F250 Steering
Submitted: Saturday, Aug 25, 2007 at 19:15
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Member - Kerry C (TAS)
I have a 2002 F250 that tends to wander in the steering, I was told by at least two F250 owners I met in caravan parks that the vehicles mainly made for the US market have suspensions set up for LH drive, road camber opposite to ours and that a fix is required. As the vehicles are sold in Aust as RH drive I am amazed that the manufacturers don't perform the fix if it is really necessary. Can anyone shed any light on the subject and what is needed to fix the problem if indeed it does exist. My F250 has just done 100,000Km and I replaced some tie rod ends that showed minor signs of wear but this did not fix the tendency to wander. Wheel alignment etc has all been checkedin accordance with Ford specs..
Reply By: FZJ 80 - Saturday, Aug 25, 2007 at 19:24
Saturday, Aug 25, 2007 at 19:24
Kerry
I believe this to be true. You need to find a Truck Align workshop. They can set up the Caster and Camber to suit our roads. Most tyre shops just set up the Toe in,the primary adjustement that causes tyre wear. In
Brisbane a place called Fortuna are Gurus at this type of thing,i'm sure tas has similar.
Regards
Greg
AnswerID:
258887
Follow Up By: Member - Kerry C (TAS) - Saturday, Aug 25, 2007 at 23:14
Saturday, Aug 25, 2007 at 23:14
Thanks Greg, I will try the truck specialists.
FollowupID:
520364
Reply By: Member - Doug T (Qld) - Saturday, Aug 25, 2007 at 19:30
Saturday, Aug 25, 2007 at 19:30
Contact this service
Truck Whisperer
AnswerID:
258888
Reply By: ZukscooterX90 (Qld) - Saturday, Aug 25, 2007 at 20:30
Saturday, Aug 25, 2007 at 20:30
Kerry hi,i have a 2005 f250 & in it's early days went to Fortuna who are specialists at truck wheel alignment whilst they have done a good job as there is no wear on the tyres yet,they have been rotated every 10,000ks.Back to your question i do still have a good deal of wandering & i think it is because (1) it is a truck not a car.(2) it also (if you are not aware) has 2 steering box's which in my opinion are fighting against each other & this is why you get the wanders.You do sort of get used to it though.
Happy steering Bob.:)
AnswerID:
258900
Reply By: _gmd_pps - Sunday, Aug 26, 2007 at 01:25
Sunday, Aug 26, 2007 at 01:25
Please explain to me how a front
suspension is left hand drive or right hand drive and how this should influence if the car/truck runs straight or not ?? This is NOT a rethorical question .... just curious ..
The camber is reality .. thats vastly different in the US/Europe and here .. but that can be aligned ...
I have a converted US truck .. and follwong the theory of your caravan
park aquaintances this should be even more a problem then a F truck built right hand drive from the start ... it is not ..
my truck runs across the nullabor without hands on the steering wheel .. dead straight, very precise and no wandering although it is larger and heavier than your 250 .. so it can not really depend on being a truck and getting used to ...
I think you have worn pitman/idler arms or a worn centerlink or some other condition which should be diagnosed with a good wheel alignment ... but I do not know enough about the Ford to be certain .. just a speculation ...
good luck
gmd
AnswerID:
258919
Follow Up By: Member - Kerry C (TAS) - Sunday, Aug 26, 2007 at 14:19
Sunday, Aug 26, 2007 at 14:19
Hi gmd
The theory is roads are built with a curved surface to shed
water, higher in the centre and low at the edges. I refer to this as road camber, not to be confused with wheel alignment camber. RHD vehicles travel with the RH
wheels near the centre of the road so the road in relation to the
suspension is sloping right to left. A LHD vehicle travels in the same direction on the RH side of the road so the road in relation to the
suspension is sloping left to right. I have had wheel alignments and all the
suspension checked for wear by competent mechanics. My understanding from what I was told is something has to be shimmed, exactly what and to what extend I don't know. I beleive wheel alignment is the answer but I understand all the specs available relate to US vehicles, Ford don't seem to publish different specs for LH or RH drive vehicles. The number of RHD F250's built compared with LHD must be near zero on the percentage scale which may explain the lack of info. The shim senario probably means because the vehicles are built generally for the US market insufficient adjustment is avilable otherwise?
FollowupID:
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Reply By: bv - Sunday, Aug 26, 2007 at 14:51
Sunday, Aug 26, 2007 at 14:51
Kerry,
I have a 2005 F250 that gave me all sorts of anguish until I had the caster changed, now it's not bad, but not good. Ford did not want to know about it. Next wheel alignment I'll get the caster changed some more as it is still a bit on the vague side with the
wheels pointed straight ahead. However, it is not nearly as bad when pulling my 5er, much more direct and positive. Interestingly, I have driven F250s in the the US and their steering while light, is very positive. Something has happened in the 'translation' from American to Strine!!
I did not pay enough attention when the wheel alignment
shop did the job, but I have a feeling they changed the caster by one degree on one side only as it was tending to drift to the right as if trying to ride up the camber. Tyre wear looks OK.
BruceV
AnswerID:
258945
Reply By: Member - MUZBRY (VIC) - Monday, Aug 27, 2007 at 17:47
Monday, Aug 27, 2007 at 17:47
Gday
you haven't mentioned the type of tyres that you use on the steering. If you have drive tyres on the front , they will wander. You need to put steer tyres on the front.
Have a look at a few trucks and you will see that they have different type of tyre on the front than they have on the drive.
Murray
AnswerID:
259086
Reply By: mechpete - Wednesday, Aug 29, 2007 at 23:41
Wednesday, Aug 29, 2007 at 23:41
Hi Kerry ,
in the 70,s and early 80,s that was the case with F/ Trucks ,more caster on the R/H/S but when they went to balljoints from kingpins the problem virtually dissappeared , this was a huge problem with the fleet of F/Ser ambulances in victoria . it was easy to adjust wtih balljoints cos they have a range of ecentric bushes to allow the correct alignment ,they fit into the stub and the balljoint locates into it .
hope that helps you out ,cheers mechpete.
AnswerID:
259494