official steering wander thread
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 440
Likes: 0
From: Montana
The tire pressure did help some. But did not cure the problem. Any other ideas? The alignment shop is trying to find info on caster problems. They were thinking that if the front leaf springs are sagging it would change the caster.
Budman
Budman
Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 5,967
Likes: 7
From: Eccles, WV
Sagging Springs will change all of the settings except for toe. It will remain the same. If your springs are sagging, I suggest using the shims to set the initial with a 0 degree insert, then go from there. An earlier poster gave the exact settings using the shims and then the insert. I used it and it made a world of difference. Especially after dropping the pressure down from 70 to 55 in the front and from 70 to 50 in the rear. Now I do not tow or haul is why the lower setting in the rear. My GY tires are now wearing flat across, no wander, no bump steer. The alignment mech was pissed when I told him what to do. He did not want to spend the time to do it right. When I told him to take it outside, I would go somewhere else, his boss climbed his butt and told him to do it like I wanted.
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 428
Likes: 3
I didn't read through all the pages but has this been looked at?
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ing-wheel.html
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...ing-wheel.html
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 440
Likes: 0
From: Montana
Today I found an alignment guy that seems to really know his stuff. He wants to use caster shims to bring the caster to 4.0 degrees. He said it may steer a little stiffer but should cure the wandering problem. He said that he has cured death wobble on a lot of superdutys with caster shims. At 4.0 degrees if I tow a heavy load and the back squats a little the caster should not go below 3.0 degrees. I hope this works. He is going to work on it june 1st. so I will let you know.
Budman
Budman
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 440
Likes: 0
From: Montana
The alignment guy said that everything is perfect. The caster is at 3.8 degrees. The toe in is set at 0. The camber is right on. Even the rear axle thrust is perfect. All steering components are tight. They didn't change anything. He said some trucks just wander and there is nothing that can be done. He has had a lot of dodge pickups that they could never cure the wandering. He said I could try changing the steering gear box but it probably wont help. He didn't charge me anything to check it out though. I called two different ford dealers to try to find out if there is any updates to the alignment specs and they both said they would call back but never did. So I am still wandering going into the camping season.
Budman
Budman
Hotshot
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 14,069
Likes: 17
From: Melbourne, Ky
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I thought you want a little toe-in. When doing big trucks, I always shoot for about 1/8" to 1/4" toe-in. I know these are a little different, but still I would think you want a little.
Hotshot
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 11,286
Likes: 263
From: North of Greenville
I've read through this thread, and have also now seen several members report that installing a Redhead steering box took care of their wandering issue completely. Apparently, Redhead manufactures their units with much tighter precision specs than does Ford. This is not to say that the other tips and suggestions earlier in this thread may not apply, because they certainly can. The only point is that for these few individuals I've read about, when nothing else resolved their wanderings, the Redhead box did.
Link...Red-Head Steering Gears, Seattle WA
Link...Red-Head Steering Gears, Seattle WA
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 3,974
Likes: 17
From: Millersburg, OH
I did a write-up of Red Head.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...installed.html
Before replacing the box I did the following:
New Moog ball joints and Ford seals
New Bilstein shocks all around
New Monroe steering stabilizer
New Energy Suspension stabilizer and track bar bushing
New Moog tie-rods, drag link and adjustment sleeves
Flushed power steering fluid with Mobile 1 ATF
New Timken wheel hubs
New Precision drive axle u-joints
New Ford ESOF locking hubs
New 285/75/16 Goodyear Silent Armor Pro tires all around
The steering box made a HUGE difference for me and has been worth every penny so far.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...installed.html
Before replacing the box I did the following:
New Moog ball joints and Ford seals
New Bilstein shocks all around
New Monroe steering stabilizer
New Energy Suspension stabilizer and track bar bushing
New Moog tie-rods, drag link and adjustment sleeves
Flushed power steering fluid with Mobile 1 ATF
New Timken wheel hubs
New Precision drive axle u-joints
New Ford ESOF locking hubs
New 285/75/16 Goodyear Silent Armor Pro tires all around
The steering box made a HUGE difference for me and has been worth every penny so far.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 3,974
Likes: 17
From: Millersburg, OH
Besides the tilt steering joint really the only place that I can see any play happening in the steering shaft is right where it goes into the steering box there is a rubber "shock". Mine was still in good shape after 9+ years.
Postmaster
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 2,544
Likes: 4
From: Suffolk, VA
Besides the tilt steering joint really the only place that I can see any play happening in the steering shaft is right where it goes into the steering box there is a rubber "shock". Mine was still in good shape after 9+ years.
Attachment 15672
Attachment 15672
Logistics Pro
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 3,974
Likes: 17
From: Millersburg, OH
Yeah I could seeing that. It's rubber with metal pins so if the rubber gets hard it would tear real easy. I could even see it tear from stress at full lock and hitting a bump or something else like this.
It's real easy to check just slid the cover up and it's right there so good point on spdmpo checking this.
It's real easy to check just slid the cover up and it's right there so good point on spdmpo checking this.