1971 F250 bad steering

[monadrew]

I'm trying to trace the steering problem on my F250. It seems tight and ok around town nice and strait but on the highway over 55 if you hit a bump it is all over the place. I have replaced the steering gear and all other front end components, tires are new as well as shocks, it just seems to dance around and give you that "oh **** moment"

[basketcase0302]

"monadrew"]I'm trying to trace the steering problem on my F250. It seems tight and ok around town nice and strait but on the highway over 55 if you hit a bump it is all over the place. I have replaced the steering gear and all other front end components, tires are new as well as shocks, it just seems to dance around and give you that "oh **** moment"

Our trucks got the nickname "wandering Ford" for a few reason that are common back in the 1970's that I'll touch on.
The first being the king pin bushings being worn out, (due to lack of greasing as everyone hated crawling in the dirt to grease the bottom fitting). You'll need to jack the truck off the front wheels, (having the truck supported by a jack or jackstand under the king pin bolt works best here) then check the play in the king pins by moving the wheel, (still left on the truck) up and down (holding the wheel at the top and the bottom).

The other critical area that usually gives you that "oh...crap" feeling is the radius arm bushings which is also like the king [pin bushings not a very easy job to replace, (yet the radius arm bushings are a cheap enough part versus the king pin set costing from $75-$125 IF you can find the kit). Thje radius arm bushings are a little harder to troubleshoot but are very easily inspected visually for cracking / splitting / or just worn out rubber as most are.

Here's the schematic that shows both on your truck:
Part #3110 are the king pin bushings, (two per side one upper and one lower which are replaced as a kit with a new king pin as they too are usually worn out). And part #38203 are the radius arm bushings, (also two per side with one in front of the bracket and one on the back side of the bracket).
As previously stated to replace either of these is a lot...of work for an inexperienced mechanic-but doable with all the help from the folks here on Fordification.

[monadrew]

Thank you for the reply I will try to check these things out this weekend..

[basketcase0302]

More than welcome.
Oops also forgot if you haven't already with the truck jacked and supported under the kingpin bolt to check your front wheel bearings if you haven't already. Much easier done with a second set of hands or eyes, (one person grabbing the wheel / one hand on the front /one hand on the rear of the wheel / moving it back and forth while looking where the wheel meets the spindle). The brake drums, (if you have front drum brakes) can make this a little harder to do sometimes as it will limit the play you'd normally see-but the play in the wheel bearing should still be visible.
Part number# 1201 and 1216 in this pic: