[TexasTruck]

I've been going at it with my dealer and service folks about my new truck and steering wheel wobble. Since brand new (10 miles) it has been in and out of the shop for the subject. There is a TSB on this already which the dealer has performed, but to no avail. They claim it's the 20" wheels and reduced sidewall to absorb the hits - I say BS. I had 35s on 17" wheels on my 2004 and never had the wheel shake like this! It's like the old "arm-strong" manual steering I grew up with when you hit a bump or pot-hole, the steering wheel would try and turn out of your hand.

F O R D! What the <bleep> are you doing! Are they all like this or only models with the 20" wheels? I don't know what to believe! I see other trucks with lifts and large wheels, do they experiance this and I just don't know about it?

It is VERY unsafe! I did some searching, called the NTSB, and the Texas DOT. I was emailed the following:

Make : FORD Model : F-250 SUPERDUTY Year : 2005 Manufacturer : FORD MOTOR COMPANY Crash : No Fire : No Number of Injuries: 0 ODI ID Number : 10114952 Number of Deaths: 0 Date of Failure: March 10, 2005 VIN : 1FTNF21545E... Component: SUSPENSION Summary:
F250, SUPER DUTY, 3/4-T, 4X4, 4WD, SHORT BOX. ALL SPEEDS IT IS NOTICEABLE. AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS (75+ MPH), ENCOUNTERING BUMPS, SEVERE SHIMMY IN FRONT END, NEARLY CAUSING LOSS OF CONTROL OF VEHICLE. FLEET OF 7 TRUCKS ALL EXPERIENCE SAME, SOME WORSE THAN OTHERS. DEALER HAS DONE ALL POSSIBLE TO REMEDY, INCLUDING AFTERMARKET HEAVIER DUTY FRONT STEERING STABILIZER (AT OUR EXPENSE). INCIDENT DATE IS LAST DATE IT OCCURRED TO MY CRUISER TRUCK. IT HAPPENS EVERY TIME A BUMP IN THE HIGHWAY IS ENCOUNTERED WITH EVERY TRUCK OUR DEPARTMENT BOUGHT FOR USE AS LAW ENFORCEMENT VEHICLES. THE MAGNITUDE OF THE WOBBLE IS DEPENDANT ON THE SPECIFIC TRUCK AND THE SPEED TRAVELED. REALIZE THAT AS LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE VEHICLES, OFTEN THIS INVOLVES VERY HIGH SPEED. THE HIGHER THE SPEED, THE WORSE THE PROBLEM.

Scott

 

[agdodge4x4]

Has anyone tried replacing the steering stabilizer? Thats what is responsible for keeping the wheen under control.

 

[nightmoves]

10k miles and steering is fine,a lttle wandering but I credit this to the wide contact area of the tire following the grooves or ruts in the highway.I would like to add that for the first 1k miles it felt like it had manual steering at low speed's,maybe tight ball joint's.

 

[TexasTruck]

Yes, according to the TSB, one of the "fixes" is to replace the stablizer.

I just hung up with F??d customer care. They basically said that F??d is aware of the concern and there is no fix at this time.

My service folks said they have 6 Harley's on the lot with the same concern.

Scott

 

[TexasTruck]

So you're steering wheel doesn't wobble from side to side when you hit bumps, go over railroad tracks, etc? What size wheel and tire do yo have?

Scott

 

[ronk54]

In my truck below, I do not have any wobble and I have 35 inch MT tires.

 

[07HEMI4ME]

I have the 20" wheel and tires on my truck and have NO problems at all.

 

[dirkus]

I have a new '06 350 4x4 short bed with the 20" wheels and have no wobble.

 

[DaveV10]

My 06' F250 with 17" wheels has the "bump steer" shake in the steering wheel also when you hit a crack or bump the right way. I only think about it when it happens, not real worried about it. From what I read on the "net" it is pretty common on the 05 & 06's. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif

 

[Kikoprice]

I have a 06 with a DR 2.5 lift and 35 Toyo Mt's on stock 18" rims, no wobble.

 

[fullservice]

TexasTruck,
Simple cure Take 10 minutes and REMOVE THE STEERING STABILIZER, go for a drive, YOU'LL BE AMAZED. Easy to do. Remove one nut on back side of bracket attached to the frame. Remove nut on from stud where it goes thru drag link. Take ballpeen hammer and knock stud up out of draglink, lift out stabilizer. If it doesn't make any difference it is just as eazy to reinstall. Remember 99% of vehicles ever built never had steering stabilizers, and when they did they went from front axle to the tie-rod. Where Ford put this stabilizer (frame to Drag Link) is a big time engineering screw up. Instead of a stabilizer it is a built in steering de-stabilizer of a high magnitude made worse if you have the Rancho Shocks. I mean, cars, pickups, trucks and truck tractors very few have stabilizers. I have never seen a truck tractor with a factory steering stabilizer and they have big heavy wheels and tires. If everything is right they only do any good in rare circumstances such as blow outs.
Check my replys to Donkey_Punch yesterday. A big long explanation and reasons for the problem. I had same horrible problems on stock truck. Bought it in Madisonville,Tx. Started home to Houston area, and nearly scared to death before I got home. Got into construction area on south side of Conroe and didn't know if I was going to hit concrete barricade on right side or vehicles on my left side.

 

[GrampyJim]

I haven't had any trouble fixing these.... adjust steering gear mesh preload, usually find that the steering stabilizer has become soft or unpredictable, inflate the front tires to recommended pressure and reduce the caster.

IIRC, all of this is outlined in the TSB but a lot of the fix depends on how much importance the tech puts on the TSBs recommendations. If something is worth doing, we should at least endeavour to do it right...

 

[scottbob99]

I took my truck for a ride last night, I hit some recessed manholes and other bumps and the truck is fine. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Grumpy_Jim]

My 05 had really tight steering (it would make your arm sore driving 40 miles)
They replaced my steering box b/c they said the original from the factory was too tight.

 

[TexasTruck]

Thanks Grampy,

I dropped it off this morning. They're going to take some measurements and get them to Ford. I'm not sure what they expect to get back, I guess it's part of the process.

To top it out, I have the BH drip too. I hope it's not the bedplate again and something more simple.

Scott

 

[TexasTruck]

Well, the dealer replaced the steering box on Friday. Tech is doing all he can it seems. After all the alignment and adjustments, he went for a spin. Afterwards he and the server manager came to me and said it still isn't right. It won't return to center, it's still tight, and still wobbles.

Funny, I thought I was dropping it off on Friday for the service folks to take measurements and send off to F??d . . .

Scott

 

[SummerObsession]

My new Harley just came in (haven't had time to go get it yet), and I'm starting to wonder if it will have problems!
I'm installing a 7" lift with 37x13.50x20 toyo's , so it probably will be a whole different animal. I sure hope you get your truck figured out!
I got the dark shadow gray also.

 

[TexasTruck]

Congrats on the new truck! I have the same lift plans too

They adjusted the caster which fixed the tracking and return to center concern.

The wobble is still present over bumps. The faster you go the worse it gets.

Anyway, it has been my experiance since 3/31 and the up-teen trucks I've tested and compared (at least here in Texas), that the trucks with 20" wheels have the wobble. I have heard that the steering stablizer isn't helping matters and plan to remove it and see when I get my truck back.

Enjoy your new ride!
Scott

 

[PwrStrkd73]

Has the preload worm gear bearing adjustment on your powersteering box been tightened? If not you can do it yourself. Simply loosen the big nut on top of the box (?16MM) while holding the little allen screw in place with a (? 3/16ths) allen wrench. Once the lock nut is loosened, tighten the allen screw it till it seats and then back it out a bit. Take it for a spin and see how it does.

My 2000 was wandering on the road whenever you'd hit any uneven spots and adjusting this helped a lot. I ended up having to replace the PS gear and pitman arm b/c the pitman arm nut loosened up and chewed the splines up, but that's a different problem.

Let us know the truck's status and we can suggest more things.

 

[SummerObsession]

[ QUOTE ]
Congrats on the new truck! I have the same lift plans too

They adjusted the caster which fixed the tracking and return to center concern.

The wobble is still present over bumps. The faster you go the worse it gets.

Anyway, it has been my experiance since 3/31 and the up-teen trucks I've tested and compared (at least here in Texas), that the trucks with 20" wheels have the wobble. I have heard that the steering stablizer isn't helping matters and plan to remove it and see when I get my truck back.

Enjoy your new ride!
Scott

[/ QUOTE ]

I certainly hope you get it worked out. There's nothing worse than buying a new truck that doesn't drive right!
I'm hoping to get some time by perhaps Friday to pick up my new ride. I'll let you know if it has the same issue or not!