97 F350 steering woes

[Todd Muccilli]

I have a 97 F-350 Powerstroke with the HD front suspension option. My
problem is that the truck pulls towards the right on straight roads.
I would say that 85-90% of my driving is with the wheel held slightly
to the left to keep it straight. It seems that when the truck DOES go
straight, that the steering wheel sits slightly to the left, as well.

On my first visit back to the dealer, they felt that, "it's a big
truck with big heavy duty steering components and likes to follow the
crown of the road." I did not, and still do not buy that reasoning.
My '78 with 4" suspension lift and hand-adjusted tie rod ends and ball
joints tracked straighter than the new one.

The dealer sent the truck out to have it aligned and the mechanics at
the alignment shop checked it and said it was, "a little off." The
pull was still there so they claimed it was a result of tire pull.
The problem persists after swapping the front tires and then swapping
the fronts to the rears.

The truck has only 2500 miles on it, so tire wear is hard to judge.
The front tires, before they were moved, seemed to be wearing on their
outside (not inside, ruling out overinflation) edges.

I hear that pulling is a common problem with the big Ford pickups.
Anyone have similar problems or can anyone suggest what to look at
next? E-mail replies are preferred.

Thanks,
Todd
mucc...@rci.rutgers.edu

[Eric]

In article <5j2stk$e...@amenti.rutgers.edu>,

mucc...@rci.rutgers.edu (Todd Muccilli) wrote:
>I have a 97 F-350 Powerstroke with the HD front suspension option. My
>problem is that the truck pulls towards the right on straight roads.
>I would say that 85-90% of my driving is with the wheel held slightly
>to the left to keep it straight. It seems that when the truck DOES go
>straight, that the steering wheel sits slightly to the left, as well.
>

.......
>Thanks,
>Todd
>mucc...@rci.rutgers.edu
>
>
My `92 F-350,460,manual,std.cab,srw,33x12.5-16.5`s,etc..same basic chassis as
yours...has no such probs.50k miles most with trailer and none of them slow.

Thanks,

Eric
Please remove "nospam" to reply
er...@urjb.com
http://www.urjb.com

"Don`t try this at home, I`m a professional"

unknown

[Robert]

In <5j2stk$e...@amenti.rutgers.edu>, mucc...@rci.rutgers.edu (Todd Muccilli) writes:
>I have a 97 F-350 Powerstroke with the HD front suspension option. My
>problem is that the truck pulls towards the right on straight roads.
>I would say that 85-90% of my driving is with the wheel held slightly
>to the left to keep it straight. It seems that when the truck DOES go
>straight, that the steering wheel sits slightly to the left, as well.
>
>

>On my first visit back to the dealer, they felt that, "it's a big
>truck with big heavy duty steering components and likes to follow the
>crown of the road." I did not, and still do not buy that reasoning.
>My '78 with 4" suspension lift and hand-adjusted tie rod ends and ball
>joints tracked straighter than the new one.
>
>The dealer sent the truck out to have it aligned and the mechanics at
>the alignment shop checked it and said it was, "a little off." The
>pull was still there so they claimed it was a result of tire pull.
>The problem persists after swapping the front tires and then swapping
>the fronts to the rears.
>
>The truck has only 2500 miles on it, so tire wear is hard to judge.
>The front tires, before they were moved, seemed to be wearing on their
>outside (not inside, ruling out overinflation) edges.
>
>I hear that pulling is a common problem with the big Ford pickups.
>Anyone have similar problems or can anyone suggest what to look at
>next? E-mail replies are preferred.
>
>Thanks,
>Todd
>mucc...@rci.rutgers.edu
>

My 86 F350 4x4 Crew Cab drove straight as an arrow, when I
swapped the tires (rims and all) to my 94 F250 4x4 XCab, the
F250 pulls right also. I'd say the steering wheel is about 30
degrees off to go straight. Mine started out with the steering
wheel about 45 degrees off - but it wasn't pulling to the side.
After Lief Johnson Ford worked on it - it was only 30 degrees
off to go straight, but it pulls right. I'm taking it back in next
week...

Robert Det...@vnet.ibm.com

[JBuff61173]

I bought a F250HD with the Power Stroke. No steering problems, but that
engine!
Went dead on me a week after buying it. Dealership I got it from said due
to the diesel engine they don't have the tooling or expertise to work it.
So they towed it to Fords local "big" truck plant in Norfolk. They found
camshaft sensor had crapped out. Later, I started getting severe engine
surges from 2 to 3 grand. Took it back to shop and they found MAP sensor
bad. They replaced it & truck has been running strong ever since. Only
steering thing is when I turn it lock-lock, a popping sound comes from the
area of the tie-rod ends. I guess I better look into it
before it gets serious. Your front end is a solid axle, sometimes problems
like yours is due to the leaf packs having shifted. You ought to take it
to a 4 by specialty shop & have specialists check it out. Don't trust your
Ford dealers, if they are anything like the local ones here they are
knuckle heads.