I replaced all 4 ball joints on my 98 e150 about a month ago. Immediately upon reassembly and first drive, the steering would continue to hold direction and not self center as it should. I replaced them with moog problem solver and made sure to follow the proper torque sequence and specs. I greased them up, got an alignment, and drove for approx 2k miles and the problem never went away. I thought maybe I received bad joints so I replaced all 4 again and nothing changed. Today, I replaced my steering gearbox with a redhead unit and the memory steer became even worse and is affecting stability on the highway from constant input correction. I'm at a loss for what to do, but im 100% sure it has something to do with the ball joints. Anyone have anything similar happen?

 

If you think about this. which way did you have the wheels pointing when you tightened the ball joints ? They are supposed to be in the straight ahead position when tightening, try it !

 

I actually don't remember if they were straight ahead when I torqued them. I'll take it apart tomorrow and report back!

 

Resetting and retorque the knuckle didn't fix it but I did notice that when I tighten the castle nut for the bottom ball joint, even just a little, the knuckle stiffens up a bit when moving side to side. It is still able to be moved with one hand but it doesn't flop around smoothly and there is a little resistance. This happens on both sides. I tried whacking everywhere to seat it more and lubed everything up really nice but nothing worked. What is causing this?

 

Did you clean the tapers where the stems fit ?

 

I sanded and cleaned the tapers for the lower ball joints and I purchased new camber sleeves for the uppers before the alignment. From what I've been researching, it seems moog has an issue with some of their joints being very stiff. I just ordered a set of mevotech and plan on replacing the moog. Hopefully third time is the charm.

 

Make sure that use a torque wrench on all. You can find the specs online.

 

I've put in 3 sets of ball joints now and memory steer is still there. I've replaced everything in the front end except suspension springs and intermediate steering shaft. Everything torqued to spec. Alignment done with 4.5 caster. I guess it's time to bring it into the shop.

 

You may wind up replacing the struts OR the bearing plates for the struts..