I just bought a 2004 F350 with only 14,000 miles on it.
I can tell it was a plow truck but its in great shape.

After I drove it home I noticed the steering was tight and it won't return to center. A real convient feature if your trying to go arond an exit ramp with no hands

I took it back to the slimey little used car dealership and they replaced all four ball joints and said that "now it is stiffer than before, but its because the B-joints are new". Now I know this is BS. I argued that if you buy a brand new zero mile truck they have new ball joints but do not act this way.

So he told me to drive it for about 200 miles an let him know.....
Even though I know they are wrong, I will do as he asked.

I am guessing it is the steering box itself, or possibly the pump. The pump isn't making any funny noise so I am banking on the steering box.

Has there been a common problem with low mileage F350s and steering?

Thanks,
-Bluto

 

One thing I did notice with every SD I drove is they steering different than other cars.

Between driving an 03' Explorer and my 04' F-250, my SD has less return than the explorer does and a conpletly different feel.

The SD will have some return when letting go off the wheel, however you have to follow after. Its a truck.

 

I tightened up the set screw on my sector box to get rid of all the steering wheel slop. After doing that , I now have this condition ,correctable by backing off the set screw a little , But it is a truck .

 

exposition I hate to tell you but "just tightining up or loosening up" the steering box set screw is asking for trouble.. there is a very specific way to set the preload on this and messing with it that way is a recipie for early failure....

BlutosF350... the 2004 f205 f350 were NOT known to have any TSB or factory steering issues..you did mention that you could tell it was a snow plow used truck... I suspect the original owner had a leveling lift added in and the truck does NOT have the faactory snowplow prep springs....The ball joints, tie rods, and steering items are probably all OK but some of the leveling kits screw with king pin inclination....

Have a GOOD "truck capable" front end aligmenet shop put it on the machine and check / reset the steering geometry.... As heavy a front end as they are, most Superduty trucks still caster back to straight ahead with hands off the wheel--- and they should..

Before going through all this grief please ensure you have more then 55 PSI air in both front tires.... I set mine at 65 PSI unloaded.... also see if you have stock width tries...they should be in the 11"~11.5" range...if the numbskull before put on 13"~14.5" wide tires the return to center is slow from the extra width

 

Thread moved to the SD forum - nothing V10-specific

And WELCOME to FTE!

 

I've have kinda the same thing. But mine goes a little deeper. Every now and again thier will be a 'clunk' in the front end if your making tight turns. Then the truck gets a 'death wobble' The wheel will go left to right by itself. If you stop and wrench on the wheel lock to lock it will 'clunk' again and go away. I've replaced every part in the front end exept for springs and steering box and it still does it. I've had it alligned twice and they can't find athing wrong with it....

 

playsinmud, sounds like the track bar is loose or worn. Was that part of your front end parts replacement?

 

did you check to see if they actually put new ball joints in?? Ball joins are usually the problem when the steering wont return to normal after a turn.

 

I have just purchased a 2007 F250SD 6.0 diesel w/17,000 miles, I drove several before finding the "package" I liked, Harley. I am having a similar problem with my steering, it is VERY tight, no 1 handed turns, the others I drove had a much smoother turning feel if you will. She drives straight, brakes straight ect so would this be a steering "wheel" issue more so than a suspension problem? Feels almost like I have no powersteering, my res is full to its specifications ect. I am not as savvy as the rest of you who are brave/knowledgable enought to work on them yourselves I know how to check my fluids, PSi ect but that is my limit. There have been no modifications to the suspension that I can see, I am planning on taking it to the dealer next week. To avoid sounding like an idiot and being taken advantage of can you suggest what my issue may be?

 

Thanks for the input.
I was leaning towards the mesh gear in the steering box.
I typically work on my own vehicles, but when there is a warrenty, I let the "pros" figure it out.

And yes they did change all four B-Joints. Looks like after market junk, but they did change them.

 

Some people on here have mentioned getting new Moog balljoints and having them be very tight. Some said they loosened up after a bit, others replaced them again and were able to get ones that weren't too tight. You may want to look into this and see if that is what is going on.