Steering goes haywire
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New User
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 2
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Steering goes haywire
I have a 2000 F250 4x4(70000mi) that I acquired about 2 months ago. On 6 different occasions when turning left as I straighten out the steering becomes very unstable and the front of the truck wobbles back and forth. Steering the truck is like trying to stand on a beach ball. When it's going straight there doesn't seem to be very much control, and when I respond to a wander left or right the steering overreacts significantly. Slowing down to a stop and reversing seems to correct the condition. After 4 occasions I had the driver's side ball joints replaced and the steering damper shock replaced. They were worn, but unfortunately the problem has occurred twice since the repair.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,816
Likes: 3
From: River Valley AR
Double check your tie rod adjustment collars. Loose ones can make the front end over or under react.
I had a 79 f-150 that acted like that because of radius arm bushings. The wheel assembly was moving fore and aft, braking really changed the geometry of everything and there were some wild rides till I fixed it.
Also you may want to check for a loose idler arm.
bigpowerstroke may be right about a gearbox problem too. I think that it would be rare to have one fail at that mileage, but if you dont know the history, assume the worst.
Maybe the box is bad, or maybe even the steering column?
Post back if you find it.
I had a 79 f-150 that acted like that because of radius arm bushings. The wheel assembly was moving fore and aft, braking really changed the geometry of everything and there were some wild rides till I fixed it.
Also you may want to check for a loose idler arm.
bigpowerstroke may be right about a gearbox problem too. I think that it would be rare to have one fail at that mileage, but if you dont know the history, assume the worst.
Maybe the box is bad, or maybe even the steering column?
Post back if you find it.
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 305
Likes: 0
From: Cleveland Area
Check the bolt that mounts the front suspension to the frame. On my '95, after 30K miles the bolt departed the fix and the truck front end would wobble uncontrollably after hitting a bump. I had to slow to a stop to get it to stop. Might be worth looking at. Yours might just be loose.
