Frame is flexing on the driver's side

[CDLong]

Yesterday we got Big Red, 1985 F-150 302 EFI Auto 4x4 fired up again. When I told Steve about havin' to constantly turn the steering wheel back & forth to stay straight, he had me turn it and checked the steering shaft and steering box. He saw that the frame is flexin' forward of the dual shock mount. He had me continue to turn the wheel and checked the frame for cracks. He didn't find any. The crossmember,(?), that the sway bar mounts to is bent and I think this may be the problem. I noticed it was bending where the crease is. I need help finding a replacement.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Often the problem is that the frame cracks behind the steering box (between the two vertical bolts)

If you stand in front of the truck while somebody else turns the wheel side to side (with the engine running) you will observe the driver's side of the bumper rise and fall.

Gary's frame was cracked and the Huck bolt loose.

He has pictures of welding that back up and adding some spacers so both sides of the frame are supported under the bolt pressure.

Your "crossmember" is only there for the sway bar mounts.

A) lots of them get bent when someone who shouldn't own a chain gets pulled, or tries to pull someone else out.

B) Tens of millions of these trucks didn't come with sway bars, or that stamped plate.

None of those trucks handled badly when they left the factory.

[Gary Lewis]

Often the problem is that the frame cracks behind the steering box (between the two vertical bolts)

If you stand in front of the truck while somebody else turns the wheel side to side (with the engine running) you will observe the driver's side of the bumper rise and fall.

Gary's frame was cracked and the Huck bolt loose.

He has pictures of welding that back up and adding some spacers so both sides of the frame are supported under the bolt pressure.

Your "crossmember" is only there for the sway bar mounts.

A) lots of them get bent when someone who shouldn't own a chain gets pulled, or tries to pull someone else out.

B) Tens of millions of these trucks didn't come with sway bars, or that stamped plate.

None of those trucks handled badly when they left the factory.

Yes, Jim is right - more than he's said. I've not only had the frame cracked on Dad's truck, but I had the huck bolt loose on that truck and on Big Blue.

The huck bolt is an odd looking fastener that is in the joint on the driver's side where the engine crossmember hits the frame. It frequently gets loose and that was addressed in TSB 97-03-10 FRAME CREAKING/POPPING. But the huck bolt doesn't usually let the frame flex. Instead it lets the frame pop when you change directions. However, I guess if it had been loose long enough that the holes in the frame were enlarged then it could allow the frame to flex a bit.

In my thread on FTE called Dad's Frame & Suspension you can see the huck bolt, but you can also see the crack in the frame that Jim mentioned. Those holes in the frame are the ones that hold the steering box on and that's where the crack developed. And in that thread you can see how I welded it up and reinforced it.

But, while you have that steering box off, and you'll probably have to do so to find a crack, I urge you to replace the box. The original boxes on these trucks are usually very worn and cause a whole lot of the steering problems you described. But there are "rebuilt" boxes and there are "REBUILT" boxes.

Ford's original design for the box calls for the front of the input shaft to ride in a recess in the box as the bearing. But by now that recess is worn and allows movement of the shaft as you steer. And all of the rebuilders but two just use the box the way it is so the box you get from them will be better but not "great".

Redhead and Blue Top go farther by boring out that recess and pressing a true bearing in there so the box is really better than new. I just replaced a rebuilt box on Big Blue that the previous paid big bucks for with a Blue Top and the change was dramatic. The steering is excellent and I no longer have to think about keeping it in its lane. Yes, the Blue Top was expensive at $255, but it is WELL worth it.

 

[CDLong]

Often the problem is that the frame cracks behind the steering box (between the two vertical bolts)

If you stand in front of the truck while somebody else turns the wheel side to side (with the engine running) you will observe the driver's side of the bumper rise and fall.

Gary's frame was cracked and the Huck bolt loose.

He has pictures of welding that back up and adding some spacers so both sides of the frame are supported under the bolt pressure.

Your "crossmember" is only there for the sway bar mounts.

A) lots of them get bent when someone who shouldn't own a chain gets pulled, or tries to pull someone else out.

B) Tens of millions of these trucks didn't come with sway bars, or that stamped plate.

None of those trucks handled badly when they left the factory.

Thank you sir. I assume I can just straighten the crossmember that the sway bar mounts to?

[ArdWrknTrk]

Thank you sir. I assume I can just straighten the crossmember that the sway bar mounts to?

Yes, that's easy enough to do if you take it out and hammer it flat.

[Rembrant]

Yes, that's easy enough to do if you take it out and hammer it flat.

Ya, that front crossmember...if you can even call it that, is surprisingly flimsy. It's hard to even find a Bullnose with one of these crossmembers that isn't bent lol.

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, that's easy enough to do if you take it out and hammer it flat.

Ya, that front crossmember...if you can even call it that, is surprisingly flimsy. It's hard to even find a Bullnose with one of these crossmembers that isn't bent lol.

Very true. I've replaced several of those crossmembers that were bent, but good ones are hard to find.

[85lebaront2]

Very true. I've replaced several of those crossmembers that were bent, but good ones are hard to find.

It is interesting that the heavy duty 2WD trucks do not have a crossmember there for the sway bar, it is just attached to two brackets at the frame sides.

[CDLong]

Yes, that's easy enough to do if you take it out and hammer it flat.

Thanks to all for the help. I found a crack in the steering box mount. I have searched for a new mounting bracket, but only found used on EvilBay. This will probably be a spring repair because I want to replace the steering box as Gary suggested, but Santa is too close the spend that money now.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks to all for the help. I found a crack in the steering box mount. I have searched for a new mounting bracket, but only found used on EvilBay. This will probably be a spring repair because I want to replace the steering box as Gary suggested, but Santa is too close the spend that money now.

I'm reminded of Crocodile Dundee - That's not a knife, this is a knife.

I don't think you have a crack, you have a break.

But I don't know if you really want to replace that part. That's because it is welded to the top of the frame, as shown below on a pic from Dad's truck. So if you were to replace it you'd have to not only drill the many rivets out, you'd also have to cut that weld out - and then weld the new part to the top of the frame.

I'm wondering if it wouldn't be easier to repair the part you have in the truck. With the steering box out you should have a fairly straight shot at the break. But you might want to reinforce it, if you can, by welding a piece over the break after you weld it up.

And, when you pull the box check behind it for breaks as with that break lower down things are bound to flex up above - and eventually break there as well.