It wasnt too long ago that I bought my 03' SuperCrew. It was late in the day, and had only driven the truck real briefly.

When I left the dealer (closing up!) I had to drive about 40 miles home. I noticed within about 5 miles that the steering wheel was ****ed about 15-20* to the left. While the truck tracked properly, the steering wheel was definitely not straight and level.

I called the same dealer, and they made me an appointment to fix the problem. After making me wait 90 minutes, they returned the truck to me saying it was good to go. I got the invoice and drove off... only a few miles down the road to discover it was still way off-center.

I immediately turned around, and took it back. The assistant service mgr didnt believe me, so we went for a test drive (him driving), and he wouldnt even acknowledge there was an issue, and proceeded to insult my intelligence with a bunch of techno-babble (I'm a Mechanical Design Engineer!).

At that point, I realized I wasnt going to get it fixed there.

I took it to another Ford dealer nearer to where I live. Long story short, it took a call to Ford customer service, and another return trip there, and a "discussion" with the service manager. I was told "its as straight as its gonna get". They just wouldnt deal with it.

15* off is quite a bit, and thats really sad that two Ford dealers would/could not fix it.

At that point, I gave up on Ford dealers, and took it to the local Les Schwab for a real second opinion (to check for free). The tech threw it up on the rack, and invited me to take a look in the bay. His words "theres no reason the {steering} wheel shouldnt be straight."

I examined the tie-rods with him, and it was quite obvious that they were adusted much farther over than the approximate rod-center would be... explaining why the wheel was ****-eyed, but the overall alignment was OK.

In any case, he leveled the steering wheel, and adjusted everything PROPERLY while I was right there. Result, a straight and level steering wheel with a truck that tracked/handled excellent. Total time, 40 minutes.

It cost me $45, but it was worth it, thumbs up to Les Schwab for doing it right.

Thumbs down to Elk grove Ford, and Folsom Lake Ford in Northern CA for being extremely poor in their service.

I notified Ford Customer Service of the resolution, and while they wont reimberse me the money (which is fine), I made sure that the 2 dealers wont get paid for their sloppy/lazy work.

Thanks for listening to my rant......

Griff

 

My truck does the exact same thing; except I have to hold my wheel to the right (truck drifts to the left).

So if I take the truck in for an alignment I should be sure to have them check the tie-rod adjustments?

Thanks,
Steve

 

You should check your lock to lock,meaning when the wheel is straight you should have the same amount of turns with the steering wheel each way.
The problem you had can be caused by a bad steering box,it can happen from hitting a curb.

 

Might sound silly but if your steering pulls to one side check tire pressures before anything as this can cause the truck to pull to one side.

Most roads are pitched to the right to help rainwater runoff to the ditch or gutter. It's not uncommon to experience a little pull to the right in this situation.

Good luck.

 

Griffen,

I think you have a good case for reembursment! Take your $45.00 invoice to the service manager @ the dealer, and make very clear you expect reembursment for this. If they balk, insist that they make an appointment for you to meet with the zone rep. I have done this in the past, just stay very calm, and make your demands very clear and consistant.
Let us know how you fare!

 

Thanks guys

SteveB, its possible, but as I said, my overall alignment was good and tracked properly. I had also verified tire pressure previous to all this. As the other guys pointed out, check the lock-to-lock as well (mine was good after LS worked on it), and off-cambers will give the appearance of drifting if you let the wheel go. In my case, I had to be on a left off-camber for my steering wheel to be straighter (you have to steer into them slightly). On a comparable right off-camber, the wheel was WAAYYY off. Definitely not centered when on a true straight & level road!

Dvds, I may give that a try, but I've already buried both dealers with Ford Customer service.... Theyre probably not real happy right now Heh, I wonder how receptive they'd be at this point.