I am going to go back to the dealer on my lunch hour Tuesday to visit with the dealer. I may even go over there today and snoop around some of the new truck steering components.

 

I live here in Edmond and sure would like to know the name of the dealer.
Thanks
doug

 

dugout, I just sent you a PM.

 

I think I feel something similar in my 03, It does not wander or is not loose, but the steering seems to be delayed just a bit when turning left or right from the 12 O'clock position. It's like when going straight down the road, you have to turn the wheel a bit, then turn a little further for the steering to respond.

I have checked every joint, bar and linkage point for play or slop, everything is tight and solid, I can't find anything wrong. I would also be interested in anything you find out.

I had a problem with my 94 3/4 ton. It was a little different though. The truck would wander a bit and feel a little loose. It ended up being a problem with the track bar and was a common problem for that style of truck. You could definately see the play from under the truck with someone in the truck moving the steering wheel.

 

I am assuming that when you refer to "play" in the tie rod ends, that they are simply rocking back-and-forth due to the steering damper? If so, that's normal. I would not think there would be any actual side-to-side looseness on a truck that new. My belief is that the steering box needs a simple adjustment. It's quite common for them to be set up too loose on a new truck. I can understand your reluctance to work on it yourself though, being new.

 

As a follow up to my recent post, I thought I would keep you guys up to speed as to what has happened and will be happening in the next few days.

I went back to the dealer on Wednesday and the SM was very accomodating in listening to my concerns. He had a salesman bring two Mega Cabs to the Service department.

First, we drove mine. He asked me if the problem had gotten worse, I said "No, it just hasn't gotten any better". He was embarrased to say that this time around (he test drove my truck the first time it was there), he could feel the looseness that I had explained to him from day one.

Second, we drove both Megas. I drove them both first and I could tell an immediate difference. I did notice that both trucks had a tiny bit of non-responsive steering, but not enough to notice if you had never driven mine. Then he drove them and immediately noticed how tight and responsive the steering was compared to mine.

He asked if I would be willing to leave the truck with him next Monday to go over it with his front-end guy and a service rep from DC. I told him I'd have it there Monday morning. He even offered to give me a loaner, but I declined as my wife and I work at the same company and she's pregnant now and we don't have a life anymore.

We both have a feeling that the problem exists in the steering box. So they are going to start there first to avoid tearing apart the front-end.

All in all, I think we're on the right track. I was impressed with his willingness to solve my problem and give up his lunch hour. I will keep you all informed as to what transpires on Monday.

Oh yeah, while on one of the test drives, we got into a conversation about Cummins, to make a long story short, he made the comment that Ford owns Cummins. My jaw dropped, but I held my comments to myself since he was trying to solve my problem.

Thanx to you all for your help with my problem. I love this site.

LT

 

LT,

When they find a fix, please let us know. Mine doesn't float, but I have excess play in my steering and a pull to the left. Then pull is with the alignment zeroed in and no one can seem to figure out why it pulls.

Mines been pulling since I had a tierod end replaced.

 

) when I grab the steering shaft (from the steering wheel) right before it enters the steering box and turn it, there seems to be quite a bit of play

Can you give a number to your description of "quite a bit of play"?
Erik

 

I had quite a bit of play in my trac bar after my lift kit went on. The bolt holding the trac bar would spin in my hand! Needless to say i got after the shop that installed the lift kit on the truck and seemed to cure the problem. If they haven't done so yet, that bolt where the trac bar is attached, make sure that they have a good locking washer on there. But with so little miles and a stock suspension, this one kinda has me stumped...

 

Erik, instead of applying a number to it, let's look at it as a face of a clock. If top of steering wheel is 12:00, the play in my steering wheel exists between the minutes of 11:55 and 12:05. Does that make any sense?

LT

 

Sounds like they are taking care of you. Post up when you get the truck fixed.

 

Glad to hear it's working out for you. Hope all goes well, and yea, post what ended up fixing it!

 

Like torquefan already mentioned, the steering box probably just needs to be adjusted.

 

My problem is that my steering is nice and tight and i forget sometimes that I'm in a 7200# truck and not a good cornering car. I have slid the back a couple of times because of it.

I have seen numerous instances of a loose box or steering component causing loose steering. I had a jeep that was so bad that there was a 1/4 turn each way play in the wheel. After the steering wheel jiggle test (not actually turning the wheel) I have usually been able to find what was loose.

Hope the dealer does you right.

 

Well, the truck has been at the dealer all day. I asked them to start with simple ideas first. They rotated the tires and test drove it many times with two Tech's, the service manager and the service writer. All of them had a chance to drive it and all of them noticed two things. One, the steering play was excessive and two, there is a slight drift to the right. They did a thorough once-over on all of the steering components, i.e. steering box, intermediate shaft, ball joints, rod ends and anything else they could think of. Everything appeared to be tight and in good shape. The next step is to align it.

BUT WAIT,....Chrysler has not released the computer program for 07 models with the alignment specs. Why is it not the same specs as the 06's you say?????? I don't know the answer to that question, but they did say that the 06 software is different from the 07. The service manager said the new software should be in soon. As I said earlier, they are going to align it and make sure it's within the correct specs and then we will see what happens. I'll let you all know when it's aligned.

LT