Hi folks I'm Dave.

I am relatively new here as far a posts go and glad to be back on here with a new truck!

Anyway, Last week I purchased a 2000 F150 xlt 4wd with 94k on it. Tires have about 13K on them. One issue I had with the truck was the steering. The natural tendency was for the steering wheel to turn right. That is to say I had hold constant pressure to the left to keep to keep the wheel centered and the truck going down the road strait. So, I took it in for an alignment, rotation and balance. Long story short, I had to get a camber kit installed and some bushings replaced in order for them to be able to align it properly. Also, since I had a new pair of upper control arms laying around, I went ahead and had them install those too. All in all my bill was about $740. Got my truck back and there is no noticeable difference from the way it drove per-alignment. WTH!

Any thoughts, suggestions?

 

Did you check pitman arm, idler arm, lower balljoints?

Also if it has uneven wear on the tires it could be making the steering worse also.

 

I would like to think that the shop I took it to would have done that and told me if they needed replacing. I personally have not checked them. I know what these components are, but don't know what I should be looking for as far as wear, etc goes.

 

Get the front end up off the ground. Rotate the steering and check for any play in the pitman arm and idler. Ball joints with excessive play would typically make popping noises on bumps and turns. But can be checked for play as well by moving the tire from 12-6'clock and check for play.

Why did it need a camber kit?

Any signs the truck has had front end damage?

 

A COMPETENT alignment shop will road test the vehicle and adjust till it drives straight. Take it back.

 

Hey Guys,

First off...thanks for your responses. Truly Appreciated. I took my truck back to the shop when I got off work today and told them of my issue. The mechanic who worked on it did in fact road test it after the initial alignment on Saturday and today his response to my issue was..."yeah it was kinda wanting to go to the right a little bit, it might be your tires." Anyway they lifted it up and swapped the front tires, right to left and left to right. He then went out and drove it, came back and said it was wanting to go left now. Whatever. I drove it home and noticed superior improvement. I didn't notice this leftward pull he was speaking of and I even drove down the center of the road for a bit to compensate for road crown. I am a extremely meticulous person and it is now close enough for my satisfaction.

 

Good job, you got away cheap. Had it fixed in time I expect. Yea that's hard on the front end, running them out of alignment. It gets worse, fast.

Sounds like they might have been attempting to sell you a set of tires lol.