VigII

acdii, I cannot point you to the source, but before I bought my '17 I recall reading that they changed something with the electric steering to eliminate complaints common to the '16. I don't recall what those complaints were, but you might have something going on in you '16 related to the changes in the '17. If I find the article, I'll link it in this thread. I hope someone on this thread can look too, I'm not in a place with a good ISP.

acdii

Thanks!

A little more information on this. I did some testing on the way home and what I discovered may shed some light on what I am experiencing.

If I am on a smooth road, centered in the lane, it acts like I would expect, but, if I were to jerk the wheel to the left a tad, just about maybe a one inch jerk on the wheel, it will start to pull to the left, and if I recenter, and wiggle the wheel just a little and get it traveling straight again, and then jerk to the right, it will now pull to the right.

Now on a rough road, I don't need to jerk the wheel, hitting bumps will do it for me, as it will start to pull to the left, or to the right, so I am fighting the wheel all the time. I found this by driving with one finger on the wheel and noticing how much effort it takes to keep it going straight.

Now that I have something to go on, I can set up an appointment to have the front end inspected, could be a ball joint causing it, which if it is, and makes it handle the way it did when I first bought the truck I will be happy. I don't know when it started acting up, but I noticed that at some point it started to pull to the right, and ever since it have been off, even after having it aligned. It was fine after installing the Bilstiens, and have at least 10K miles on them before I started towing, and I think that is when I first noticed it, I had pushed too much weight on the front end with the WDH. Maybe thats what did it.

8100hd

I doubt shifting weight with the WD hitch has broke or damaged something on the front end. You said before that the back end of the truck was dancing around, now it's the front? It just seems like you're headed off in all different directions with this. Do you know anyone that has a different trailer that could take the truck setup the WD and drive it and give they're opinion?

acdii

I thought it was the back before I took home a 1000 pound load on Saturday and figured out what it was really doing. Without a trailer on the rear to kick out, the whole issue stood out. Since I am constantly correcting while towing, eventually the sway bar pops and resets the trailer. Thats what kicks the rear end, and made me think the rear was doing it, when all along it has been the front doing it.

Pretty confident the issue is in the steering, just what it is, don't know, but driving home tonight I was able to pinpoint what it is doing. When the front end is lightened up from weight in the bed or the trailer, it is more pronounced than when empty. Something is changing when hitting bumps, which changes the angles somewhere. Could be a ball joint that's gone bad. The fact that I can change which direction it pulls with a tug on the steering wheel is enough for me to know thats the cause of the issues.

Siskiyou

How many miles does the truck have on it?

Simnut

I hope this solves your situation acdii!!!!!

Maybe those intersections will be safe now!

8100hd

There seems to be a lot complaints about steering on 2015 and higher f150s. Fords Pull Drift Compenstion system (EPAS) is the most likely problem. They think they can drive the vehicle for you. As much as I like the looks of the Ford F-150, I'm so glad I never actually bought one. A quick scan of the TSB's for this truck confirms I did the right thing. The 250s seem better for sure.

Siskiyou

It would be interesting to know more about this and if it is contributing to the sway issue. I noticed mine will sometimes pull slightly one way and other times the other way also. I would prefer the truck to just leave the driving to me.

VigII

Acdii & Siskiyou, does the truck behave like in this guy's '16 does in this Youtube video?

acdii

It did, but not to that extreme. The wheel was never canted except when the trailer was connected and after making a turn due to the overly tight sway bar.

I do have an update. Swapping tires has calmed the beast somewhat. Once I get the correct tire pressures on the left side, hoping that the left pull goes away. I have 42 on the right tires, but 39 and 40 on the left.

I can no longer jerk the wheel to induce a pull, when I jerk it right, it will still pull left, so it appears the hard treads on the old tires were the cause. With 68K on them and 3/32 still left above the wear indicators, I got a lot of use from them, but it appears that the tread compound is so hard now that they are causing tracking issues. When the weight is lifted off the front, from a load in the back or a trailer attached, I believe it amplified the issue making it worse.

I drove to work today with barely any pressure on the steering wheel, just enough to keep it from pulling left, and got yelled at a lot from the LKA.

Fingers crossed that this is the root cause of the issues, and if it is, will be replacing the Duellers. I have the GY LT's on now, and man are they squishy and loud. I also have those ugly chrome wheels on instead of the wheels that I had on the 14, which is why I bought the 14, I liked the wheels.

I may go with a set of Cooper Discoverer X/T4 instead of another set of duellers, once I can confirm they are quiet. They supposedly have better wet traction and are really good in snow.

I will confirm on the way home tonight if the erratic pulling is gone for sure by doing it on the exact same roads I did last night, and have good hopes that it wont.

Process of elimination, got to start somewhere.


Well...damn...X/T4 is a Canadian tire! grrr.