I've got a new to me 88 F250. When I got it, there is a lot of play in the steering wheel. I replace ball joints and tie rods as it needed them badly. There is still a fair amount of play in the steering wheel and it was coming from the steering gearbox. Yesterday I got a refurb steering gear box and put it in. I still seem to have same the amount of play in the steering wheel. Is This is normal for these trucks?

 

I had the same problem. Everything seemed to tighten up when I put new shocks and sway bar bushings on. There is going to be play in it...no matter what you do.

How much play is in the rag joint on the steering column?

 

I don't have the truck in front of me, but the rag joint seemed tight. The play seems to be coming from the gearbox. The steering wheel has about 20 or 30 degrees of FreePlay or about 3 in of the steering wheel circumference.

 

 

Consider installing a rebuilt box. Red Head, ATSCO are two good brands, both widely available. If you go that route I would also do a new pitman arm, reseal the power steering line fittings, flush the power steering system, etc.

 

I did that yesterday and it still has play. both a reman box and pitman arm.

 

A few degrees of slop is exceptional IMHO in a system on these trucks. An inch or two is pretty normal especially on original parts. Not saying it is right, but it is normal. more than that is too much slop and should be addressed. That said I have driven some real messed up vehicles and it was never steering slop that kept me from getting home safe.

If the steering shaft is turning and the pitman arm is not then your problem is the gear box. Unfortunately getting a good remanufactured unit is hit and miss. Some brands are better like Ford and Redhead but they are also more spendy. There is a procedure to adjust (if I remember correctly you adjust the preload) the gear box. It has been posted on the forum before. It is pretty involved. Not really difficult, but involved. If the gearbox just needs adjustment and is indeed the source of your problem then it could help. If the gearbox is a sloppy build with sloppy parts the benefit will be marginal.

Some folks will say it can be adjusted without the procedure, however if you get it too tight the gear box can bind up and/or experience premature wear. Not saying you can't wing it just saying there are sometimes it is cheaper to do it right once then doing it wrong twice and so on.

All that said I would hunt around for additional problems. If you truck has seen enough service and/or abuse to need a new steering gear box then it probably has other items that need to be addressed.

Have you inspected the frame and cross members for movement when turning the steering wheel? Loose rivets? Bad bushings? Worn out ball joints?

 

open the hood. have someone inside the truck wiggling the steering wheel left to right. look at the connection where the steering column connects tot he shaft going to the rag joint. there should be no play at all there. if there is any play, the bushing up inside the column fell out. unfortunately, that is not a serviceable bushing. you will have to replace the column according to ford.


i have repaired them, but it is a royal pain in the asterisk to repair.

 

Also, something I neglected to mention...check the drag link and tie rod ends for worn joints. They can also lead to steering wheel play.

In 12K miles, I replaced everything from the end of the steering column on out...gearbox, pitman arm, drag link, tie rods, tie rod ends, ball joints, etc...a complete rebuild or replace job. Every piece I replaced made the system feel that much better. Until I replaced the sway bar bushings, I still had play, but I never thought it would ever get better...but it did with the new bushings.

 

 

Thank you everypev for your onput! Previously (500 miles ago) I replaced the tie rods, drag links, and ball joints. It helped but not a ton. This morning I had a helper turn the wheel, no slack in the rag joint. And the pitman arm was replaced with the gearbox.

It is %100 backlash in the ramanufactured cardone gear box. Should there be any backlash in these??

I tightened up the adjustment screw some and it took about %50 of the FreePlay out! Im nervous to keep going. But there still seems to be some backlash still.

​​​Second question, did trucks need an alignment after a steering gear and pitman arm are replaced? My truck tracks hard to the right now. Did my mechanic misaligned something? I wanst expecting this as everything looks to be keyed. I had an alignment done when I did the tie rods and ball joints.