This is for my 2005 F250 4x4 V10. Three years ago I replaced ball joints and everything else on the exterior of the front axle. I had a hub beginning to make noise and thought I’ll do everything at once. I replaced:

Ball joints

Inner axle seals

Outer axle seals (upgraded to newer style)

Replaces front 4x4 axle u-joints

Vacuum seals (installed with correct tool)

Hubs & seals

Drag links

All tie rods

Steering stabilizer

After an alignment my troubles began. I developed what many would say was “memory steer”. However It didn’t make sense as I did everything properly. The truck never wanted to “center up” or “follow the road”. If you made a turn the steering wheel would not come back to center unless I brought it back. Now I did not have this issue before the rebuild. My local garage thought it to be the one new tie rod. I entertained their thought but didn’t have much faith. New tie rod, no change. Some folks on Internet posts were pointing at the steering gear. I installed a new gear, hoses, pump, etc… to leave no stone unturned. Still the same. I noticed my spring pockets were rusty and installed a camera under the truck and drove it. I had a lot of movement at the top of the coil spring (new for 2005). I took it apart and found the spring locator on the pocket was rusted off. So I installed both new spring pocket/perches. An alignment followed and no change. Paid the garage to poke around for a day to see if I was missing something. They loosened up the steering gear engagement and called it fixed. It was not, still bad but now with added slop. I bought new tires (265/70/17) and an alignment at a big rig shop. They tightened the steering gear back up, added a little more caster and did a full front to rear alignment. No difference, still handles like crap. So two weeks ago I tested the ball joint using a bearing plate, drop the tie rod and install a bolt in the hole and tighten with nut. Ford has a spec for this in their manual. I think it read around 125 ft/lb and was within spec. Not sure what to do I did the ball joint replacement again (Moog, again and installed correctly and torqued correctly). The axle u-joints are not binding either. New vacuum seals, dust seals, etc… The whole time since three years ago I have about 12000 miles on the truck. So stuff is still fairly new. I had it aligned again last week and guess what, nothing has changed. It still doesn’t want to follow the road. The one thing I also notice, when I get a little pissed off I’ll go 40-50 MPH on an open road and whip the steering left and right and the rear end feels so friggin soft like it wants to roll over on the side walls. Feels like no sway bar. However there is a sway bar also with new bushings. I am at a loss. I want to use this truck to pull my car trailer but I feel so unsafe. With a trailer it is really scary and unpredictable.



I can take a single finger and turn the steering wheel and it will basically stay in that location and drift out of the lane. I am constantly, manually centering the steering up as I drive. Never a relaxing drive. You know how if you drop a tire off the road onto the shoulder. A big F250 normally you just steering back into the lane. Mine it causes it to pull and feels like you are driving in snow tracks and the snow is controlling you, not the truck controlling the snow. This on dry road.



If you read all of this so far I appreciate it. At this point you’ll know this is not a novice question. I hate to be rude but please don’t suggest I grease the ball joints. I’ve even looked for a broken frame to luckily find it ok. Has anyone gone through all of this or figured out what it could be causing this? I’ve tried to explain everything I’ve done and what it’s doing. I’m sure it’s down to the obscure or crazy one of a kind issue. If so, what is it? Thanks!

FYI - here are some links from posts I've had along the way..
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-the-road.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...arts-list.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...e-rebuild.html

Note added: My tires over the past year are wearing perfectly. No issue to be seen.

 

had a 2006 F350 CC that had a tie rod replaced by a mechanic shop. Dove it home and experienced the same thing you describe- turned a corner and the steering wheel stayed turned.

Scared me so much that I had it towed back to the shop because I didn’t know if something had failed or what.

Turned out that the new tie rod had to be adjusted; was too tight or something. They adjusted it and no more issues.

 

"After an alignment my troubles began."
Who did the alignment? On subsequent alignments was it the same shop? I had a vehicle with the same symptoms, turned out two different shops were incompetent. In the end I did the alignment myself following the guidance in the Ford service manual and the rig drove normally again. The two big differences I noted at the time were; I checked one of the alignment racks myself with a 6' bubble level...It had not been leveled probably ever. The second was that the Ford service manual specified a specific ride height along with a special tool to hold the vehicle at the specified ride height when performing an alignment. My rig had a 3" lift which was likely goofing up the measurements. Since you are confident in the condition of the front end parts and the quality of the installation, I would say that you need an experienced "grey head" type alignment tech/suspension mechanic that really knows Ford super duty trucks. Good Luck, Russ
P.S. Have, read, and follow the Genuine Ford Service Service information, In my experience "aftermarket" service data may be incomplete, inaccurate or flat wrong. In particular, I have seen alignment specs on the printout the shop gives you after the alignment that were very different from the specs listed in the Ford service manual.

 

Are you sure one of the caliper pistons aren't froze up ? Brake pads wearing even ?

 

Brakes, calipers, dust shields have all been replaced during this process. Issue the same with old and new brakes.