findings.

Thx,
Eddy

 

If you don't have a higher scrub radius, then you could look towards the pump. The only way of testing it is to use Ford's PS Pump tester, where you can measure the pressure output at full load and compare it to spec or a good unit.

A good 'in field' A-B check if wheel and tire related would be for you two guys to swap front tires and see if it's the same.

Early on in 2000 +/- period enough people complained to NHTSA admin about the can't steer when parked with brakes on that activity started, but Ford pointed out to NHTSA that no accidents or failures were involved, it was up to the owner to learn the system, so the investigation was stopped. I'm not sure it made it past preliminary. Initially it was thought to be only a diesel truck issue with its shared hydroboost, which does hinder the output somewhat, but we demonstrated the same problem with our V10 Excursion. But I'm digressing into a different but sympathetic issue, your issue is steering while underway.

There is another thing you can check, if the hydroboost internal diversion valve is faulty. Not the cleanest of test. You remove the return line off the hydroboost (nipple with spring clamp) and plug it temporarily. Install a hose on the nipple going into a container. With the engine running there should be no or very minimal fluid coming out of that port. It the exhaust port when pressurized fluid has been released, the fluid that assisted in applying the brakes. If debris in the system has been caught in that valve, fluid can always bleed off and you can never achieve full pressure out of the power steering pump.

 

Not sure if this helps or not with your issue.

The first thing to do would have the alignment checked. A bad toe setting
can make things a bit on the squirrely side.

 

I think his only problem Sean is rotational force.

 

Got the truck aligned a week after all the suspension work. Took it to the Ford dealer for the alignment. Going to get my paperwork and take another look swe of the measurements. Maybe post it also.

It about time to flush the power steering anyway. Good idea on the test of that valve.

Just got back from the tire shop to have the tires rotated. Still steers the same. Tech said tires are wearing great. Almost 10K on them with 13/32 tread on them.

Going to do the power steering test this weekend.

Thanks for all the tips and help.

 

The steer shock can be stiffer on yours so it takes more effort to turn,also flushing the system does help some trucks ive had.

 

Xaviar,
Is the steering damper still in place? It might be worth
checking if it has been in for a while. Even a new one could be bad.

 

The damper is a good thought.

 

I couldnt think of the right name so just called it steer shock.

 

No that is what you do to the steer when you take the electric cattle
prod to it's backside to get it to move into the chute.

Yep used to run the roping chute at a local ranch when I was a kid.