Do them ball joints yet?

 

Kinda ran out of money. It is definately not going to be a very merry christmas around here.

 

I know how that goes all too well, well in comes time for the happy happy ball joints let me know. Been there done that and would love to lay that hurtin on another SD lol

 

Will it cause my wheels to start to lean in at the top if i let this go? I see that both front wheels are slightly tilted in at the top. I have seen other fords do this.

 

yes it will and will wear your tires if not fixed. you will also need to realign it.

 

The guy who did mine over tightened them.
The steering is almost as bad as before.

 

The ball joints wore out already?
Or your having sloppy stearing?....

explain your symptoms.

 

if you did not align it after ball joints were replaced that would be the reason
your steering still was bad. If they were to tight it would be hard to turn left and right and your steering would not return back to center. sloppy steering or loose steering is a sign of loose parts of need for alignment.

 

Overtightened What?????????

It is impossible to overtighten ball joints, there are a ball in socket joint that is not adjustable/serviceable. You can only replace the assembly. The only thing that gets tightened is the tapered stem into the steering knuckle, which because of the taper will only go a certain distance into the tapered hole in the knuckle. Overtightening the stud will only create the risk of breaking the threads off of the end of the ball joint.

 

They are possible to overtighten, But you really have to reeef on them super hard with a breaker bar.

 

using an impact gun to install will also over tighten them. it pull the seat apart and the ball presses hard on the sides. that binds the joint and hard steering happens. then you should replace them again. and align it.

 

I took it to the Ford dealer, and they backed them out a bit. And then I came back a week later and they backed them out again. They didn't want to do it all at once, as they didn't want to break them.

They said they are within spec now.

My steering is still crappy. I bought a used steering box, so now I'm going to buy a brand new one and see if that helps.

 

did you get an alignment after each adjustment?

 

Yep. I think I've had about 5 alignments done on the truck so far. I've ordered my Outter tie rods in the mail on their way, and I'll order the steering box tonight.

I plan on getting them installed this weekend and get another alignment done. If this doesn't fix it, I'm going to burn my truck down.

 

Did you try adjusting yoru stearing box to make sure that was the cause?