Hey guys,
This is a bit long but I want to give the whole history of what I've done to this truck.
I have a 2003 f350 crew cab 4x4 with the 7.3. The truck has had a wandering steering issue since I bought it about a year and half ago. The first thing I did was to replace the mud terrain tires that were on it with some good year silent armor. That didn't seem to do anything so I took it to a front end shop and they replaced a couple of the tie rod's and the steering box. That took most of the slop out of the steering but I still felt it wandered. It was even worse when towing the travel trailer to the point where I don't feel all that comfortable. About a year later and less than 12, 000 miles and I was driving from edmonton to vancouver to go home for christmas. The truck was wandering so bad that I was scared to drive over 55mph. I took it back to the same shop just after Christmas because I had to do make the return trip to edmonton. When they inspected it they found that one of the tie rod sleeves had stripped out. They replaced one of the tie rod's under warranty because it was one they replaced a year and a half ago and replaced the sleeve and the other tie rod. I also had them put on new bilstein shocks all around and sway bar bushings. I asked them to check the track bar bushings and they said it was good. They also said the steering box and ball joints were still good. Only a few months after that (and less than a month ago) I was at a store and I had been parked for a few hours. When I went to pull out and turn the corner I heard a loud snap and suddenly lost full control of my steering. I had a look underneath and seen that the tie rod connecting to the pitman arm had snapped in half. I was extremely pissed off because I thought they had all been replaced at that point, but after checking my receipts I guess that was the last one they never did. Anyways I got the truck towed to Kaltire and the new tie rod put on. The truck still wandered so I recently put a dual steering stabilizer on as the truck never had any steering stabilizer. Again it seemed to help a bit and yet the truck still wanders. It seems pretty good on smooth roads but some of the roads around here are pretty rough.
I will try to explain what I mean by it wanders. Firstly there is still a bit of play in the steering wheel, maybe an inch back and forth. I wander if this could be play somewhere between the steering wheel and the box? So driving down the road the truck will start to go to the right slightly, then I will have to turn the wheel to the left to compensate(sometimes turning the wheel close to 45 degrees). The truck will now start going to the left and I will have to turn right, and so on. This is getting pretty frustrating and costly. I had my wife turn the wheel back and forth slightly while I looked under neath and everything seems tight. One thing I noticed is that when she was turning lock to lock I could notice the front end moving sideways a bit. I was reading that this could be a sign of worn out track bar busing. The bar feels tight if I grab on to it and try to move it but could it still be worn out? Any other suggestions?
This is a bit long but I want to give the whole history of what I've done to this truck.
I have a 2003 f350 crew cab 4x4 with the 7.3. The truck has had a wandering steering issue since I bought it about a year and half ago. The first thing I did was to replace the mud terrain tires that were on it with some good year silent armor. That didn't seem to do anything so I took it to a front end shop and they replaced a couple of the tie rod's and the steering box. That took most of the slop out of the steering but I still felt it wandered. It was even worse when towing the travel trailer to the point where I don't feel all that comfortable. About a year later and less than 12, 000 miles and I was driving from edmonton to vancouver to go home for christmas. The truck was wandering so bad that I was scared to drive over 55mph. I took it back to the same shop just after Christmas because I had to do make the return trip to edmonton. When they inspected it they found that one of the tie rod sleeves had stripped out. They replaced one of the tie rod's under warranty because it was one they replaced a year and a half ago and replaced the sleeve and the other tie rod. I also had them put on new bilstein shocks all around and sway bar bushings. I asked them to check the track bar bushings and they said it was good. They also said the steering box and ball joints were still good. Only a few months after that (and less than a month ago) I was at a store and I had been parked for a few hours. When I went to pull out and turn the corner I heard a loud snap and suddenly lost full control of my steering. I had a look underneath and seen that the tie rod connecting to the pitman arm had snapped in half. I was extremely pissed off because I thought they had all been replaced at that point, but after checking my receipts I guess that was the last one they never did. Anyways I got the truck towed to Kaltire and the new tie rod put on. The truck still wandered so I recently put a dual steering stabilizer on as the truck never had any steering stabilizer. Again it seemed to help a bit and yet the truck still wanders. It seems pretty good on smooth roads but some of the roads around here are pretty rough.
I will try to explain what I mean by it wanders. Firstly there is still a bit of play in the steering wheel, maybe an inch back and forth. I wander if this could be play somewhere between the steering wheel and the box? So driving down the road the truck will start to go to the right slightly, then I will have to turn the wheel to the left to compensate(sometimes turning the wheel close to 45 degrees). The truck will now start going to the left and I will have to turn right, and so on. This is getting pretty frustrating and costly. I had my wife turn the wheel back and forth slightly while I looked under neath and everything seems tight. One thing I noticed is that when she was turning lock to lock I could notice the front end moving sideways a bit. I was reading that this could be a sign of worn out track bar busing. The bar feels tight if I grab on to it and try to move it but could it still be worn out? Any other suggestions?
