Sensitive Steering
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Sensitive Steering
I lucked out and found a 75 F150 Custom with 46,000 original miles on it. It has a 360 with a 2bbl carb and a granny 4 speed. At some point someone replaced the steering colum with one that had a colum shift on it I guess to try adding power steering since the truck didnt come with that option. It still has the 4 speed trans. I went to the salvage yard and bought the pump brackets etc.. to complete the project. Everything works great but the steering is very sensitive, I like a little resistance (not slop) because it makes it easier for me to drive without wandering all over the road. any ideas?
Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,613
Likes: 2
From: Gainesville, FL
Sensitive Steering
Lon,
There are several things which make a Ford truck wander all over the road.
1. Misaligned Front end. Tow, caster or camber Did you raise the front end on your truck? Then you may have a camber problem.
2. Are the tierod ends tight or do they clunk when you move the tire left to right.
3. Check your pitman arm. The arm going from the gearbox to the drag link. That will cause major wandering.
4. Mismatched tires. Different treaded tires follow grooves diffently caucsing the truck to "wander".
5. Finally, the gear box, does your steering wheel have play? Can you move your steering wheel left to right without effecting the truck's left to right tracking? Tightening the gear box is simple and usually is the sore spot in ford truck steering problems. There is a slotted shaft sticking out the top of the steering gear with a locknut. Loosen the locknut and turn the slotted shaft clockwise until all the play is out. Then tighten your locknut. If you turn and the steering wheel does not return to center after the turn you've tightened the bolt too much. Either loosen the bolt or drive it another week and it will loosen up.
Good Luck, Have Fun,
KingFisher
There are several things which make a Ford truck wander all over the road.
1. Misaligned Front end. Tow, caster or camber Did you raise the front end on your truck? Then you may have a camber problem.
2. Are the tierod ends tight or do they clunk when you move the tire left to right.
3. Check your pitman arm. The arm going from the gearbox to the drag link. That will cause major wandering.
4. Mismatched tires. Different treaded tires follow grooves diffently caucsing the truck to "wander".
5. Finally, the gear box, does your steering wheel have play? Can you move your steering wheel left to right without effecting the truck's left to right tracking? Tightening the gear box is simple and usually is the sore spot in ford truck steering problems. There is a slotted shaft sticking out the top of the steering gear with a locknut. Loosen the locknut and turn the slotted shaft clockwise until all the play is out. Then tighten your locknut. If you turn and the steering wheel does not return to center after the turn you've tightened the bolt too much. Either loosen the bolt or drive it another week and it will loosen up.
Good Luck, Have Fun,
KingFisher
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 170
Likes: 0
From: Miles City
Sensitive Steering
A word of warning-a steering sector doesn't wear evenly because most of the time it is centered when your driving straight.If the sector is too worn,if you take all the slack out of the middle it will be too tight on either side.A friend of mine did this- it wouldnt center by itself-and it locked up going around a corner and he rolled it.
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