I just drove my 92 f-150 short bed with the 302 5.0L home. The steering seemed really loose. the wheel would move alot before the tires would move. what could this be? I dont really mind but this truck needs to be going back back and forth between upstate NY an South NJ.
Thanks Dan

 

oh yeah the truck has 31 10.50s. I dont know if that would make a differance.
Thanks Dan

 

Check any and all joints in the steering. That includes the steering shaft U joint, the Pittman arm to steering main joint, the tie rod ends, and of course the upper and lower ball joints. Also look for excessive play in the steering box itself.

 

I have an 89 f-150 5.0L. also 31x10.5x15LT's. I had play in the steering box. I tighened the adjustment screw at the top and it helped a little. Turns out the d/s frame rail was twisting when i was turning the steering wheel. I welded a bar from one frame rail to the other and cross braced to prevent the d/s rail from twisting. This helped....but still not perfect.

 

Bumping an older thread...

If I reach down into the engine and manuall turn the steering column, there is a good amount of play (steering wheel turns) before I feel any resistance inside the steering gear. This means the steering gear is shot, correct?

Also, is rebuilding it myself a reasonable idea? I've rebuilt manual trannys and stuff, so I'm confident in my execution, but I don't want to waste my effort if the core might be no good or I won't have the proper tools.

 

Steering was loose as hell on mine when I got it.It was running Goodrich 31/10.50 also. It was a real challenge to keep it in my lane at highway speeds. Adjusted the preload on the steering box and helped quite a bit but still bad. Looks like it has quite a bit of wear at every connection in the steering. With 180,00 this isn't suprising. Had it aligned and helped a little more. Finally got a set of ford van rims with some welll used Michelin LT MS 235/75/15. Drives fine. The only time it wanders is in a bad cross wind. The Goodrich tires will only go back on when the snow is deep and more is forecast, Maybe a couple weeks per winter. The next set of tires will be Michelin LT MS.

 

Well we also have floats, 30x10.5 IIRC. They definitely don't hold a line, and it would be nice to replace them, but they have too much tread to dump them yet. (I don't expect they would be worth $$ to anyone, since the tires are kinda cupped).

All the rest of the steering system seems tight, and has been checked by a mechanic who only (ha, $600 only) replaced the right front ball joints. I think the steering gear is the big smoking gun.

Dave