Wandering ??? I almost named my truck Dion !!!

Install a frontend cam kit on each wheel, you'll be delighted !!
Long Tire on old Hwy.5 south of Woodstock,GA.cured the DION
syndrome.

NordicBastard

 

Ford does their alignments according to specifications.... I would assume that some kind of legal action has resulted in Ford operating in this manner (something like, they aligned the front end out of spec to eliminate the wander and it caused my son's death million dollar lawsuit).

If you can find a good front end alignment guy, they can fix most problems. wandering was probably a toe-in adjustment.

I found a good alignment guy once, my 4x4 needed rotation every 2500 miles. Told him what it was doing, he looked at the tire wear (they were slightly oversized). I was putting new tires on (original size). After he was done, I rotated at 10000 miles, and I didn't even need to.

 

The movement / sloppiness in the idler and pitman arms are the cause of wandering with my truck, at least. Alignment is secondary and could cure some if this was a geometry issue. The telltale sign is over-inflated tires that wear only on the inner and outer tread, not down the center.

 

Well. Ford finally called and said " We've done all we can do. File a Lemon Law complaint if you want." Man, ain't that a nice way to deal with customers. I have noticed that the majority of front end complaints seem to be on 2001 models. Anyone with 2002 having problems? Also, I saw a TSB somewhere that recommended dealer installed "glue" on idler and pitman arms to alleviate wandering condition. Guess Florida ford dealers are too ignorant to read their own TSB info. At least Nick Nicholas an Gulf Coast Ford here in Citrus county anyway. I'm not done yet.

 

That is a sorry *** answer to a legitimate problem! I just returned from arrizona with mine, actually was pretty good driving. What I had done prior to leaving was the special service bullitin on the crossmember gluing, allignment (all spec's right in the center of the allowable range), I also corrected a differance in the torsion adjustment left to right of about 1" (this seemed to help the wander some). Now it seems to be more of a too sensitive steering. My wife was driving a while and kept seesawing untill she could really concentrate on not doing it. I would say that these adjustments made it go from unsafe at 75 mph to ok........It seems up to the service managers, I had a town car I purchased new, tryed to go threw the lemon law, (joke), anyway went to 4 dealers and one fixed it????? After the reps, etc., couldnt come up with an answer (they are normally useless). So even if others have failed dont be afraid to take it to another, good luck!!

 

Yeah, I have learned to be careful where you take a vehicle. Unfortunately, we are somewhat limited to "knowledgable" dealers/service reps, etc here in west central Fl. Thanks for the fix info on yours. I am looking towards that way myself. I guess we should troubleshoot our own vehicle and then explain to the dealer how to fix it!!

I would like to see if there's a difference between '01 and '02 models. I heard the steering box was changed ? And the idler/pitman arms are either glued on the assem. line ar they have used a different spec to manufacture. I sure wish we had a Ford engineer who could read assist us on this site. NOW THAT WOULD BE CUSTOMER SERVICE !!!!

 

Over 16000 miles and still no wandering. Early model built 6/00. I do think it is very sensitive to wind but a rear sway bar would probably help that. I run my Goodyears at 40 - 42 pounds. Anything lower and they wear out fast. Ford recommends 42 psi.(according to the sticker on drivers side door post). There was a post about tire pressures a while ago and someone said the sweet spot for the Goodyears was around 40 psi.

 

For what it's worth. Our 2001 4x4 supercab was a real wanderer..... Dealership aligned it early on. No improvement. We replaced the RTS tires with Michelin LTX MS no improvement. Added an aftermarket rear sway bar to help with the wandering due to wind. No improvement. Dealership replaced the idler arm, covered under some TSB. Still no improvement. We finally gave up and sold this truck.

Really sad to see what Ford has done to "improve" things. My 98, basically the same truck, never had much on center feel, but was safe and comfortable. That 01 was a waste of money....

Part of the problem here is a lack of structural strength, from the 4 door supercab. We noticed, that when driving the truck down the highway, if you put a finger tip on the gap between the front door and the rear door, you could feel the gap open up and close. This happens when the truck is wandering. So, this is where I say it's got a lack of structural strength. Again, my 98, 3 door doesn't have this problem.

I drove a new 02 7700 pound payload F150 4x4 supercab a few weeks back. This was even worse than our old 01. Has anyone experienced this wandering in a regular cab 4x4?

 

Out of curiosity, how many of you have the FX4 off-road package? Do the trucks still wander with the stiffer suspension?

 

I must say, that I'm wondering about this issue more and more.

I've got about 1500mi on my '02 4x2.

I noticed that it seemed to wander a bit on the hiway, especially when my attention went to something besides the road. ie. adjusting the seat belt, changing CD's etc.

I started paying more attention to what was causing the movement, and I believe it to be quite sensitive steering.
It seems the slightest corrections/adjustments will produce an effect. I try to make sure I don't move the wheel too much when I'm doing "other things" while driving.

My truck goes straight down the road for an extreme amount of time at a constant speed.

Hope this helps.

 

One thing i have discovered that when I switch to Rancho adjustable shocks they helped a good bit. Run #2 on front and #3 on back. Not sure why but they did help. I also have read from others that good shocks in general seem to help this somewhat. Again, not sure why? Just keep in mind these shocks act somewhat stiffer on sharp bumps. They are adjustable but sharp bumps stay sharp.

 

Well, I've gone from 1stnuford to flscrew. Same guy, different logon due to some technical glitches.
Anyway, I ended up trading in the "wandering screw" on an '02. Huge difference in the handling and steering. Doesn't wander at all. The difference being in the Pitman and Idler arms and the movement of them. The '02 seems to have a slightly different fit and doesn't allow lateral or longi movement as the other. That was what I kept explaining and showing the dealers.

Anyway, yes shocks and tires will seem to take up the slack movement of these items, but it isn't the fix. I think there was a TSB out on the front ends where they were glueing the ends on the *****. Not my idea so I ordered a new one after some front-end research and luv it so far. Just did the homemade air box fix and am getting the s-chip reflashed, and the local muffler dude said for $200 he will install Flowmaster 50 with 3" pipe. So now I am a happy boy again....