Yea I mostly posted it as an example of a track bar, first real clear picture I could find of one on the web.

Yours might be configured differently.

 

66ca, just to clarify this; is your truck 2WD? I'm not real familiar with late 90's Fords (still learning myself) but you might have a Twin I-Beam or a solid axle. Any information you can add would help us out.

Ray

 

If its an I beam then you also have a similar setup with bushings and joints that usually will wear out after time. The biggest thing to have checked if it is an I beam is to check the I beam bushings where they connect to the truck.

 

well, i took it to an alignment shop today and they said that both upper and lower ball joints, on both sides , were bad. Could this be causing the wobble? How hard are these to change out?
It is a 2wd, but im not for sure on the I beam part.

 

Yes that could be causing the wobble, change them or the wheels can eventually fall off

 

how hard of a job is it to get these ball joints out?
Ive got 2 est and both are at $800....i would like to save the labor and do it myself if it isnt a huge job

 

Yea change the ball joints, you'd need upper and lower for each side even is one is still "good".

What we're trying to find out is what front axle set up you have, I would think the f-350 two wheel drive would still use a solid front axle. No one else that has one and know for sure has stopped in to say one way or the other yet.

Is it one solid axle housing from one tire to the other? or does it have the individual swing arms, one for each front wheel for independent suspension?

Use the picture I posted in #14,

look at the axle housing itself, see how its solid from wheel to wheel, is yours setup like that? (minus the driven part of course)

Or is it set up like this,

http://www.supermotors.net/getfile/5.../stock-ttb.jpg

Is it leaf spring or coil?

 

mine is the twin I beam, and has coil springs and is a 2wd.
From what i have read, the new ball joints are pressed in, and you can rent that press tool from autozone.

 

Ok it does not have a track bar, doesn't need one.

Where the I beam pivot bushings checked?

Yes ball joints are a press fit, and yes you can rent the tool needed, that is if you where asking, looking for verification?

 

im going to take it to another alignment shop in the next day or two and get them to look at it and make sure thats the problem.

 

ok....just got back from the other alignment shop and they said the ball joints need to be replaced. This guy said they werent real bad, but loose enough to replace. One mechanic drove and it and got it to wobble so he could see what i was talking about. Other then rotating the tires on the drivers side, he tightnend up a bracket on the I beam that goes to the drivers side. Not for sure what this bracket does, but it has 2 bolts and one was really loose. After he tightened that up he drove it around and couldnt get it to wobble. But then i took him and it wobbled....not as bad, and i didnt have to completely stop to get it to quit. And i drove all the way home( about 8 miles) and it didnt do it at all...and it wobbled a number of times on the way to the shop.
So what does this tell me? I know i am going to replace the ball joints....but do i need to do the I beam bushings at the same time, or what? Also, are those bushings hard to change?

 

Yes and no, I changed the driverside in my 79 f 350 today but did radius arm bushings too auto zone gave me the wrong bushings and I had a parts truck 78 f350 I had already changed out. I took it all aopart and swapped radius arms which was the part they got wrong. I then took the I beam placed it on a hilbilly anvil and pounded out the old pivot bushing and pounded in the new one and got it all back in place tight. It is not extremely complicated but is definitely hard heavy work. It can be done easier with a joint press but a poor boy has time and no money lol. I had to take loose brake line,Tie rod,pivot bushing bolt,shock absorber at bottom, radius arm bushing and tire and wheel. Then put it all back warning heavy lifting lol. I think if your just doing pivot it would pay in time to get a joint press and press them out and back in with everything else hooked up. In other words on the truck. Make sure truck is scotched and have some good jack stands solid on the frame it can be dangerous.

 

did you get your tires rebalanced like i already told you to do if not have that done first with a coil spring front end and a tire out of balance it WILL cause a wobble i have been dealing with these trucks a long time

 

All f350 2WD from 73-current use a Twin Traction Beam

 

First things first. I have 2 of these trucks. One lifted, one stock. The lifted is gas, the other one id diesel. They both are solid axles. Yours if its really a F350 should be solid. I have friends with 2wd and theirs were solid while other F250's had that other setup. same set up as the broncos that year. That bracket that was loose most likely have caused premature wear/tare on your ball joints which could cause other things to wear out. Are your truck tires still in good shape? Even wear on the tires all around?

I have replaced the ball joints ($40 for 1 top and 1 bottom) on my truck because I noticed bad wear on my tires, like toe out. I fixed that and then replaced the leaf spring bushings ($100 for the front axle). Then the tranny went, but that job is for another thread. I was hit at a red-light and now that truck i spent months to fix is totaled.Before the crash, everything was perfect, no problems. As I drove away from being hit, that truck had a death wobble from 35mph-40mph then the trans and engine shakes bad higher then that even with a track bar with oem bushings was on it. It also can be caused by bad springs and you might need a steering stabilizer. That helps a lot. A lot of the coil over jeeps have that problem to and thats basically how they fix those. Also go from the cheapest fix to the more expensive one.

When replacing ball joints, do not heat up the cast iron with a blowtorch, they will get micro cracks and then fall apart. That happened to many people I know, and they work at an automotive shop.... Go invest in about 4 cans of PB if it were completely rusted like mine were. Spray the ball joints once an hour and then try using the press. And I had to buy a 20ton press from Harbor Freight to push the ball joints out.

Price list
Ball joints = $40 a set and need 2 = $80
Leaf Spring bushings = $120
track bar bushing = $20
Steering for front end = ~$150

Goodluck.