How to Fix a Squirrelly Front End?

For my 2004 E450 what solved the looseness in the steering was the replacement of the upper and lower ball joints, and replacing the OE steering damper with a Safe-T-Plus damper/centering device.

Changing the Ford OE damper to a Safe-T-Plus also made a big difference - because it is a damper and a centering device all in one.

Note: even with the above 2 changes I still feel the bow wave of passing trucks (passing me or from the opposite direction), but it is not death-grip-driving anymore.

I also had the OE front sway bar replaced and a rear trac bar (for flat towing) installed. I could probably add a rear sway bar - but it has not been bad enough for it, yet.

When replacing Ford ball joints, use a brand that has Zerk fittings on them. Ford likes to use permanently sealed ball joints. You want to be able to lube them.

I have posts about my chassis upgrades.

Johnny Dearborn wrote:

I'd like to get this right. Afraid how much this is going to hit the wallet!

The additional info helps. 85k miles, some components “could” be wore out but the good news is not likely and certainly not the whole front end.
To what I quoted above, how much it hits the wallet is dependent on how much you are willing or able to do yourself , both in diagnosing and repairs.

Couple more free things to check.
Tire wear? 15k miles is enough to determine if there’s an alignment issue. If tires are wearing evenly then toe and camber is good. Although toe might need adjustment along with caster to make it less floaty.
Weight on the front? Now with the pic, you could have a light front end as others mentioned. Lotta house behind the rear axle. Weigh it and figure out if weight is being pulled offf the front axle. It’ll drive like an old bus if the front end is light.

Back to diagnosing. If you’re unfamiliar , do some YouTubing and then inspect the steering yourself while someone turns the wheel.
Worn steering components are pretty easy to identify.
And what was your last alignment spec sheet? Specifically caster and toe.

If someone knowledgeable near you could help in the diagnosing that would be even better. Better than going back to the alignment shop blind.
Good luck

Before the internet I had a 33 foot RV, was very stressful to drive, horrible actually. Turns out it was the wheelbase to length ratio, **** design, no fixing it. Would assume that too much weight in rear would do same thing.

Tire pressure over the load and inflation tables can also cause instability. Running pressures at what is indicated as max pressure on sidewalls is referred to as riding on bowling balls.

So there I was, over inflated tires, worn steering components, too short a wheelbase towing a van. Lucky to still be alive, sold the thing is less than a year.


https://axleaddict.com/rvs/Why-RV-Wheel-Base-Ratio-Is-Important

Hi Johnny,

What is the wheel base length?

Not related - but saw you are from S. D.
Some of the best RV destinations around there. Have fun once you get it fixed. PM me if you want

Thanks for all of the advice! All of this is going to help when I take it to the repair shop and they tell me what they think is going on and how to fix it.

My rig is a 23 foot camper with about 85,000 miles. I changed the tires about 15,000 miles ago. No change in behavior. I've ruled out the brakes as the culprit. The master cylinder has been cleaned out. The brake lines were swapped from one side to the other. New rotors and calipers etc. I had new shocks put on awhile back. Wanted Bilstein but they were too expensive. Got the next best thing (which now I don't remember).

I'd like to get this right. Afraid how much this is going to hit the wallet!

All good avice above. Just one more thing to add. I suggest you focus your search for a capable shop - To specifically a TRUCK repair facility. Often times businesses that focus on trucks like that have the word Spring in their name.

But the few times I have had to get repairs - automotive shops simply do not cut it for campers. Gotta go to a full blown truch shop.

After you find one have all worn parts replaced. Then nicely ask to have the specs. HARVARD supplied, used on the alignment.

May require purchase of (2) ecentric adjusting cam bushings....

Vague or unresponsive steering is caused by worn steering parts. A common cause is the steering box...since the MH spends most of its time pointed straight ahead, the steering gears wear out in that "on center" position. Most steering boxes have an adjustment to take up the gear lash, but usually that's temporary and the fix is to replace the steering box.

Another thing to look at are the tie rod ends that connect the steering linkage to the wheels, they have ball-joint type ends that also wear out.

If your MH is not consistently pulling to one side or the other, then it's not the brakes or the calipers. Brake issues produce consistent results, i.e., if the left caliper or hose was an issue the MH would pull to the right EVERY time you step on the brakes.

Random "it pulls to one side or the other" symptoms are often steering related. What happens as you brake, pavement variations will influence the MH to go left or right, and the sloppy steering allows that to happen.

Nothing special or fancy about the steering set-up on a 350 chassis, but you need a good mechanic who is capable of diagnosing and repairing all the components of the steering system.

Hi Johnny Dearborn,

You describe two different specific issues
#1 pulls to one side when braking
#2 floats all over the road because of sloppy steering

So...

#1 Pulls To One Side When Braking.
Something is surely wrong with your front brakes that is causing the pulling when braking. There are a few possible causes.

- The most likely cause are your front brake calipers, specifically the slide pins are likely not moving freely. If you removed your brake pads and mounted the calipers back on, you should be able to easily "slide" the calipers in and out from the wheel well, roughly a half inch. Some brake technicians forget to check for sliding caliper action.

- Another cause is that the brake pad backing plates are getting hung up on the caliper brackets. I am uncertain if the E350 of your era utilize stainless steel brake pad clips, or they are direct steel-to-steel contact. In either case, your caliper brackets are rusted and swollen from it which has closed the gap which is preventing your caliper pads from gliding properly across the bracket. At the charity auto shop I volunteer at, we sand blast the area of the caliper bracket that the clips attach, to remove all rust to increase the gap back to the right amount. This prevents brake pad hang-up.

- A third possible cause for pulling to one side would be your caliper brake hoses. Considering the age of your rig, it isn't a bad idea to replace both brake hoses. Sometimes they break down inside causing a restriction. Brake fluid is forced through more slowly when pushing the brake pedal. This reduced flow in one hose is noticed as brake-pull.


#2 Horrible Handling
This was a common complaint when the E350 was new, likely made worse with age and use. Our rig, a 2007 E350-V10 handled poorly when brand new. Making matters worse is the standard 158" wheel base with a large rear over-hang. Based on your signature picture, I see you have a short wheel base with a large rear over-hang like I have.

- First have a reputable shop check for "play" on your ball joints, steering linkage, and steering gear box. Replace what is worn.

- Second, examine your rear axle, specifically look for a rear stabilizer bar. You likely do NOT have one because Ford did not start installing one until 2008 on their E350. Install a heavy duty Helwig or Roadmaster stabilizer bar.

- Third, your front stabilizer bar is likely the original one. That bar is inferior for the application. It is the same one installed on a simple E150 van. Making matters worse is how the stabilizer bar end links were designed. Ford used large rubber donuts for the bar to pass thru on the ends. Examine your rubber donuts. You will likely see a gap where the bar has worn the donut. That gap is "play" further contributing to poor handling. Replace that front bar with heavy duty Helwig or Roadmaster like I advise for the rear.

- Another contributor to poor handling will be your steering stabilizer. It looks like a shock absorber, mounted horizontally on the steering linkage. When it was new, it was inadequate for a motor home application, made worse with age and use. I advise to replace it with a heavy duty version. There are a number of different heavy duty brands available.

- Another contributor to poor handling will be your shock absorbers. Heavy duty Bilstein RV shocks are ideal for your application.
CLICK HERE to read why I feel the Bilstein shocks were a good choice.

Everything I advise for you, I did with our 2007 E350 when it was almost new. The handling transformed from a drunken sailor to an SUV.

Good Luck,
Ron Dittmer

ADDING: There are two more areas to research that would cause poor handling. That is...

- The wrong tire pressure, especially in the front tires.
- A bad wheel alignment.

Get your rig weighed when on a serious vacation. Have everyone stay in their favorite seating positions, have a full tank of gas, empty waste tanks, and a full fresh water tank and propane tank. You want the rig weighed as it is typically driven, not weighed empty. Then apply the right tire pressure based on the actual load.

Regarding a wheel alignment, you want it done in the same manner as when you got the rig weighed. Ideally, you would place weight representing your typical passengers, placed close to those positions. This is good practice because the weight placed in the rig changes the wheel alignment.

Now for something I did recently to our 2007 E350 that maybe you will relate to after your weigh-in. I learned that our front axle had very little load on it. During trips, we run tail-heavy, front-light. The extra weight behind the rear axle, reduces the load on the front axle. I call it "The Teeter-Totter Effect". The difference between a completely empty rig with nobody inside, compared to a full rig with two people in the front seats was only 100 pounds on the front axle.

I compared the actual load to the rating for the front springs. I had so much extra margin on the front springs, causing a rough ride up front. It also visually sat a bit higher than I thought it should. This year I finally got daring and replaced the front coil springs with lower-rated ones. This made a monumental improvement in every way. You can read about my research and results with pictures by CLICKING HERE.

Ford invented the phrase "Keep it between the ditches".
If you still have the Twin I-Beam it was never a good system.
One trick to aligning Twin I-Beam is to replace the coil springs. (sagged over time) The only alternative is to bend the I-Beam which needed special equipment.