Truck sway and and stability

Trick is 2 wheel drive. I will have it weighed and see what that shows. I have checked wheel bearings, tie rod ends, new sway bar links, checked ball joints. Tires are new Hercules 225 70 R 19.5. Thanks again for the information

Just some more grist for your wander mill. When I loaded the camper on the truck for the first time, i noticed the truck now wandered more. then I started loading up the front end with a big winch and winch bumper. Still wandered. The fix was not unknown to Dodge Ram people and consisted of a cross bar, similar to a frame member that attached to the steering box with a big bronze bushing. The problem was the frame would twist under load from the steering box. This helped quite a bit.
Otherwise, it could be a lot of things, as mentioned above. The F450 has a very stout frame, so I don't think it's like the earlier F250's that had a lot frame flex. Check the steering box and tie rod/drag link, leaf spring bushings, centering bolts, by having someone turn the steering wheel, slowly, lock to lock (at idle) while you, (gulp) crawl under there and see if anything is moving that shouldn't be moving. This how I found out about the famous Dodge steering box flex problem. Tires make a big difference in wander. Try airing up a bit more, or airing down a bit. Maybe you can find the sweet spot. I did this. I found if I had the fronts at too high a pressure the wandering increased. Uneven tire wear from bad alignment/caster/camber could be part of the problem. Front wheel bearings, AKA 'unit bearings' on a Dodge are notoriously underbuilt. Do you have the AAM front end?
Jack the front end up one wheel at a time and roll and wrestle with the tire to see if it has ANY play on the spindle. If so, do a wheel bearing service. Fact is, each mfgr. has a few achiles heels that must be delt with.
jefe

Further, 19.5"s as someone else said DO tend to wander some at first, depending on brand. Do you have at least 1-2K miles on them at this point? Which tire brand/model are they?

Both new sets of 19.5"ers I've bought wandered at first. The Michelins calmed down after 1-2K. The current Hankooks wander more than the Michelins did, but not very much.

Didn't the earlier F550's have a narrower front end than the later ones?

The first thing I would do is go weigh as a truck stop. If your front end is lighter loaded than unloaded, it will cause the truck to steer poorly and wander. The hard data will help answer that. $8 and you will know.

Is your truck 4WD?

My point is that the traction style tires do not track as nicely as the highway tires due to tread design. As pointed out, some tread designs are better on the front than others and some require a little wear in before performing well.

Bedlam wrote:
19.5" tires have patterns for steer and traction. If you use traction tires on all four corners (like I do), you will get more wander out of the front end.

Look for looseness in your spindle bearings and steering parts if this is something that has changed over time.

I have 4 traction type tires on 19.5" Ricksons and have no problem with wandering:h

Hauled my Lance 1040 on a 93 F-250 SW, now it sits on a 95 F-350 Dually, both extended cab 8' box, front end wander was fixed on both trucks by installing softer front springs.

Check all the front end suspension parts listed and also look for any loose mountings.
On a friends truck that was wandering. I found the steering box mounting bolts had come loose.

Check your front axle tracking arm bushings.

The tracking arm runs laterally, connecting one frame rail to the axle on the opposite side of the truck.

The factory rubber bushings wear out, allowing the ends of the arm to have play in the mounts, which allows the axle to move a little bit side to side.

Replace the factory rubber bushings with Energy Suspension or Prothane polyurethane bushings. The polyurethane bushings are much stiffer than the rubber ones and last much longer.

Other things that can cause the truck to wander are-

-Worn out tie rod ends
-Worn out steering gear box
-Worn out steering stabilizer shock
-Worn out king pins (ball joints on lesser trucks).
-Bad tire (tread seperation)

I've owned my TC now for 4 summers, and this was the first year I have felt somewhat comfortable driving it. Putting 80 lbs of air in the rear tires seemed to help the sway the most of anything I bought or did. Maybe that is the cheapest solution. Oh, and less driving around town on our crappy streets helped.

The flat bed is an all aluminum custom bed with diamond plate boxes on both sides and does set about 18 inches higher. The tires are 19.5 14 ply so the side walls should be heavy enough. The truck does wander with out the camper on it and it is wander not sway, I do get a certain amount of sway but not bad. I thought it may be because the 450 has front leaf springs and a straight axle. any more thoughts appreciated. It isn't so bad that it scares me but I am used to driving a 3500 CC dually GMC and pulling a 40 foot fifth wheel and no wander what so ever. This is my first TC so it may be normal for them. I do enjoy the TC we spent 5 months in it this past summer so it is here to stay.