1999 Ford F-250 Steering Problems

My fiancé & I were driving down a 35mph road & I told her my steering wheel was a little crooked & I don't remember hitting anything to knock out of alignment. We got to my friends house to move a car trailer for him up his steep driveway. I hooked up to the trailer pulled it out, moved it around to line up to back up driveway & making the last adjustment all of a sudden I was turning my steering wheel but the tires were not turning, jumped out to find the output shaft of the steering box was cracked in half diagonally & the steering arm was laying on the street. When I got under the truck & looked at the part that broke you could see it was fractured for a long time. There was only about an 1/8" on one side that was raw metal from just finally breaking. Thank God we are alive if it would have happened going fast probably would have killed someone.

I WAS GOING DOWN THE FREEWAY @ 65MPH AND I NOTICED MY STEERING WAS NOT RESPONDING IN THE NORMAL WAY. I HAD MADE IT TO A EXIT AND STOPPED AT LIGHT TRIED TO MAKE RIGHT TURN TRUCK CONTINUED STRAIGHT, AND I WAS STOPPED IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC IN CA. GOT OUT AND SAW MY SECTOR SHAFT HAD BROKEN OFF MY STEERING GEAR BOX.

I TURNED RIGHT INTO A PAINT STORE PARKING LOT AFTER LEAVING A MAJOR HIGHWAY (M-32) WITH MY 1999 FORD F250 (69000 MILES) AND NOTICED A SLIPPING FEELING IN MY STEERING. WHEN I TRIED TO BACK UP TO LEAVE THE PAINT STORE MY RIGHT FRONT WHEEL WAS POINTED TO THE FAR RIGHT AND MY LEFT WHEEL WAS STRAIGHT. I LOOKED UNDER THE RIGHT WHEEL AREA AND SAW THE TIE ROD END WAS SEPARATED FROM THE STEERING ROD. I HAD THE TRUCK TRANSPORTED ON A FLAT BED TO A REPAIR SHOP. I HAD ALL THE TIE ROD ENDS REPLACED. THE REPAIR SHOP, BEDFORD'S MUFFLER & BRAKE (9893458732) HAS SEEN THIS SAME TYPE OF FAILURE RECENTLY ON A FORD. I HAVE THE FAILED PARTS AND HAVE CONTACTED FORD OVER A WEEK AGO. THEY HAVE NOT RESPONDED. *LA

THE FRONT TIRE ROD FELL OFF THE VEHICLE. THE DEALER WAS NOTIFIED. *AK BOTH FRONT OUTER TIE ROD ENDS WERE REPLACED. *SCC *JB

WHILE REVERSING , VEHICLE LOST STEERING POWER. THE STEERING WHEEL WILL TURN, BUT THE VEHICLE WILL NOT GO IN THE DIRECTION THAT IT'S BEING TURNED. THE VEHICLE'S STEERING SECTOR SHAFT HAD BROKE.

WHILE TRAVELING ON THE HIGHWAY AND WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING THE CONSUMER LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE, THIS FAILURE WAS AS A RESULT OF THE STEERING COLUMN LOCKING UP. PLEASE FURNISH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION DEALER IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM.*JB

WHEN MAKING A TURN POWER STEERING RETURN LINE POPPED OUT CAUSING LOSS OF STEERING CAPABILITIES, THIS OCCURANCE ALMOST RESULTED IN AN ACCIDENT .*AK *NLM

WHILE DRIVING STEERING SECTOR SHAFT BROKE, CAUSING LOSS OF STEERING.*AK

WHILE TURNING INTO DRIVEWAY AT 30 MPH THE TIE ROD END FELL OFF.*AK *NLM

STEERING SECTOR SHAFT BROKE. IT HAPPENED JUST AS CONSUMER PULLED OFF THE FREEWAY. NO INJURIES WERE SUSTAINED.*AK *TT

THE POWER STEERING WENT OUT AND THE BRAKES WERE NOT WORKING PROPERLY, THE VEHICLE SHOOK VERY HARD WHEN THE BRAKES WERE APPLIED. IN JULY OF 2000 THE NEWSPAPER IN BECKLEY, WV , THE REGISTER-HERALD, RAN AN ARTICLE THAT NHTSA REPORTS THAT THE FORD F-SERIES SUPER DUTY TRUCK HAD PROBLEMS OF LOSING THEIR STEERING AND BRAKES. AND THEY COULD GO OUT WITHOUT ANY WARNINGS. THAT HAPPENED TO MY TRUCK. FORD DENIES KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT IT. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE REPORT? I HAVE ASKED TO TALK TO FORD ENGINEERS AND HAVE BEEN REFUSED. WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT THIS? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?*AK

MY TRUCK WAS INVOLVED IN A ACCIDENT. MENTION WAS MADE BY THE DRIVER THAT THE STEERING COLUMN SEEMED TO GO OUT. I IGNORED HIS COMMENTS AND SIMPLY ASSUMED THAT HE WAS DRIVING TOO FAST AND LOST CONTROL. ON MAY 11, 2001 I READ AN ARTICLE IN THE KANSAS CITY STAR THAT INDICATED YOUR AGENCY WAS OPENING AN INVESTIGATION INTO "FRACTURES IN THE STEERING GEAR SHAFT OF FORD F-SERIES SUPER DUTY TRUCKS. I FAXED THE ARTICLE TO THE SHOP REPAIRING MY TRUCK. HENRY MILLS, MILLS AUTOMOTIVE, MARSHALL, MISSOURI, INSPECTED THE VECHICLE, CALLED ME BACK ALMOST IMMEDIATELY INFORMING THAT THIS SECTOR HAD BROKE ON MY TRUCK. HE CONTACTED THE LOCAL FORD DEALER, WHO I UNDERSTAND WENT AND LOOKED AT THE VECHILE AND INFORMED MR. MILLS THAT FORD HAD NOT ISSUED ANY BULLETINS ON THE PROBLEM AND COULD DO NOTHING ABOUT IT AT THIS TIME. I DECIDED I SHOULD BRING THIS TO YOUR ATTENTION. PLEASE KEEP ME INFORMED OF YOUR FINDINGS.I*AK

CONSUMER STARTED VEHICLE/APPLIED BRAKES, AND HEARD A NOISE. SHE TURNED WHEEL AND HEARD ANOTHER NOISE. HAD VEHICLE TOWED TO DEALER, WHO REPLACED A POWER STEERING GASKET. A FEW WEEKS LATER, CONSUMER NOTICED A LEAK, DEALER REPLACED POWER STEERING PUMP. *AK

WHILE DRIVING DOWN A ROAD AND PUTTING FOOT ON BRAKES STEERING WHEEL LOCKED UP. VHEICLE HAS ABS ON BACK BRAKES ONLY. *AK

DRIVER WAS PREPARING TO ENTER PARKING SPACE WHEN VEHICLE SUDDENDLY LOST ALL POWER BRAKES AND STEERING POSSIBLY CAUSED BY HYDROBOOST UNIT LOSS. *AK CONSUMER STATES THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THE POWER STEERING UNIT HAS BEEN REPLACED. *SLC

WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 35-40 MPH AND PULLING A NORMAL LOAD, DRIVER APPLIED BRAKES WHEN THE STEERING SHAFT BROKE UNEXPECTEDLY, CAUSING LOSS OF CONTROL, RESULTING IN AN ACCIDENT. *AK

LOSS OF POWER STEERING AND BRAKES ON 5% DOWN GRADE. AFTER STOPPING SAFLY DUE TO TRAILER BRAKES AND EXHUAST BRAKE. RESTARTED ENGINE AND BOTH RETURNED. TOWED TO BOTTOM OF GRADE. DEALER IN SOUTH LAKE TAHOE CHECKED WITH NO INDICATION OF A FAULT. *AK

NO SUMMARY

I SUFFERED CLOSED HEAD TRAUMA WITH AMNESIA IN THE ACCIDENT. THE TRUCK HAD NO GRASS OR DIRT ON THE FRONT UNDERCARRIAGE. THE FRONT BODY CLIP WAS DESTROYED AS WELL AS THE SIDE DOORS AND BED. THE LEFT WHEEL STEERING LINKAGE WAS SHEARED OFF. TURNING THE STEERING WOULD NOT TURN THE WHEELS. I READ IN THE PAPER THAT YOU HAVE UPGRADED INVESTIGATION ON STEERING PROBLEMS IN THIS MODEL.

AFTER MAKING A TURN STEERING WHEEL WILL NOT SELF CENTER. THE DEALER HAS REPAIRED VEHICLE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS; HOWEVER, THE PROBLEM STILL EXISTS. FORD DENIES THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM. *AK *ML