Yeah. My local Ford dealer called around. He found 2 sets of them at the Piedmont Ford Truck dealer. Hey thanks though. It's good to know there is more than one set left in the world.

 

Make sure your U-bolts are tight on your frontaxle.This happend to me talkabout a scary ride.mine got loose and when I turned the steering wheel the axle moved before the tire turned. i thought i was DUI but had'nt been drinking. I also have fixed a tie rod end problem like yours with a washer.

 

Today I did something that hopefully will stop my front end from wandering. It had begun getting scary again. I've been hauling loads of over a ton in the 3/4 ton truck, so you can imagine any steering problem gets magnified.

Anyway what I did was this. As I stated before, my new tie rod end was loose in the steering knuckle. Today I placed a washer under the nut that attaches the ball stud of the tie rod end to the steering knuckle. This seems to have solved the remaining problem with the truck wandering. I had noticed when I tore everything apart that the cotter pin in the old tie rod end ball stud was too high to stop the nut from turning. When I installed the new end, it had the same problem plus the shoulder of the ball stud, where the threads stop, was too high and I couldn't torque the nut down enough. This also kept the ball stud from seating in the hole. The washer under the nut fixed that. Unless of course the hole is wallered out and everything loosens again. But I hope not.

Well, I hope this finally solves the problem.

 

I'll have to check that the next time I'm under there.


Well I'm glad it's not just me. Did the problem stay fixed?

 

yeah i never had anymore trouble out of it

 

I have a similar problem with my '92 4x4. The simptom showed up when I was making a turn from a stopped position (like a stop light). My truck would not return to center. I had to haul (and I really mean haul) on the steering wheel to center it up again. After that it would be fine. I let this go for a little while and it started pulling left or right (consistently during the given episode) while I was going straight.

I had Pepboys check the suspension (all the stuff you're looking at). They said it was fine.

I replaced the shocks, calipers and pads. Still the problem progressed.

I had Pepboys replace the steering pump. No go.

Finally, I went to the alignment shop that the guys the Pepboys took their trucks to. The guys did about 5 minutes of diagnoses (after listening to my tale). He replaced the front left U-Joint. Problem solved.

I am looking for comments on this means of diagnosing the issue. He locked the hubs, cranked the steering wheel all the way over and tried to spin the wheel. It did not move at all. He said this meant the joint was frozen.

Whether this was taking me for a ride or not, the work he did solved the problem. I tend to think he was OK. He has a good rep in the Philly area.

There my 2 cents. Actually looking at the posting length, it's problably more like 3 or 4 cents.