2006 f250 pulls and wanders

[deerhunter]

my father in law has a 2006 f250 super duty 4x4. when you tunr the corner sharp its a bear to turn the wheel back agian. it does it once in a while mainly when turning left but does it once in a while turning right. also while driving down the road it woanders off were you can turn the wheel either way 2 or 3 inches before it starts correcting. im assuming its steering box issue for the sloppy steering when goin strait which i plan on adjust the box. but dont understand the heavy steering at times when turning the wheel back straight from turning. truck has 75k on it. no slope in the tie rods or ball joints. just put new brakes on it as well and its not the brakes hanging up. new tires. powersteering is working and full of fluid.

any other thoughts before the dealer has there way with them?

 

[rp7x]

gettin stiff

may be the frt axcel u joints are toast

 

[skeeter2010]

may be the frt axcel u joints are toast

X2

 

[joks79]

When did the problem start? Did the truck have an alignment done with the new tires?

 

[deerhunter]

yes front alignment was done and was good. just started about 50 driving miles ago. the 4 wheel drive rarely gets used except in winter months when needed. hes just going to take it to dealer. he said guys at work said not to take to just any shop because all they will do is guess till its fixed. taking it to reputable dealer to have fixed ands they know more back ground on them.

 

[indy_500]

may be the frt axcel u joints are toast

x3 or maybe pitman/idler? Have any buddies who can do work for cheap? Front end work is NOT cheap and is not really that hard at all. I replaced everything on my front end with the exception of tie rods to make sure I didn't have any more issues. Upper/Lower Ball joints, sway bar, wheel bearings, pitman idler, all for under $400 and those were quality Moog parts off ebay.

 

[dmsrx]

Ball joints are probably shot. Disconnect the tierod ends from the spindle and see if you can move the spindles. Changed a quite a few of these.

 

[r/l groomer]

I have a F350 now for many years, your problem is one of two things. First, if you had front end work done the main issue is they tighten the upper and or lower ball joints beyond specifications, Two is lack of grease, had this problem my self, the truck would wander if there was grooves in the road from high traffic, I didn't know what the problem was until I found a good dealer with good mech. By that time it took out the short steering arm bushings out.
Best of luck.
Howie

 

[Team Elkhorn]

I don't have an answer, but we have few F 250 4x4s built in or around '06 at work that have had "twitchy" steering since they were new and have gotten worse as they've gotten older. The dealer was of no help. And our mechanics can't figure it out either. They pretty much told us "it is what it is", and gave up. I will say they are downright scary to drive in a narrow lane construction zone with uneven pavement, and they are on the list for early truck retirement.

 

[indy_500]

This probably won't help you since from what it sounds like nothing was replaced but the lower ball joints on my truck are press fit and when I pressed it in, it crushed the joint (bad tolerances) and locked it up. I figured hmm maybe if I try driving it it will loosen up? Nope, When I turned, I had to force the wheel to go back "straight".

 

[deerhunter]

team elkhorn. your right on with the discription. its a nice truck but i havent been very impressed with it since he bought it brand new. ac problems, had to replace all 4 caliprs and brakes twice and its ready for it agian, injector issues, electronic 4 wheel drive issues. all with only 75k on it. i guess you get it with any heavy duty truck tho

 

[lenny]

Ball joints are probably shot. Disconnect the tierod ends from the spindle and see if you can move the spindles. Changed a quite a few of these.

that's my guess, lift er up and turn the wheels, you'll probably hear it or feel it. Crawl under there and have someone turn the wheels, be safe!

 

[rp7x]

still tight

lift one wheel up then turn steering all the way lock the hub if you can't spin the wheel easly by hand the u joints are rusted solid from non use

 

[eao]

We had a F250 4x4 e cab at work (GPS survey team) that wandered all over the road. First they said we had to much load in it (true), then they said it had bad tires, then it was our imagination etc. Since it was a work truck boss would always say, we can't afford to tie up the truck right now, live with it. Finally after months of this all of sudden one day you could not turn the wheel at all, towed to Ford dealer and new steering box installed (worn out the dealer said and blamed it on too much hard off-road use). Never had the problem again. Btw - Truck had approximately 50,000 miles as I recall and on its 4th set of tires.

 

[jmvette427]

drive it in 4x4 , if it seems better the axle u joints are binding, if not could be sticky lower ball joints , if zerk fittings lube them , most of oem joints are" lubed for life" LOL you can check axle ujoints by locking hubs and spin wheels off the ground and see if the steering trys to center itself as wheel turns , look for rust on u joint trunnions creeping out

 

[deerhunter]

well it was u joints and steering box and tie rod end that hooks up to the box. also need to find a new place to do oil changes. they do lube oil and filter except the lube part. u joints never saw a grease gun and they have zereks on them. partially our fault but we were paying for lube oil filter we thought

 

[indy_500]

^hence why i dont take my stuff anywhere. Can't trust anyone these days! Whats funny is it cost me more to change my own oil but the best part is i can do it around my own schedule.

 

[xcr440]

^hence why i dont take my stuff anywhere. Can't trust anyone these days! Whats funny is it cost me more to change my own oil but the best part is i can do it around my own schedule.

My least favorite three words:

"Take it in"

 

[jmvette427]

eao: i read somewhere that NHTSA is investigating steering gearbox failures , on superduty's. save your receipts if the recall comes out you might get a refund

 

[eao]

I did not own the truck...............but its long gone, Auctioned off.