I had a car that was doing that after an alignment. I took it to the dealer and an older more experienced guy put it on the rack and said everything was dead on the middle of the specs. He then suggested I let him adjust the toe in, I can't remember which way, but I think he towed it in. He didn't go outside specs, just toward one end of the spec. This cured the problem for me.

 

My truck seemed to have a mild case of what you describe. It wasn’t all over the road, but it took more effort do drive than other vehicles.

I put on the new steering linkage that comes on the 2008’s, I also have a steering stabilizer and the ball joints are less than a year old. It doesn’t float around like it did before, but probably more than other vehicles.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...raded+steering

I think it is somewhat just the nature of these trucks, they feel like the steering wheel is connected to the wheels by a rubber band, if you overcorrect it snaps back too far.

 

How are the tires wearing? If bearings, tie rod ends, ball joints, all bushings are good and tight, caster at 5 to 7 deg and toe in at about .125-.250,,,,I just have no idea. Get under truck while someone moves stearing back and forth and feel and look for anything loose.

 

The Rear axle is probably loose.

 

I had similar thing with my last 2 sets of BFG's on my last truck(won't own another set again), just wouldn't stay strait. The guys at Discount tire said it's been happening more and more on them. Too much tread movement side to side out of whats speced.
Now any solid front axel truch does wonder compaired to a wish bone like the Chevy's. My Dads Ford is way more noticable then my Dodge for sure keeps you on your toes.

 

Interesting. Maybe it's the tires. There has been a lot of good advice on this thread and I appreciate it but I have done or checked everything (besides a loose rear axle).

Tires though, I never thought of. I had the same tires for the first 50,000 miles and they wore so nice that I just stuck with the same exact ones when they needed replacing. My stepdad drives a 04.5 and his drives great. He has new rubber completely different than mine. I will swap his tires onto my truck and see if it makes a difference. Maybe...

 

Let us know if the tire swap helps.

 

A friend of mine had this happen with stock sized BFG AT T/A's that were load range D vs. E. I pointed this out to him within about 150 miles of new on the tires - he went back to the shop and they swapped them out for Toyos in load range E - no more problems.

Not sure if this is the scenario you're in - just thought I'd offer...

 

What is the upgraded steering setup??

 

What air pressure are you running in your tires? If I run mine below 50PSI it feels really mushy and loose. Also make sure both sides are the same psi. 5-10 psi out and you will feel it HUGE.

 

Yeh what I left out was on the 2 sets first ones replaced after 5000 miles and no likey the second set made it 12000 miles and started it again. Now the second time they did? that pricey balancing thing $20 a tire and they had 38%-46% tread movement thats side to side on 3 of the 4. Normal by BFG is 18% max so I got out of those and on my 1st set of Nitto and 30k and no more issues but thats my story. Hope it something that simple for you cause I did the same thing differant alinment shops as well. Well best of luck.

 

Just had almost the same thing happen on a pickup at work. It had just had front end work done and came back worse than when it went to the dealer. The problem ended up being one of the new ball joints (they were all replaced) was pressed in to tightly and was binding. The steering wheel did not return to center good and caused the constant correction and over correction while driving that you describe.

 

I thought maybe one of the ball joints were binding but I had that checked right after I had them done and that was not the case. I think I have it narrowed down to the tires. Unfortunately the tires are brand new. Although it would cost more money, I am sort of hoping it is the tires so I can solve the problem.

In reference to an earlier post, my tires are load range E by the way. The BFG All Terrain T/A's come in d and e but for our trucks, you should really run the e's.

What brand of tires should I buy to try to solve this?

 

I've always ran Toyo tires on all of my vehicles. You probably won't be interested in their M/T tire(a real aggressive deep lug tire). But they make a great A/T and their H/T(highway tread) is a good tire. We've been running the H/T's on our 99' Power Stroke that is always towing a 30' gooseneck, long lasting, good tread, E rated, decent priced.

Are you in Minnesota?

 

I wouldn't run the M/T. Noisy, and expensive on fuel! Can't comment on the A/T but I will say my M/T's handle very well even for a big mud tire.

Shawn