I changed my steering box three years ago with a Motorcraft, though probably a reman. I've driven about 1000 miles since then, until recently when I drove 2000 miles. It drives fine but it feels undefineably "sloppy" to me. I'm wondering if this is to be expected from a 1996 F250 with the 5.8 and E40D?

I'm thinking maybe it finally loosened up to normal, and normal is just a little sloppier than I expected? I'm used to driving a Jeep, which is a little squirreley, meaning it's pretty sensitive to any movement of the steering wheel.

It just feels like there's a little "play" in the steering, and I don't really like it. Can anyone suggest how to diagnose, or maybe tell me that that's to be expected with these models? I checked the knuckle and everything seems connected. I don't see any leaks (of PS fluid. Coolant is going to be another thread.)

Anyway, just kind of soliciting opinions and suggestions here. Thanks.

 

What’s the condition of all your tie rod ends? One or more of those could be the cause of it also.

 

Good question. They look good to me, and I changed those also about three years ago (which was about 2000 miles ago).

 

Have someone gently rock the steering wheel back and forth while you watch the steering column, steering box and steering parts under the hood. The largest source of play should be evident.

 

Well, yes, and thank you. I'm still hoping for an idea of whether this is to be expected on these vehicles. Maybe I've just now broken in the steering box and this is what I should expect.

 

No, a steering box should not loosen up after 1,000 miles.

 

Wow. Just... okay, thanks for replying. Have a good day.

 

2wd, 4wd, 4wd known to crack/rip frame at steering box mounting holes, when running larger tires.

 

If you don't find any issues mentioned above, the cure for fixing the sloppy steering on these trucks is with a reman box from red head. That will fix it for good and for many, many miles and years too. I put a red head in the F250 many years ago and a normal cardon reman in the F450, and they are not the same, that's for sure.

 

Just looked them up, it’s almost $200 cheaper than a remanned unit.. the price alone would be a selling point.

 

I'm still not getting any answers for my main question, which is whether these trucks are supposed to feel a bit loose. I think that's the most likely scenario here. But I'm hoping for a second opinion.

 

😂

You asked several questions.
You got several good answers.

 

Not when new they were not, no. They were born with very tight and responsive steering. My first 9th gen was a '96 f150 w/ 80k miles. It was only 3 years old in '99. Sometime around 120k miles or so (it's been many years ago now, but I know I'm in the ballpark), the steering got real sloppy.
It was a 4wd super cab. I didn't know at the time to look for a cracked frame where the box mounted. I lived with it for a couple years until I sold it and got into the HD trucks.

When I got my '93 F250 it had just 50k miles on it and I don't recall it having sloppy steering at all until.....let me see my records......93k (June 2012) miles shows I replace the box with a red head and my notes read:
"Rebuilt Steering Box By Redhead - Stock Unit Had Too Much Slop/Failed Basically"
The box is still like new after all these years. It's just like the day I installed it.

When I got my F450 w/ 200k miles, the steering was worse than both previous trucks ever got haha.

I had also driven several other F150's and F350's 9th gens back in the day when the trucks were newer (under 100k) and all of them had nice tight steering. They were not born loose.

If you want tight steering, for decades and thousands upon thousand of issue free miles, if after you don't find any other causes, put a red head box in and you'll be smiles! These suckers are worth every penny. They are highly praised for very good reason.
The odds of me putting one in the F450 at some point (even after putting in a cardon reman) are very high.


Something I just remembered, the F250's box was so sloppy compared to the red head, that it took me a week or two to stop over correcting going around corners! It made that old truck just feel "tight" like new. They're awesome, bud.

I can assure you, the answer to your question is absolutely not. These trucks did not roll off the Ford lots with sloppy steering.

 

Agreed. I had to replace the factory box in my truck when it only had 100k miles on it. Sector shaft sealing surface had rusting pitting. After I installed a reman box it was immediately apparent that the brand new box was twice as sloppy as the 100k original. Now that the truck is getting overhauled it's getting a Redhead.

 

BlueTop (similar to RedHead) tightened up my 89 F250.