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I had the truck alignment done a while back, ball joints replaced, new Steering Damper ( irked me, I just put a new one on it )
The caster is now near the FTE SUV advice at 4.8*
Driving home, I noticed immediately that I had to "manhandle" the steering wheel, to make it turn.
Today, 1st warm day since it was done, I drove around every little city block we have. Made a point of going slow, and doing Full Lock turns at each intersection. It will almost return to center, but lacks about 1/3rd of the steering wheel to get it back into the lane.
While doing that today, I noticed that there is ZERO backlash, and I mean none at all, not even a 1/4 inch of free looseness in the steering wheel.
the only time in my 80 years that I have experienced that, was when I got the Steering Sector adjustment too tight.
I would bet they didn't torque the ball joint in the correct sequence. This is a common problem with them so much that they include a paper in Spicer ball joint that's explain how to torque them properly to prevent this.
Moog isn't the quality it used to be. On ball joints I reccomend Spicer only. But little late for that now. I would see if they remember if they torqued them in the correct sequence. I don't remmeber exact number off the top of my head but you torque the nottom to x amount. Then torque the top to x amount. Then go back and torque the bottom to the final x amount.
If they did that correctly then after you drive it some more they may break in and free up some.
About the only thing they should have had hands on that would make the steering tight would be the ball joints. If they over tightened them or didn't get them fully seated when pressing them into the knuckle it could have them in a bind. If you can get the frontend off the ground and pop the drag link off the wheels should easily flop side to side. If the hang or drag at all then they botched something and it's time to call Scotty. (and que any and all Star Trek jokes)
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalytic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
