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.
