2003 Ford F53 chassis issues.

[mrsilv04]

Drove a 2003 motorhome today with a Ford F53 chassis and a V-10, and 35,000 miles.

Two things that bothered me.

1) The steering wheel was at the 1 o'clock and 7 o'clock position... instead of at 3 and 9 o'clock. Also, I felt some wander in the front end, and also what I can only describe as a hard spot, where the steering got stiffer when I was trying to make small corrections at 55 mph, and then once it would get past the hard spot, and it would free back up.

2) The other issue was that there was a grumbly, rolling resonance in the driveline starting at 58mph, that didn't go away above 58. I took it up to 65 and never lost it. Badly out of balance tire? Driveshaft issue?

Unit has 19.5" BFG tires on the front, Coopers on the rear. They are 4 years old with 15,000 miles on them.

Other than that, it rides like it is the chassis for a FedEx truck... wait... it is probably *IS* the same chassis.

 

[bullwinkle]

Might want to have a look at the steering gearbox-I had a work truck that did that years ago-then the steering gave out!

 

[artificialist]

PS gearbox +1

Also, you may have a steering shaft, or steering shaft u-joints that are failing.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Might be a weak PS pump.

 

[another Todd]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Might be a weak PS pump.


+1. I have a 1996 F53 motorhome, thankfully with the 460 cu in V8. I had the same problem with the hard spot in the steering. The dealer replaced the steering box (under the extended warrantee, but it still cost me $300) and that did not fix it, then they said that's just the way they are. I did an internet search and the first item that popped up was a TSB describing my problem exactely and indicated it was a PS pump with too low flow. Checked the manufacturer date on the pump against the TSB and sure enough it was the one. Went back to the dealer and asked to have the pump replaced and they didn't want to do it, unless I paid another $200. I refused and told them it was their problem for not checking TSBs before replacing the steering box. They finally relented and replaced the pump for free and that solved the problem. Moral of the story, do your homework before letting anyone start replacing parts by guessing what the problem is, even at the dealer.