Rebuild front-end? 94 F-250

With air wrenches, a good jack and stands along with a little determination, you can drop the whole front end and rebuild it in an afternoon if nothing goes wrong. It helps to get it a couple of feet off the ground to get under it. A helper is nice but, save the cold adult beverages until finished. Keep in mind that the alignment will need to be checked immediately after a rebuild. If you only replace the strut bushings, the alignment will not be so immediately critical. It has been so long since I was under that vintage F250, I don't recall if it has ball joints or king pins. If it has king pins, you will need the help of a machine shop to install the bushings.

Lugnut

Good to hear, as I'm also needing to do some front end work on my 92 F150. A couple of questions:

When I recently took it in for alignment and tires, they said there was too much play in the front end, an alignment would be pointless. I cancelled the new tires and stepped back to reevaluate. They specifically mentioned the steering box, but I get no wandering on the road. There is some "softness", I'll call it, in the steering, and I can feel and hear every little bump right through the front wheels, so I think there's a lot of wear on all those joints. The steering wheel sits a full quarter turn to the left when running straight. Does all this make sense to those who know?

I look in online parts catalogs, and find most ball joints in the range of

25-40 bucks. Then, in rockauto.com I find ball joints by Spicer for 7-8 bucks. Are these even worth considering? Why so cheap?

Thanks.

JG

my 89 ford btronco wandered all over when i bought it from my friend. i found that the pitman arm was loose on the steering box. i replaced the pitman arm and it has not wandered a bit since. worth checking. old john ps: the wear may be on the steering box shaft also

Hello, John! You wrote on Fri, 17 Nov 2006 01:29:34 -0500:

JG> Good to hear, as I'm also needing to do some front end work on my 92 JG> F150. A couple of questions:

JG> When I recently took it in for alignment and tires, they said there was JG> too much play in the front end, an alignment would be pointless. I JG> cancelled the new tires and stepped back to reevaluate. They JG> specifically mentioned the steering box, but I get no wandering on the JG> road. There is some "softness", I'll call it, in the steering, and I JG> can feel and hear every little bump right through the front wheels, so JG> I think there's a lot of wear on all those joints. The steering wheel JG> sits a full quarter turn to the left when running straight. Does all JG> this make sense to those who know?

JG> I look in online parts catalogs, and find most ball joints in the range JG> of 25-40 bucks. Then, in rockauto.com I find ball joints by Spicer for JG> 7-8 bucks. Are these even worth considering? Why so cheap?

JG> Thanks.

With best regards, snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net. E-mail: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net

Spicer is a decent brand of parts. My personal preference is for Moog or premium line of TRW. If your plan is to keep the truck for a few more thousand miles, use the higher quality parts. If you are going to replace the ball joints, you will probably need a press for them. Harbor Freight has a press set that goes on sale occasionally for about $30 which is OK for DIY use - not frequent pro use.

If you have slack at the gearbox, you will need to determine if it is the box or the Pittman arm. There is also a good possibility that the slack is wear in the column. It isn't hard to track down the wear in the other parts.

Lugnut

Thanks for that tip. My truck has 180K on it now. If I keep it, I'll do another 25-50K easy.

If the column itself is worn, is that a DIY replacement? Expensive? If the column is worn, is it then pointless to invest in the rest of the steering/suspension gear?

Thanks again.

JG

If it is in the column, it is almost always the rag joint which is readily available for about $10 and easy to install. It is a fabric joint in the shaft just above the gearbox. Most have a plastic cover over it. Should be able to slip the cover up, remove the 4 nuts and collapse the shaft upward to get room to replace. Slip it back together and install the nuts - done (unless you turned the shaft 180 deg. in which case the wheel will be upside down.) I have seen a couple that were diagnosed as needing a complete overhaul that this fixed the problem.

Lugnut

Thanks for that. My truck doesn't wander, but the steering is very light, almost as if it were overboosted. Also, I have maybe 10 degrees of freeplay and a rather loose feel toward the left when at speed, but almost no freeplay and a much firmer feel to the right in the same circumstance.

I'm presuming here that I will replace all joints and bushings, replace the Pitman arm, and repair or replace the steering box and column. I'm just working up a cost, and trying to learn and understand the trouble shooting symptoms.

Thanks.

Thanks! I never even heard of that!