2000 F350, 4x4, 158K.


Almost two weeks ago I pulled out of my driveway and as soon as I was going straight the steering wheel began to "shake" or "shimmy" back and forth. I pulled over because I thought I had a flat tire but didn't find anything. Pulled it into the garage, jacked it up and poked around to see if anything was wrong. I reaplaced the passenger side unit bearing about 4 months ago and my initial thought was that it was working loose. I couldn't find anything so I headed to work.

The problem has persisted but is very inconsistent except that it always happens at low speeds. I pulled both hubs off last night and took them apart to inspect/clean them and saw nothing wrong. Bearing was good and nothing was broken inside. Put them back in and went for a test drive and the problem is still there...To be honest with you it feels like it is in 4x4


I am going to pull them tonight (1 side at a time) and drive around the block, if that doesnt do it the front driveshaft is coming out to see if I can isolate the problem. The TREs "could" be replaced but this doesn't feel like any TRE issue I have ever had before.




Sorry for the long first post....

 

check tie rod ends, ball joints, or maybe a wheel weight fall off.

 

imagine a little midget hiding under your seat reaching up and wiggling the steering wheel back and forth...
Wheel weights wouldn't do that but I have free balance and rotation so Ill take it down to the tire place on sunday.

The TREs could use replacement but I have never had this much feedback thru the steering wheel because of a bad TRE.


Other than visual inspection how do you check if a ball joint is bad? I put it on jackstands and tried to get the wheel to move in any abnormal direction without success






Mods could you please spell "steering" right in the title of this thread? This forums search feature is a very helpful resource. I would hate for my inablity to spell to keep someone from finding useful information. Thank you.

 

Jack truck up and put one hand on top of tire and one on the bottom and push and pull for play in ball joints, but that won't cause your problem. TRE will and loose steering box and crack in frame at steering box, severe out of alignment. You have something wore out.

 

My whole trucks wore out...


Steering box does not move and there is no crack in the frame that I can see. Wouldn't bad TREs be an issue all the time and not every couple days and only at low speeds?

 

Put it on jack stands and look at the leaf spring bushing's, jerk things around, get some one to jerk steering wheel around while you look under it. The TRE can cause wiggle than stop than do it again. Road surface can trigger it.

 

What is "TRE"?

 

Tie Rod Ends I think

 

Oh ok, gotcha.

 

It almost sounds like the infamous PSD "Death Wobble"

 

I am having the identical issue. my TREs are tights as can be, I have all new BJs and front hubs. I actually have not posted this problem here cause I have no clue how to describe it but a midget under the hood turning the wheel in random order is a good one.

Or another way, at least for my issue is it feels like a lobe in the steering, its hard to hold the wheel straight when this intermittent problem is acting up, you go either left or right. it happens worse on lower speeds but is still there on the highway.

I took it to a shop and they tightened up the steering box a bit and it solved the problem about 90%. you can still feel the issue but no where as bad. All of a sudden, about 2 weeks after it was tightened, the problem came right back. I tightned the box a tad and the issue is less prevalent.

So Im thinking its the steering box that needs to get replaced. the thing im not sure about is, on powerstroke shop you cant buy the whole box, it seems like you have to buy the parts like the gears inside and whatnot.

I hope this is the same issue as the OP and that I may have clarified things a bit more. I am desperatly looking for a solution because its very nerve racking driving a 7600# truck and a 7# pound trailer with this issue.

 

Yeah its Tie Rod End

Not death wobble. I have never had death wobble on a flat road going 5 mph. I have been into Jeeps all my life so I consider myself a "expert" on death wobble


Man are you driving my truck when Im not home ...that is exactly what mine is doing.

Did they happen to check your u-joints when they had it in the shop? I have noticed this has happened alot after making a turn so Im thinking it is a stuck/bad ujoint. My father had Grand Cherokee that would buck like it was in 4wd when you would turn in a parking lot or pull in the driveway. I suggested he check the ujoints and he gave me the "dumb *** kids" look. Sure as **** that was the problem...


I hope thats whats wrong with ours because its just a little time and about $100 for both sides. I will update tonight or in the morning what I find out

 

I also have the low speed shakes. Mine turned out to be play in the end link attached to the pitman arm. I then also discovered one hub was not unlocking which caused a bad shimmy in the whell on low speed turns. A quick tap with a hammer on the hub released the hub. Now i have to get in there and clean the old grease out of them. I too look like a nascar racer always fighting to keep the truck straight. Minimal play in the steering box but i constantly have to correct left and right. Very simple steering system, so hard to correct to perfection.

 

Sweet, my truck has an identical twin! haha

Yeah for sure let me know what your issue comes out to be. I know when I recently had the hubs/bearings replaced the mechanic said the u joints checked out fine since he had the whole axle shafts out. I would prefer this to be the problem for the same reason you described, 100 bux and some time in the driveway. Also, when I had the beraings replaced i had put in the warn maunual lockinghubs so i do not beleive it to be that issue either.

Good luck and i really really look fowrard to what you find.

 

Headed to NAPA now so cross yer fingers