2001 Ford F-350 SD: ball joint or control arm failure

Filed May 3, 2005 · Brakes, Steering · OH

I am having a problem with my steering and brakes.at times while driving my steering wheel will lock up and be very jerky,at times the steering wheel will go back and forth very fast and you cannot hold wheel straight.I have had this vehicle to the dealer 2 times in a week for this problem they replaced ball joints,steering stabilizer and tierodends.the problem still exsist and I have called dealer and they said they contacted ford and they are unsure of what else it could be.the brakes are also locking up while driving and when stopped there is alot of smoke from both rear brakes.again this is not all the time so dealer says they cannot fix this as well.I am very concerned I have a family that is in this vehicle and both of these issures are saftey.

Filed Mar 26, 2005 · Suspension · 27,285 miles · WI

Scrapping noise heard after hard left or right turn. Found to have bad upper and lower ball joints. Ford dealership replaced the two lower and suggested that the uppers were showing signs of wear. Cost for replacement was $727.00 (old parts are available) the vehicle is a 2001 ford f350 super duty truck with only 27k miles to date. Is this normal, or are others having the same problem?

Filed Apr 25, 2003 · Brakes, Steering · 45,000 miles · CT

2001 ford f-350 7.3 crew cab super duty purchased new . At 48000 miles bought it in for a steering wander problem and front brake pulsation. Dealer diagnosed the problem to be bad upper and lower ball joints and bad drag link. I do not tow or plow with this vehicle have had it serviced at dealerships for most of its service life don't think that the truck should have bad ball joint this young in its service life. The wander makes the truck tricky to drive in winter conditions when you have to stay in the tire tracks on snow covered roads . You cant take your eyes off the road for a second the truck starts to wander not that your supposed to take your eyes off the road. As for the brake pulsation had the rotors turned @ 34000 miles because of the same problem it came back at about 38000 miles on a long trip now no towing and no unusual hard braking. The pulsation makes the truck hard to steer during moderate braking events.

Filed Jan 18, 2003 · Brakes · MN

While braking, vehicle will pull to left, right & sometimes to both directions. This degree of pulling will vary depending upon vehicle run time and temperature. Sometimes this pulling is extreme other times only moderate or slight. When pulling a trailer with any wieght, it is greatly accentuated. I have argued with the ford dealership regarding this complaint without a satisfactory conclusion. The dealership brought in an engineer who said this was a "normal" condition and your department had investigated this complaint and found no fault with this issue. My vehicle has had this problem since day one of ownership. This vehicle will pull/chatter constantly for days and other days it will not. Since 20 dec 2002, my family has tracked the issue everytime the vehicle is driven all for the puroposes of assisting the diagnostic repair of this issue. It appears the more the vehicle is driven or the warmer the vehicle gets, the more it acts up. If fomoco says this is not an issue, why then have they replaced my front springs, ball joints and installed special expensive brake pads? I firmly believe this vehicle and many others have a braking issue fomoco refuses to deal with either by not having proper diagnostic tools and knowledge to repair this problem. I have 20+ years of experience working on military vehicles and was ase certified in 1987 on brake systems. Please review this complaint carefully as I believe accidents will occur with many serious injuries. As of this date, we are still monitoring this vehicle in hopes you can and will investigate this and conclude there is a problem so ford will fix it. This information is available for your review.

Filed Dec 19, 2002 · Steering · 7,000 miles · MN

Truck drifts to side of road or pulls hard and sudden when moderate to hard braking is applied. Effect is not as apparent after alignment is performed. Approximately 7 attempts were made to repair. Tie rod pulled apart while driving.