Good evening all! I just replaced the pitman arm on my 2003 F150 SCrew Fx4 with the 5.4l. After the replacement, my steering wheel is off about 1/4 turn to the right. The truck drives straight and tracks straight, but the steering wheel is off.

Since I didn't mess with any tie rods or other components, I am thinking the issue lies in the connection of the pitman arm to the steering box. Before I installed the new arm, I marked the orientation of the output shaft to the housing. When I installed the new arm, i made sure the marks were lined up.

Any tips to get this back to good? Thanks for the help!

 

Your steering wheel had to have turned, IMO. Easiest way to fix it is pull the pitman and straighten out the wheel, then reinstall.

 

That is what I thought. I have pulled it about 5 times and reinstalled with the same results. I just can't get it to stay straight for some reason.

 

There's got to be an easier way to straighten the steering wheel than removing the pitman arm. Anybody have the answer? I've got a 97 F150 2WD.

 

Front end alignment

 

The front end isn't out of alignment. A previous owner obviously messed with the suspension and didn't make sure the steering was straight when they put it back together.

 

I had a steering gear put on a car last year. It wasn't out of alignment either. With the new gear, the steering wheel was crooked. An alignment was the only fix.

 

My steering wheel is also not straight but I dont mind. Its aligned and drivers great. That's what's important I think. To each his own.

 

Sometimes with a really off-center wheel the turn signals wont cancel correctly.

 

I mind.