Steering is all of a sudden better?

[Kurt Combs]

I have been one of those Bump guys that was chasing the wondering Ford problem. After aligning the front end and installing a Red Head steering box my steering was better, not great, but better. I also installed four new Michelin tires (that was to stop the wheel bounce, but they made it worse). The steering was better, but not as good as my 2013 Optima by an stretch of the imagination. All I was after was a vehicle the I could drive and relax and enjoy the experience. So I had given up on the steering in my 1972 F250, just assumed that no one could tell me why it wandered. Well, all of a sudden it has stopped wondering and the steering is good, not rack and pinion good, but good. All I can assume is that the steering box is now broken in and doing what it is supposed to do. I am talking drive down the freeway and relax with just a couple of fingers on the bottom of the steering wheel good. Now I am going to go after the wheel bounce again because this could be a fun vehicle to drive if I can get the ride smoothed out.

[Mancar1]

Glad the steering is better. Mine is good on the 68, and no wheel bounce, but I need to track down my noisy rattles in the under carriage.
Not my under carriage the trucks I know why mine is noisy.

[Ranchero50]

Mine got better with the steering dampener but I'm sure the box needs rebuilt / replaced. I'm a solid 2-3" movement at the wheel before the tires move.

[NM5K]

Dunno.. Doesn't really sound like the steering box. All that should do is get fairly slightly looser/easier
as it breaks in. But that normally wouldn't have anything to do with how it steered other than gear slop
or being overly tight.
The wheel hop would normally be a balance issue unless the tires are out of round. Bad shocks could
make it worse I suppose..
Shimmy is usually worn out radius arm bushings or steering links. Ford trucks are kind of
known for that. If you have it, it will come on at certain speeds, and in bad cases will shake
your teeth fillings out.
I totally rebuilt my 68's front end about 10 or more years ago. It's still like new, except for a little slop
in my old original steering box. I could adjust it up, but haven't messed with it in a long time.
I used the bronze or whatever king pin bushings, and they have held up well, and still seem tight.
I was never keen on the nylon bushings like my 74 has. It was starting to eat tires when I quit driving it.

I'm still running the same tires which I put on after doing that, and they still have about 1/2 the tread,
and are wearing almost perfect on the fronts. I had it aligned at a frame shop, and the guy got it right
on the money. Twin I beam front ends can be quirky sometimes.. But they are tough once you get em right.

Also, comparing to a new car is kinda like different fruit.. My truck steers like a school bus compared to my car,
even though it's normal.

[Kurt Combs]

I'm kinda wondering if the tires got softer after I put some more miles on them, maybe they don't tend to dart as much, like decreasing the pressure. I do know that putting 2,000 pounds in the back makes it behave better, but that is a lot to haul around when I am just driving to work or the store. I am going to have the tires balanced again as soon as I can get by the local shop that has the lug centric adapter for their balancer. I also have plans to have the elongated bolt hole fixed in my rear spring perch and new bushing installed in the spring ends and other parts. I have a few other minor tweaks that I want to do, but I have to get over my lower back pain caused by putting down a board floor in the bedroom and then I can tackle them. Getting inspired to fix the truck up some, had a guy ask me if I wanted to sell it the other day, kind of nice compliment.

[motzingg]

your tire may have settled in on the bead or the installers had it a little off the bead.

i've noticed when installing tires there is a lot of variation in bead sizes between different wheels and different tires. most of the time the tire bead will conform into the wheel but sometimes it takes a fight. especially if they don't use that tire seating sealing lube goop stuff.

i have driven a lot of junk cars with worn out steering over the years, and i've bought a lot of $20 used tires to put on said cars. Times that i've had problems with hopping wheels or tires that shimmy, i've had good luck running them down to like 15 psi and driving around for a couple days, it clears up a lot of weird stuff, just don't take any fast turns!!