I have a 1997 Ford F-150 XL 4x4 with a 4.6 litre engine.

For the past few months I have noticed a growing problem that I want to get fixed now. What happens is that when I'm going at any speed including coasting, the wheel wants to jerk right. To put it mildly, if I let go of the steering wheel, I can change lanes in less than 2 seconds at 50km/h. It's not very fun at all as at high speeds, I fight the wheel and the truck feels like it's hitting many small bumps even on a flat road. The tires also don't show signs of wear.

I was told it isn't a Front End Alignment issue and it could be something about ball joints or rods. I'm quite a newbie with this truck so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Could very well be the front end. What kind of mileage have you got on the truck?

Gerald

 

I've got 101,000 Km's which would be about 63,000 miles. I've owned this truck since 2002 and it had 57k kms which is about 38,000 miles I believe.

What would you think is wrong with the front end.

 

Could be a brake caliper that's not releasing completely.

 

Here are some things to do. In increasing cost sequence. Get a Haynes etc. manual for locations and correct checks.

Drive next to somebody and have them look at your front tires for something unusual.
Rotate your tires front to back to eliminate a internal tire failure.
While rotating the tires check the wheel bearings and brakes.
Visually and mechanically (yank, kick, tuck) check the upper and lower balljoints, tierods, pitman arm and shocks.
Have the alignment and frontend checked by a competent mechanic.

Fritz

 

I went to one of the local Ford dealers and asked the Tech about it. He said it sounds like the belts in the tires. So Tomorrow I'm going to rotate the tires and put the spare on the back. Then if that all works out, that will be great.