Steering gear box on a 1990 F150?

Sorry, this is a bit long. I wore out an 88 Silverado 1/2 ton, at 250K, and bought a 90 F150 nearly sight unseen from a neighbor. He bought it new, drove it to work 3 miles away, always garaged it, only 75K miles, and I needed a pickup urgently to finish a home move. I have never been so bummed as to the antiquated features, light blue paint falling off and of course gas consumption. Good tires, went down road without pulling sidewise, tires balanced, but I had constantly watch it to keep it in the lane and pulling a trailer was dicey. My usual shop said that it needed ball joints. OK $400. Was as bad or worse than before, complained, they said it was the steering gear box, kinda pricey. I asked them to tighten the backlash on the existing box, they were reluctant, but did it. Worked much better, but after 3-4k its back to weaving. I owned many worn-out cars in my 60 years and never had to repair or replace the steering box. I keep the pickup around as an "emergency" car as it has automatic, so the wife could drive it or we use it if the main car is in the shop, and of course hauling kid's trash or a few boards. So we don't put more than 2K per year on it, but it is aggravating to drive. Engine is sound, tranny gets the job done. But put in a steering box in a low mileage "super duper wonderful, leading sales numbers Ford"? Anybody have trouble with your F150 steering? Must be a lot of you out there according to the Ford blather. Leonard I Bensuckered.

Snoop around here and ask some questions before you do much more part replacement, thats always the most expensive way to fix anything. Get the diagnososis right first.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum28/

Part of your problem is you went from a long arm short arm suspension to an antique twin I beam type. They don't feel as sure footed as anything else. Make sure the sway bar end links are ok. I haven't seen many steering gear boxes fail on Fords or GM, but not unusual on a Dodge. You might try getting several opinions.

I OWNED A '94 F 150 4X4,AND IT WAS TERIBLE :YOU COULD NOT LOOK DOWN AT THE RADIO TO CHANGE STATIONS WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR LANE.I COULD NOT PULL A TRAILER A MILE ON THE INTERSTATE WITHOUT THE TRAILER LEAVING MY LANE DUE THE CONSTANT WEAVING AND FIGHTING THE WHEEL.I HAD THE BALL JOINTS REPLACED AND IT HELPED,BUT NOT MUCH.I WAS TOLD THIS AN ALIGNMENT PROBLEM,AND NOT ONE THAT CAUSES TIRE WEAR.MY DAD HAD '79 F150 2X4 AND IT WAS TERIBLE ALSO; VERY EXHAUSTING TO DRIVE MORE THAN A SHORT DISTANCE.I THINK IT IS THE CHARACTORISTIC OF THE TWIN I BEAM SUSPENSION.A FRIEND OF MINE SAID YOU COULD GET A DUI SOBER DRIVING ONE.WE DO HAVE A '97 F 250 2X4 AT WORK THAT DRIVES OK,BUT,I MUCH PREFER A GM.MARK

the first thing i would ask is how much slack is in the steering wheel? with the engine off, unlock the ignition and from the straight ahead position how many inches untill it makes the tire want to turn? 2 inches is maximum i believe, 2wd fords are very sensitive to front end isues, tie rod ends, as well as alignment and be real sure to look at the radious arm bushings on the axle end as well as where they attach to the truck frame , the swing arm is a fairly strong front end but it will wear the tires strangly and they just drive different but no bad, i had a olf f350 that was 2wd udes as hard as we could sold it at 150000, nohing on the steering box but 2 sets of tie rod ends, and 2 set of rear radious arm bushings also what kind of tires have you got on it and how worn are they? any bumps or other unusual looking things about them?

sorry about the bad spelling, my keyboard is not working right i got my 4lb hammer here somewhere i'll fix it

I found out that if the front wheel bearings are not torqued to spec it will cause wandering. The old way was to snug up the nut then back it off until the cotter key would fit. The old method won't work on newer vehicles. My Oldsmobile called for 15 foot pounds while rotating the wheel with car jacked up and weight off the wheel. Find out if someone there has a spec book and proceedure.
Hope this helps!

i would say check the tie rod ends.also does it have a steerring stabalizer on it.it might be wore out if it has one.and if you have a brake caliper sticking it will pull toward the side sticking.

Sounds like you need to buy a newer truck with rack and pinion steering...
That one has pitman steering. That's how it is...
I never worried much until it got over 1/2 a turn of slack.
You'll adapt to it of you bought it cheap enough.

Rod

take to a shop that does front suspension and talk to them (not the ford dealer) . do you carry a load like a fuel tank all the time or a large work tool box if you do have them set the toe in with that load in the box as that load brings the front down and changes the toe in i reset mine that way never had the front tires wear different than the back over over 140k miles old art

Get used to it or get rid of it. I went to Ford trucks 6 years ago after 29 years of GM. My 89' F-150 wanders way worse than any Chevy or GMC I had. But the F-150 has clocked more trouble free miles than any Chevy or GMC I ever had. I'm told the 'Ford wander' is not imaginary. My 92' F-150 is just as bad. If I drive a GM now I'm all over the road. Fords you have to drive, GMs you don't. But with GMs they don't wander too bad sitting in the shop anyway.

Just sold my 92 F-250 2wd. It had 400,000 miles on it. I replaced the steering box at 350,000. Everything wears out eventually. Not knowing how the truck was serviced and driven has a lot to do with what wears out when. A bad tie rod joint, alignment, and/or wheel bearings will wear a steering box badly. I don"t care who builds it. One thing I did notice over the years was tie rods and ends. Use the good ones! I tried to save money once and used an off brand. The joints had more slack in them then the old wore-out ones I took off. Twin-I-Beam drives different. Not better or worse just differnt. Comes down to a personal preference. I prefere it. Your opinions may vary.

I will get under it looking at it myself, not the mechanics...they need to be paid fair wage for their work. As it is not driven much and I keep it for the low insurance and licensing costs, I will just stay alert on the road and keep as much money in my pocket as I can. The suggestions are helpful. There are a lot of brands I will never touch again!
DeSoto, Plymouth, Studebaker, VW, Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge--I've had clinkers with all of them. I change oil every 3K, always keep good tires & alignment. Best car ever was 92 Taurus-308K. Now driving Toyota and it is topping that Taurus no contest. Thanks