Rag Joint on the F53 steering???

[ThorResidencyNe]

Does anyone know if there is a rag joint on the steering shaft for the F53 chassis? I ask because there seems to be a little play at the steering wheel when the RV is parked. I've inspected all the joints, lubed everything, the alignment is good, the power steering fluid is good, the tires are the same brand and all in good condition and the tire pressure is correct based on the weight when I got it weighed. The RV is not overloaded or incorrectly loaded because I don't have anything in it at the moment. The RV is a 1997 with a 460.

It drives good, but does have a little wander that requires some corrections on the freeway. I have also looked under the RV at the steering when someone jiggled the steering wheel and can't see anything.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

[ThorResidencyNe]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will take a look tomorrow.

[Jagtech]

I was experiencing excessive play in the steering wheel on my '97 F53. It turned out to be a very slight amount of looseness (almost imperceptible) in the splined shaft, which is just above the steering box, below the steering wheel. The u-joints on that shaft were fine, but the ever-so-slight rotational looseness in the spline was causing about 1-1/2" of play at the rim of the steering wheel. The replacement part from Ford (pricey) was a somewhat different design, so I'm guessing there was a design weakness in these. It made a huge difference in the driveability of my coach. You can barely feel the looseness if you put your hand over the place where the inner spline exits the outer, and move the steering wheel back-and-forth.

[Timster]

Do not try to adjust backlash in steering box,do try and find the top steering box bearing grease zirk and ad grease to it,many people overlook this critical lube point,and yes it is there,look towards top facing front of rv.Backlash is hard to adjust and usually causes more harm than good.

[koda55]

We have a 2005 on a 2004 f53 chassis. It would wander all over the road. The play had been adjusted and it still did the same. I grabbed the input at the top of the gear box and it had a quarter inch of play each side of center. This was with the engine off. I replaced the steering box and now can drive with one hand and no white knuckles. Mine had 31,987 mile on it.

[tatest]

It is recirculating ball steering gear, it will have more play than a really tight rack and pinion (used on almost all passenger cars today, since power steering became standard equipment) but not as much play as worm and sector.

The play in the steering gear may be somewhat adjustable, and minute play anywhere in the linkage and suspension (including tire flex) gets multiplied going back to the steering wheel. Your chassis is old enough to have some wear. A good mechanic at truck alignment shop should be able to assess whether the play in your steering is normal or excessive.

Those of us who started driving in cars from the 30's through the 70's are used to using the inch or so of steering play at the wheel rim. It comes down to movement to some point of pressure feedback, and usually on a crown or in a crosswind, holding and relaxing against that pressure, not centering or crossing to the other side.

I have more problems at the other extreme. My most recent car (a Fit) has so little play, so much boost, so little feedback pressure, that to me it is twitchy. Hard to drive with more than a couple fingers. I understand that other small cars with electric power steering have a similar lack of feel and free play.

[MountainAir05]

shift more weight to the front if you can.

[OnaQuest]

I'm not sure just what you expect form a bread truck chassis, but that's what an F53 is. It will never drive like a car no matter what you do.

You simply have to learn to drive it. The constant steering corrections will seem much less severe if you will focus your eyes further down the road and drive the vehicle more like a sail boat than a car. Just my very ammused opinion.