Aaron_Johnson Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Has anyone else seen any steering box failures on 06-07 f250-550 trucks? I have 2 fleets with a few failures as well as some customer units I know about. The boxes either lock up and won't turn, or break the gear inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 We have seen two that would lock up and just as mysteriously, unlock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Same here.... about three with a "mysterious" lock up and at least two that locked up after getting intimate with a ditch. I've also seen a few with a loose sector shaft lower bearing... These can be difficult to detect but can be the cause of wander and steering wheel fight.... If you suspect one of these, place thumb and forefinger on each side of the pitman arm so that you are touching both arm and box.... Have an assistant rock the steering wheel ever so slightly and feel for side motion... Even a very small deflection can deliver quite a bit of "lost motion" and make the truck a chore to drive.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastendpowerstroke Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 funny that you would bring this up I was thinking about the exact same post.. I recently had three boxes that would intermittently loose power assist and one box that had so much assist it was like the pitman arm wasn't hooked up. My parts manager asked me "whats up with these steering boxes" since we hadn't done a steering box in close to a year then three in about a month?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron_Johnson Posted September 10, 2007 Author Share Posted September 10, 2007 Are you guys replacing them under warranty? Our DOM (im pretty sure grandpa jim knows him) refuses to cover them. He says the box failures are due to impact dammage even though I'll be damned if I can find any evidence. He also told me that the "lock pin" on the input shaft was broken due to impact dammage.....funny but I can't find this pin he is talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 Our DOM (im pretty sure grandpa jim knows him) refuses to cover them. He says the box failures are due to impact dammage even though I'll be damned if I can find any evidence. He also told me that the "lock pin" on the input shaft was broken due to impact dammage.....funny but I can't find this pin he is talking about. Theres a lawsuit waiting to happen. First totaled truck, injury or death and that box is suspect they will be crawling around that truck like ants. Just mention locking steering gear and... let's not start any trouble but prove the failures are from shock. Please? Unless the product is defective I should think it is tough enough to withstand a beating. What nonsense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 There's a chance he's got "lock pin" (whatever that might be) and "torsion bar" mixed up.... There is a small torsion bar in the spool valve that is designed to offer "road feel" to the operator.... This torsion bar connects the input shaft of the box directly to the worm screw.... When the steering wheel deflection is enough to twist the bar, the spool valve will move. If this torsion bar breaks, power assist will be instantaneous and copious.... For my part, worn sector shaft bearings get warranty... no problems thus far.... Locked steering boxes make me push for CP... I've seen two with bent upper ball joint studs along with locked boxes.... We can see that "something" happened in these cases... I have never been given the opportunity to open a box and see what failed and how.... The question bears asking.... were the trucks of yesteryear overbuilt? Or are todays trucks pussified by the bean counters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 All of the locked steering failures I've seen are on "patch" trucks.... The oil patch exacts a toll on trucks that many never get to see.... One mile on one of our "private" roads can be worth more than 10 on a public road. We have some companies that "mile their trucks out" at 80,000 kms (50,000 miles) because of the beating they take. Pity the poor sumbatch that picks one of these up at the auction.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron_Johnson Posted September 11, 2007 Author Share Posted September 11, 2007 Well he came down and went through all these boxes with the foreman and from what I observed he doesn't know s$*# from peanut butter as he kept calling the input shaft the sector shaft. He said that there was a lock pin that keeps the nut on the input shaft from backing off which was what happened on this box with low mileage. How could that be caused by impact dammage? These trucks were patch/ft mac trucks, but 2 for sure wern't. One was in newfoundland, and one was a truck that just got rigged up with a deck and hadn't even made it on site yet, had 3000kms i believe. In my opinion they shouldn't sell these as off road 4x4 trucks if they can't be used for that. You don't see gm or dodge trucks with steering boxes locking up going down the road and they use those trucks in the patch and ft mac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted September 11, 2007 Share Posted September 11, 2007 The sad truth is that we (meaning us in the wilderness) mean little to the corporate entity... To build a truck for us would increase the selling price astronomically... something that would price any manufacturer right out of the market.... I once read that Canada accounts for about 10% of Fords global market.... The oilpatch would account for something akin to the dimple on the pimple on a fleas left nut, Hardly enough for the bean counters to get concerned over.... You, my friend, are a redheaded step child (as are the rest of us in Gods province).... We are to take what we get and that's that.... In the book "On A Clear Day, You Can See General Motors", John DeLorean quoted a top level GM exec. as saying "General Motors is NOT in the business of making cars.... It IS in the business of making money".... This applies to all marques and is something we all have to live with.... It's not about "built Ford tough".... at the same time, I usually hear "I've had my best LUCK with Ford trucks...". I see Daryl is offering "basic automatic trans..." - hopefully I will soon darken his doorstep for one last time.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron_Johnson Posted September 11, 2007 Author Share Posted September 11, 2007 Id argue with you Jim. but you're not wrong with all of that....and I don't think it would do me any good lol I was just curious to see if our friends down south had any of these failing in "normal" operating conditions. I'll have to tell focusboy and make sure he gets into them for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastendpowerstroke Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 The question bears asking.... were the trucks of yesteryear overbuilt? Or are todays trucks pussified by the bean counters? DING WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!You just answered your own question. My personal rule on Steering boxes is if it leaks but has no play I'll reseal it,other than that it gets a box .PERIOD. I don't want to open the shop or my self to the liability of a box that may fail. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/2cents.gif FWIW I'm a Sr. Master tech and in all the count less hours of classroom training I took, I never disassembled a box or rack in class...how about any of you guys?? /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/shrug.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 "Back in the day".... this was how everything was done... steering boxes were repaired.... (sector shaft replacement, recirculating ball nut parts were available) you can still get the D7AZ-3E50?-? seal kits.. Similarly, generators (both DC and AC) were repaired , PS pumps, starters (brushes, bushings, machining the commutator).. you name it. These were all done in the shop by line techs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron_Johnson Posted September 12, 2007 Author Share Posted September 12, 2007 Back home we used to do sector shaft seal kits all the time. I have yet to see anyone here in the west do one. They are available though, we had a couple kicked back because the tech replaced the boxes instead of just the seal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekanik Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 I've got 1 today that locks up and acts like it has no assist. It seems to only happen on left turns. It's a 2005. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 If it's a 4X4, make sure you aren't dealing with a siezed u-joint at the steering knuckle.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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