truck pulls
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Senior User
Joined: Feb 2003
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From: Metuchen
truck pulls
Any one having problems with truck pulling? i had the alignment done 2 times with no difference. weather road leans to the right or left that's the way the truck pulls and need to hold wheel half turn to keep it going straight. If i take my hand off the wheel the truck will drive off the road in 50 ft or so. Any help would be appreciated! truck is a job 3 F350 CC with 26000 miles.
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Joined: Aug 2008
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From: Frederick, MD
no problem here. suggest a truck alignment shop. You need a four wheel alignment. Check out your local 4x4 shop they may be able to suggest someone that does there work when people put on oversized tires and lift their trucks that may help.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Aug 2008
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Dual stabalizers will reduce or eliminate vibration and shimmy but can not do anything regarding directional steering.
Is there slop in the steering linkeage (bad tie rod end or idler arm)? You should't be able to turn the steering wheel more than 1/2 of an inch in either direction without seeing some motion in both front tires, and both tire should turn together an equal amount. Most good front end shops look for this as part of alignoment, particulaly if you say you have a problem.
Is a front brake dragging just a bit or the rotor on the offending side just a bit more out of round/true? If pulling right look at the right side brake, if pulling left look at left - pick up that side and see if the tire spins freely; go into the cab and step on the brake a few times and retry to see if tire still spins as freely or does so immdiately after an initial hesitation. If you are not sure about the drag, lift both sids and see if both spin just as freely. I focus on front, but maybe the back could also cause this.
If the steering tire have different sizes, tread agressiveness, tread depth or tire pressures, it could cause some tendency to pull, but yours sounds much worse than this.
Is there slop in the steering linkeage (bad tie rod end or idler arm)? You should't be able to turn the steering wheel more than 1/2 of an inch in either direction without seeing some motion in both front tires, and both tire should turn together an equal amount. Most good front end shops look for this as part of alignoment, particulaly if you say you have a problem.
Is a front brake dragging just a bit or the rotor on the offending side just a bit more out of round/true? If pulling right look at the right side brake, if pulling left look at left - pick up that side and see if the tire spins freely; go into the cab and step on the brake a few times and retry to see if tire still spins as freely or does so immdiately after an initial hesitation. If you are not sure about the drag, lift both sids and see if both spin just as freely. I focus on front, but maybe the back could also cause this.
If the steering tire have different sizes, tread agressiveness, tread depth or tire pressures, it could cause some tendency to pull, but yours sounds much worse than this.
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Senior User
Joined: Feb 2003
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From: Metuchen
I don't think anythings wrong with the linkage, the tiles are stock with about half tread left on them. The problem is the truck will pull in both direction depending witch way the road leans. I need to hold the wheel half way off center to keep the truck going strait and if i take my hand off the wheel or hold the wheel on center the truck will drive off the road very fast. Driving me nuts! Thank for any info!
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Mine does the same thing. Pulls to the right for me. I had the alignment checked twice. Dealer says that it is normal.
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I took my truck to a shop that specilizes in alignment only. They changed out some offset bushing on the upper control arms I think. They might be called ecentrics? I tried Ford and they failed to do anything to fix the problem. The shop I went to also tightened up the steering box adjustment .
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Joined: Mar 2006
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From: Southeast Texas
Any one having problems with truck pulling? i had the alignment done 2 times with no difference. weather road leans to the right or left that's the way the truck pulls and need to hold wheel half turn to keep it going straight. If i take my hand off the wheel the truck will drive off the road in 50 ft or so. Any help would be appreciated! truck is a job 3 F350 CC with 26000 miles.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 3,788
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From: Georgia
I haven't had mine long enough to get a good feel for it, and the loose steering condition doesn't get talked about much here but it is a big item in the older (7.3L) diesels. Someone above mentioned the steering box and that seemed tobe the culprit in the older trucks. I haven't looked yet but if there is a sloted adjustment on top of your steering box then these are adjustable too. Problem is nobody knows how to do it right. The procedure in the older trucks required an inch pound torque wrench and removing the steering wheel and pitman arm. I did mine a couple times, then I bought a new one from Ford and had Ford do it a couple times but it never did get right. I had bought a steering box from Redhead, a company out west, Oregon I think. They completly rework the steering boxes and the results are supposed to be good. When I bought this new truck I returned my Redhead. Anyway, loose steering was a very common problem in those trucks. I don't know if it was in the 6L or not.
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Senior User
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From: Metuchen
Dont think it should pull
I have a 96, 99, 02 all F350 a 89 and 01 F250 and a 04 5500 gmc dump and they don't pull. I think something has to be wrong with the front end but the shop says its fine. If i don't figure it out i will get a new truck.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Georgia
Well, maybe I have pulling and loose confused. The symptoms with the bad steering box is a loose condition, which on a straight and level road requires a lot of correcting to hold a line. When the road slants then it requires correction away from the slant to hold a line. If the alignment shop can't find anything loose between the wheels and the pitman arm then there isn't much left except the steering box and a u joint between the steering wheel and the steering box. I assume that they didn't find anything loose or they would have mentioned it. I just went out and looked at my 08 but I can't see the steering box. Just too much stuff in too small a space. But, I would bet that unless your front end shop is clueless the steering box is the source of your problem. Hope this helps you.