I went into a muddy ditch & when I pulled it out I found the steering wheel clocked at 3:00 & the tires pointed straight. The stabalizer cross member has always been bent causing the sway bar to not fit right. This however has had no effect on driving it. It is now bent a little more. I cant see anything apparently bent. I can tell that the pass side tire is towed out a little more than the left at the bottom, but goes in at the top. Both tires were straight & steering wheel straight with no wander at all. Can it be the alignment? Arent there alignment shims in there? Any ideas? Thanks. Todd.

 

You might have bent the tie rod bar, or the one that goes from the box to the tie rod bar. If you take it to an alignment place they should be able to tell you.

 

Thats what I was thinking. I dont know where to go around here though. I know these fords are not the easiest things in the world to align. I would think the ford garage should know what there doing, I would hope anyways. Thanks.

 

Just have a close look at everything from your steering shaft to the knuckles; steering shaft, pitman arm, drag links, etc. With it THAT far out of whack, the problem should be pretty obvious when you find it.

 

i hit a deer @ 70mph on the highway last summer. Samething i couldnt find anythign bent, the tires would be straight and the wheel was truned to the left. i adjusted toe in and toe out and coulnt fix it i was lost. So i went to an alignment shop and within an hour they had it back to normal. Nothing was bent and i was on my way. give it a shot cant hurt

 

Take it any where but FORD . Even if there r good parts they will replace everything . It how they work . They do good work but it will cost ya.

Any alignment place with electronic system should do the job for you . Ask who your friends recomend.

 

Ford doesnt always do the best work, the just most expensive, my mom took her Grand Marquis there when we were havin a fight about me fixing cars at our town house. Well 900 bucks later and a bill that said, Oil Change, Coolant Flush, AC Evac+Recharge, Rotate Tires. So like 30 bucks if that in parts, and now her ac doesnt even work. She will never fight with me again. Im the cheapist mechanic known to man. Did a head gasket on a 97 Talon for a 30 pack of bud

 

Yea but those are the best mechanics Chris....long as they stay outta the bud till AFTER the work is done......

JR

 

If you mean me then yes, if you mean Ford then no. My friend worked for Ford before they traded him to Chrysler. Back when we were in school, about 1/2 of the 1st year through, we made a bet infront of our 2 teachers and all the students. He was trying to get a pulley adjuster bolt in to tighten the belt. He said it was 2 short, i said it came out, it can go back in. Well the bet was if I got the bolt to thread then he would have to switch to Cosmetology. Well guess who lost. It was him. He didnt ever switch and he did manage to graduate some how. You know how long it takes him to change oil? 2 hrs. He has been working for Ford for like over a year and thats what he does all day 2 hr oil changes. He gets paid 8.50 an hr, and I was gettin paid 10 to pump gas as my second job. I was making 11 as a Mechanics Apprentice. So Ford has good, and bad. As do all shops. Back to the subject at hand. As long as the shop has a computerized alignment machine then they will be able to tell you whats bent and if its just the alignment.

 

they have bud in 30 packs, holy crap, ive gotta get to the store

 

Well as long as he stays with oil changes and no REAL work people should be fine going to ford. Just gotta find a tech who does good work and is honest, which could be anywere stealership or independent.

 

Yea its like 20 for a 30 pack of bud. I buy Miller High Life, its like 11 for a 30 pack and it is good beer. I like Heineken the best, but at 30 bucks for a 24 pack, ill stick to Miller. Unless im fixing someones car and its Heineken as payment. Sorry For hijacking, enough talk about beer lol. Back to steering.

 

Don't be so quick to rule out Ford dealers for service. There are good ones out there, though they are definitely the minority. Normally I wouldn't take any repair to a dealer because, exactly as others say, they like to charge you for replacing everything that's even remotely involved with the problem. However, my local small town Ford garage is a major exception.

At the moment, my truck is at the Ford garage with a broken CV joint on the front driveshaft. I got a call from the service manager that they couldn't find a used replacement shaft, and didn't want to put on a reman shaft because it would cost me more than it should. I did some calling on my own and found a driveline shop to rebuild mine for less than half of what the reman shaft would cost, so I'm picking up the shaft, getting it rebuilt, and taking it back to Ford for reinstallation. The Ford garage's charge for their labor will be about 70 to 90 bucks.

When is the last time your dealer called you to say we can fix it, but it would cost more than we want to charge? They have always been good about replacing only what needs replacing and getting me back my vehicles as inexpensively as possible. I know most dealers aren't like this, but I won't take my Fords anywhere else.

 

Just got my truck back home. 180 bucks for the driveline shop to totally rebuild my shaft, plus 80 for Ford's labor to remove and reinstall. Was looking more like 450 installed for the reman shaft. Service manager and parts manager were both impressed with work and price on rebuilding my driveshaft, enough that they asked for the number for the driveline shop so they could send work there in the future.

 

Yeah, I think I'll call around a bit to see who to take it to. I'll get it aligned, or attempt to. If they say I need something then I'll get it put it on & take it back. Thanks.