'99 F250 SD 4x4 steering problem

hunt1moore · 09-28-2009, 01:06 PM

I guess it's about time for this wonderful truck to start showing it's age.
I had new bushings installed in the front end and it resulted in the steering to be just a little sticky making it very frustrating to drive due to constant correcting with the steering wheel. I took it back to the machanic and let him drive it and he agreed. Unfortunately he and I did not agree on how to fix it. His idea was to loosen up the steering box which only gave me more play in the steering. Has my mechanic done something wrong in the bushing replacement? Can I ever get the "new" steering feel back?

phantom_smack · 09-28-2009, 01:10 PM

sounds like you have a sticking ball joint,not sure what bushings you had changed and whether the mechanic had to seperated them to replace the bushings or not.

BroncoJoe19 · 09-28-2009, 02:28 PM

I agree with the ball joint suggestion.

I have a long story about bronco's and tight ball joints, but the short one is this:
As they age, they may get loose, OR they may get tight. IF they get tight, as was shown to me with mine, the body will start to move before the tires will start to turn. Once the tires break free and start to trun, they'll go too far, and the driver has to compensate by turning back in the other direction.... thus wandering all over the road.

My front end mechanic jacked up the front end and grabbed the wheel, and turned the tire in and out. From experience he could tell that it was too tight.

I replaced all four ball joints, and the difference was incredible.

hunt1moore · 09-29-2009, 09:40 AM

Thanks to both! I'll have someone else look at the ball joints.