This would be specifically for my 99 F250 4x4 CC shortbed. We moved and getting my boat backed into the shop is a PITA because of the trucks massive turning radius. I haven't so much as looked at the front diff to see if I can screw in the steering stops, if it even has them, to tighten up the radius about 5 feet. Anybody mess with this? I hate to sell the truck and downsize because of this but, its becoming a consideration, plus I dont need this much truck anymore really.

 

I don't know for sure, but I doubt you can do anything with the steering stops. Someone else may know. In the meantime, what I did to help getting trailers into tight spots very similar to yours is install a front receiver hitch. Kind of a PITA to unhook and swap ends sometimes, but you gain maneuverability with the steering wheels that close to the tongue and you have a bit better view of your clearances.

 

Ditto on the front hitch

 

The steering gear box internals are what appears to limit the steering angle, there are no stops that I can tell. I suppose you could make a custom longer pitman arm that pulls the linkage farther than the stock one does, but most people go to a 2005+ coil sprung front axle if they want to tighten the turning radius, they turn tighter than the '99-04 leaf spring axles. My '99 F-450 4x4 has a very wide turning radius and I usually end up either "cheating" and pulling off the driveway into the grass in order to get more room to back trailers into the machine shed, or I make multi-point turns. A front hitch would help a lot too, you will take a lot less space to get the trailer in the garage.

 

I have a front hitch but the problem is getting the boat turned around to back it in. Unfortunatly we live on a 2 lane, 55++mph country road and the entrance to our drive is really narrow with culvert pipe on either side. Hoping to get backed in our long drive and not getting T boned is a issue. I hate to use the front lawn but have used the sloped side of the drive to U turn. Bad thing is I have to use 4x4 as the grass is slick.

 

I have the same issue with a narrow entrance off of a two-lane 55 MPH road with no shoulder and a steep but not very wide ditch on my side of the road. The entrance is narrow as it goes through a cattle gate in a pipe fence. Unfortunately the highway is a minor state highway and any new driveways or modifications to existing driveways have to be approved by the state DOT, they gave me the thumbs-down to change anything. If I have to make a right turn to get into or out of the driveway when pulling a trailer, I have to button-hook into the opposing lane and then complete the turn or I would either end up hitting the fence or getting the trailer stuck diagonally in the ditch.

I routinely have to pull well off of the driveway to square up to back into the machine shed or do a backing-up three-point turn to turn around. If it's nice and dry I just drive off the top end of the driveway and make a lap around the machine shed through the field in order to turn around. It's rarely too wet to do that at the top of the driveway but if it is, I drop the trailer and back it in with a tractor as those turn very sharp compared to a truck. I don't turn around at the highway end of the driveway, got away with that a few times hauling hay bales until it was a bit softer than normal once and the truck sunk up to its axles just about when the truck cleared the edge of the driveway, had to pull it out with a tractor.

 

I looks like were both in the same boat, no pun intended. Im thinking I might mod my lawn tractor for duty on this one. My boat weighs what I believe to be 1300 lbs or so. The roads here are nuts, skinny, literally no place to pull over if you broke down and if you did go off the road about 90% of the roads edge is a drain ditch 5 to 10 feet deep and as wide. Its roll over time Id say. Id hate to try to drive home from town drunk LOL..

 

If your boat's trailer jack has a wheel on it and the driveway is paved, you could just unhitch and then roll the boat around by hand to park it. Otherwise a two-wheeled trailer dolly like what is below would work very well.



No need to do anything real fancy.

 

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