Its Fixed!!!! ......no really, I mean it this time.

The CORE PROBLEM was the......REAR LEAFSPRINGS!!!!

I could tell a difference before I had completely backed out of the driveway! Once on the highway, no more wandering.....no more moving from side to side.....no more steering like a boat......and no more driving me crazy when the cross winds hit.

The truck "wants to" stay centered. The truck "feels" more firmly planted on the road. The steering is firmer (more tension when trying to turn the steering wheel) and "wants to" stay/return to the middle much stronger. It "feels" like I have very postive caster in my steering. .....and yes, it steers as good as or better than my father's truck! Note: He has a 99' F150 singlecab-longbed 4x2 and has the 3 leaf packs and is lowered 3 inchs in the rear, but has only 35,000 original miles and no trailer use.

I have had this truck for three years now. It is a 99' F150 supercab, flareside, 4x2. It had 40,000 miles on it when I got it (It now has over 130,000). I originally came to this great website three years ago, looking for a solution to the steering wandering problem. As this thread has shown, I have tried everything I could think of, when time and money allowed (even though the rear add-leafs made the main leafs stiffer, it did not help the wandering steering). The only things I have not replaced with oem parts or aftermarket upgrades where the front spindles and the rear leafsprings.

Note: Before the rear leaf spring replacement today, I had already added larger Helwigg front swaybar ( with urethane bushing end links), added rear Helwigg swaybar (with urethane bushing end links), DJM 3/4 lowering kit, 2 sets of low profile tires (Kumo then Toyo), Checker Pro hard bed cover, Energy Suspension front control arm urethane bushings, Moog inner and outter tie rods, center link, idler arm, pitman arm, 2 replacement steering gear boxes including 03' re-valved Lightning box and multiple tension adjustments, 1 steering gear lower shaft/coupler and 1 upper/lower shaft/ coupler combo, power steering pump, steering gear box hydr. hose, replaced upper and lower control arms and all ball joints, 3 sets of front lowering coil springs (DJM, Spring Tech and mine-best but harsh), Rancho steering stabilizer (no steering improvement and slow steering) , 3 sets of front and rear shocks (DJM, Bilstine, Doschtec), 2 rear add-a-leafs per side (far too harsh and no steering change), clamps on original rear leafs, replaced front wheel bearings, and 4 or 5 alignments (this list does not include replacing normal wear parts). I did all of the work myself, except for the alignments and bought most of the parts used.

None of the above mods, improved my steering as much as replacing the rear leaf springs. But a distant second would be the 03' Lightning gear box, sway bars, urethane control arm bushings, and idler arm replacement.

Yet, when I first purchased the truck, I noticed that the rear seemed to sag, however, since it only had 40,000 miles, I dismissed the rearleaf springs as the cause of my constant grief.....WRONG! haha!

Today, I replaced the rear leafsprings ($107 and 2 hours of my time/labor-I finally figured out an easy and safe way to remove the leafpacks). I had the oem three (3) leaf packs. I went to a local salvage yard, and purchased some 2000 F150 rear leafsprings. The cool part about them was that, they are a four (4) leaf pack AND these oem stock leafpacks, already had pinion shims bolted to the leafpacks!!!!!! Note: Rear is lowered 4 inches.

If anyone does this mod note that, if you get a four (4) leaf pack, make sure that the leafs are 2 and 1/2 inches wide. You do NOT want the four (4) leaf pack that has 3 inch wide leafs (for F250). The 3 inch wide leafs will NOT fit in your hangers and shackles.

I do not think it is an issue of 3 or 4 leaf packs for me. I think my oem leaf packs were abnormally worn by the previous owner (maybe they kept a trailer hooked up to it 24/7). I think a new set of 3 leafs would have worked as well.

Anyway, the core problem is resolved. The main reason for my steering wandering was the rear leafsprings. I would still like to replace my front lowering springs with belltech 3 inch lowering coils. The spring tech 3 inch lowering coils are too soft. I would also like to try Bell tech Nitro active shocks as the the Doschtech nitros are a little too harsh.

I would like to thank everyone that has participated in this thread.

 

This is a great thread Iron Horse. I had the same problem with my truck - really weak leaf springs and the truck wandered all over the place. In my case, I have 90K on my '99 extended cab and it was really obvious the springs were completely worn out. I'm sure the previous owner must have towed something really heavy on a daily basis to cause this kind of wear. The axle wrap was so bad, the back tires would sometimes squeal during a shift.

I was all set to buy an add-a-leaf kit to see if that would fix the problem. I read this thread and decided to look for a four leaf pack from a junk yard instead. I found a set for $80 + tax. I put them on in two hours and had the same reaction. Dramatically better ride and it was really obvious just backing out of the driveway how much better it was.

I would love to know the magic behind the spring codes. On the drivers door jam, if you look at the label, there is a SPR code. My '99 extended cab says:

SPR
PF

The P is for the front springs and the F is for the leaf springs. I've looked everywhere for a table of possible values and spring capacities, but havn't found it. I talked to a couple of dealers and no joy there. My informal survey of a parking lot told me that 4x4 and Supercrew trucks have the four leaf pack springs. All the other trucks, including extended cabs, have three packs. I was really unhappy with the three pack - it was too soft and had horrible axle wrap. I've noticed on the newer body style truck (2004?+), Ford has gone with a four leaf 3' spring on the back end. These will not fit on the 97-03 trucks as they use 2.5' springs.

In my extended cab, the stiffer four leaf pack certainly doesn't feel harsh at all. In fact, I think if anyone else was going to do this, they should really look for a four pack as it really reduces the axle wrap and makes the truck ride so much better. The only issue is it raised my back end a bit. It's not bad, but the back of the truck now sits higher than the front. I have a 4x2, so I don't have torsion bar adjustment.

Greg

 

Ironhorse, I've experienced the same thing with my 01 screw here in OK.
Iv'e replaced everything you have except for the gear box and pump. Iv'e also replaced the rear spring/shackle bushings with ES bushings. I still have the same problem. And by the way, just had my 6th alignment since new.
Do you think its possible the problem is in the springs themselves (metal fatigue ect..) as opposed to the bushings?

Thanks

 

iron house, you are the reason I joined this forum. No other site could I find the information you have spent the past few years finding. I too have similar problems, but my 2002 F150 Exteneded cab has other suspension issues too. One shop said I needed the steering sector, upper ball joints and support arms. Another one said I need lower ball joints, lower control arm and drag link. I'm not sure what the drag link is. So, now I need a third opinion. Does anyone know of a suspension shop in the Birmingham, AL area. I will drive even farther for the right shop. Again thank you for all your time on this thread.

 

I also have watched this thread from the beginning.

A allignment is basically zero accountibilty service (as they get paid no matter the outcome) which means a feeding frenzy by profit hungry folk who can dress themselves and make it to work on time... A self perpetuating system that transfers vast wealth into the pockets of "automotive care" gangsters. I can't believe there are so many burnt-out allignment techs out there - I've been robbed for 5 allignments, the 1st one at 35,000 miles should've been just R/R the front shocks when I was noticing a loping vibration coasting downhill at 60mph.

I've offered to pay double if they will take their time & identify high wear components but since it isn't their butt in the drivers seat getting distracted every 3rd second for the next 15,000 miles they always are over-confident in their work. The last and worst episode was Ford Dealer north of Saint Paul MN who kept truck 3 nights, got $900, and gave vehicle back worse then when it went in. Where I worked untill I retired, there would've been incident report, investigation by foreman and suspension w/o pay for 1-3 days on an escalating penalty schedule where next time it would double.

My guess is other truck manufactuors build in more idiot-proof wear pattern indicators and the techs twisting wrenchs know they are being paid no matter what. Only trucks owned by the used-car divisions of dealorships get seen by a tech that knows enough to identify the worst three worn components and reset allignment back to like-new.

Wow - spent 40,000 miles musing on that posting

I know my 99 F-150 needs work - I keep waiting for something to give and get rear-ended by a semi-rig or careen off a school bus; when new was as good or better then my 94 LT-1 Z-28 but now is simply loose formation of junk. I know Ford motor co isn't really trying to steer me into buying a new truck, nope...

 

In my case, I'm sure it was metal fatigue in the leaf springs. I think they are just spec'd incorrectly. If you look at the newer model trucks, they all use 3" springs, not 2.5". Most also have 4 leafs, not 3. After swaping out the leaf springs, the back end does have quite a lot of bounce in it. I'm going to replace the shocks with some heavy duty ones as soon as I can. I don't think the leaf springs are too firm, I think the shocks are just worn out. (92k on factory shocks).

Replacing the leaf springs was the best $80 I've ever spent.

G.