now...do you guys think w/ these problems it's a truck i should stay away from or will it be an easy fix??

 

Use it to bring the price down a few thousand.

 

Take it over and have it looked at by someone you trust probably not a big issue to fix and if the owner is not hiding anything he will be more than willing to let you have it looked at if he wants to sell the truck, after all you are spending thousands of dollars what is a few bucks to have it checked if you are really serious on this particular truck.

 

Well i am serious about the truck hard to find a deal on a truck w/ 57xxx let alone a diesel

 

At ~90,000 miles, my ball joints began making the "clunk" noise when I back out of the driveway. When you hit a slow speed bump on a turn, especially in reverse, you'll hear the "clunk". No wander associated with the ball joints. Immediately after the ball joints were replaced, it started wandering like crazy. Would have to constantly correct or would end up in another lane. Nobody could figure it out. Then the fourth mechanic to look at it tightened the steering box and it drives like new. So, I would say the steering box is worth checking.

As for whether you should buy a Superduty, they are pretty great trucks. They are the only Ford I would ever buy again. The mechanics that looked at it all said that the ball joints are the only front end item that needs replacement before 150-200,000 miles. That's pretty good IMHO.

 

On another thread we were talking about much the same problem...

My 99, 4x4 F350 has 175K miles on it, and was 'wandering' a bit. I usually carry a 3000 lb Lance camper on the back, so the 'wander' makes one pay close attention!!!

I noticed some play in the tie rod ends, so I replaced the tie rod ***'y, along with the draglink ***'y. While working on it, I noticed some 'play' in the steering gear, and upon close inspection, found a crack across the splines on the steering box output shaft. I bought the truck used, and the previous owner had installed a 4 inch lift, shortly before I bought it - and he had failed to torque the dropped pitman arm to 200 lbs - so that might have caused to crack....

I replaced the steering gear and put it on the alignment rack, only to find that the ball joints are worn out. I'm trying to get up the energy to tackle the ball joint replacement job next week!!! Been there, done that on my Bronco - guess I should tape up my knuckles before I start that nasty job!

I bought a Dynatrac freespin front hub/spindle conversion kit that I'm going to install while everything's apart. This kit gives you tapered Timken wheel bearings instead of that Ford hub unit, along with 'dial in' manual hubs and much stonger outer axle half shafts!

Take a look at:

http://www.dynatrac.com/products_freespin_ford.html

Most of my 'wander' went away after replacing the steering gear, and I expect completely gone when I get the new ball joints installed, and run it through the alignment rack!