Man I hope someone can shed some light on this one....

I took my truck into the tire shop to have 35's thrown on and get my allignment done. When I got it back it wasn't the same truck. The steering seems to be delayed which in turn causes me to oversteer and the truck is borderline "out of control" at 100km/hr. There seems to be some pretty good play in the wheel which I would guess may be the issue. I have been told that Ford put out a bulletin about something to do with a "dead-spot" on the steering block or something to that effect.

Has anyone had an issue like this? Could this be the case and does Ford have a problem in this area for these trucks?

Some more background goes as follows. I installed a Billstein 2-1/4 levelling kit, an Icon adjustable pan-rod and had that all on with my stock tires. There were no issues at that time. The issues arose after I took the truck into the tire shop and they put on the 35's, installed the Icon Camber Cams and did the allignment.

Do you think they messed around with that steering block and screwed something up? They swear the allignment is perfect.

 

Do you have steering stabilizers installed? What condition is the single OEM one in? 35's are a little too much for just the OEM stabilizer, purchase AM ones if you dont already have them, try that, and go from there. IMO. Good luck.

 

I forgot to mention that I do have the Icon dual stabilizer setup... I had put them on with the levelling kit.

 

If they didn't install the adjustable caster cams your alignment isn't correct yet.
I had them installed on mine and it corrected most of the problems you mentioned.
I also installed radius arms that correct the caster even further and all problems are gone.
I wish sellers of the "leveling kits" would mention this in their ads so you could make a choice before you buy it.
I have the Rancho 2 1/2" complete kit now.

 

I moved you up to Super Duty for a better response.

 

What size and type are the tires? What load range and weight rating? I've heard of these type of issues with under-rated tires on these trucks. However, it does sound more alignment related. I'd rule out the easy thing first though, the tires. Any chance you could put the old tires back on, or find someone local who may have an extra set you could borrow? This would allow you to rule out the tires, which would mean you have an alignment problem without a doubt.

 

I was running 35" Toyo Open Country MT's on factory 20" rims. I took it to the Tire shop who did the allignment and they say it is a screwed up steering box (odd because it worked fine before they put their meathooks into it). So that being said it goes into Ford on Friday for them to fix. I'll let everyone know what they find out. Icon Performance had actually mentioned something to me about a steering box issue with these trucks so cudos to them!

 

Let us know what you find at the dealership. I doubt its the steering box if you didn't have issues with your old tires.

 

Steering box is common on 05s.

Unless the cams got put in on opposite sides.....

I'm dealing with a guy in Houston going through almost the exact same thing.......with the same 35" Toyo on stock 20s combo.

 

did you get the alinment print out? shounds like the caster not right. did you take it to a reliable shop. if you can copy the spec sheet they gave you i would like to see it.

 

if the play was in the box they should have adjusted it for you.most new boxes have to be right out the box it comes in.

 

Let me know how you make out with yours... I got a call from Ford on Saturday but was camping so I missed it. I will know for sure what they think tomorrow am.

 

Nope... they didn't give me any printout at all. It was an OK Tire Sore.

 

I'm changing my steering gearbox for the same issues. With the truck off, I could shake the steering wheel and hear the large amount of slack in the gearbox. I have adjusted it several times and it has gotten somewhat better but it doesn't matter, the top 90*-110* of steering wheel rotation are the area in the gearbox that gets the most wear. You have to adjust the gear to the least worn spot in the gearbox which happens to be extreme right or left. You adjust it and still have slack in the center of travel due to the larger wear area. If you adjust the bearing in the center of wheel travel, the steering sticks in turns. You are just better off getting a new gearbox. I paid $202 for a new re-man from advanced auto parts.

 

Well folks I got the truck back today and it now handles like a dream. I will know how it "truly" rides tomorrow as I'm heading to the bush with campin' trailer and quads on the deck.

Ford charged me $430.00 "Canuck" money to do a complete allignment and yank out the Icon Cams (that someone on this forum had recommended I use) and put their own stuff in there. DON"T USE THE ICON CAMS ON THIS KIT (Billstein 2-1/4" Levelling Kit & shocks)!!!! There was no "steering box" issue... it was all that hack tire shops allignment service that botched it... and the damn cams.

A word of advice I would give anyone wanting to install a Levelling Kit and tires... Find a Ford dealer that sells new trucks already lifted. It means that they have a quality mechanic that knows his front end work and is used to the little quirks that screw up the allignment or steering and what not. Not to mention they are certified Ford technicians. Next time around I would install the levelling kit, dual stabs and adjustble pan-rod etc... myself, just as I did. Then I would find the tires I want and make sure they are compatible with my rims etc... then take the tires to Ford and and have them put them on and do the balance and allignment.