Unstable steering E350

[NCMODELA]

Phish, what do you mean get front end done? Did you have to put in the extra bushings?

[BrianW]

I have a 1998 2WD EB with a full SMB build, weighs about 8,000 pounds. I added a rear sway bar and completely redid the front end with new parts pulled from a 2012 (full suspension and brakes swap). It handles amazingly well at highway speeds and on turns.

I do get get buffeting on the highway when I’m in the airflow zone behind a big rig. Nothing to do about that except to move. Happens in any vehicle, although the ban seems more prone to it due to its height, boxy shape, and surface area I guess.

[wanderers]

When I first got my van I thought I had just spent a bundle on something I wasn't going to be able to drive without wearing myself out. On a Ford Truck forum I found an entry for a Ford steering damper that really helped the "twitchy" feeling of the steering. I also put a Hellwig anti-sway bar on the back. The van drives much better now and my wife enjoys driving it too. We are both 71 years old so we can't deal with fighting the steering all the time. Ford ambulances came with the damper so it is possible to find a damper in a junk yard but I wasn't able to as quickly as I wanted to so I bought the parts from Ford, a more expensive way but worth it.

You can find the truck forum entry by Googling "finally a fix for Econoline steering."
some of the people on the forum were putting bolts and nuts on the bracket on the frame but the self tapping bolts hold well and make the job a lot faster. Ford uses these bolts on the assembly line so I don't think any one should have any worries about them as long as there is not a lot of rust around the mounting holes. When you read up on the installation and have all your tools ready the actual installation of the damper is pretty quick and simple. Ford seems to sell all their bolts and nuts in packs of three even if you only need one each so you wind up with some extras, at least for the bolts that mount the damper to the brackets. The drag link bracket comes with the u-bolts so you don't need to buy those.

The anti sway bar helped with the buffeting behind trucks but of course didn't eliminate it We have a fixed hightop so we were highly affected by side winds and the buffeting by big rigs. It also helps on winding, uneven roads.

Anyway, that's what worked for us.

[Darkstar]

Try calling Agile Off Road and get the Ride Improvement Package. Does wonders

[moorefc]

This might be useful
Ford Tech Tip: Steering Wander on E-Series Vans

[SierraHawk]

Good advice all 'round. Take into consideration that you may have changed the caster by loading a lot of tools and equipment in the back or are towing a trailer they will change the caster. May not be much but enough to cause the van to wander or lead to the death wobble. Happened to us 6 months ago. Had an alignment done but it did not solve the problem.

We have almost 300,000 miles on the van and have been towing a 29' 1976 Airstream for the past 10 years. The combination of the tongue weight, driving down a grade >5% and braking began to trigger a death wobble. I bought a steering damper kit from Sportsmobile and attached it.

One of the things I like is how things are manufactured. This is not a plug for SMB but the steering damper parts for my Dana front end were machined beautifully. A bit pricey but given the alarming nature of a death wobble and the potential of a catastrophic failure of my steering system it has been worth the cost and time I spent attaching it.

[Cali Native]

I see you don't have the after market 4WD so my problem probably won't be applicable but at about 20,000 miles 2 bolts had somehow sheared off the knuckle and the other 2 were working loose. It had similar symptoms as you describe.
I had a shop I trusted before that take a look and they said they couldn't find anything wrong so I crawled underneath and had my friend turn the wheel and the problem was obvious to me.
In retrospect me and a van load of kids were pretty lucky a tragedy didn't occur.
I posted about it here years ago. I did not off road the Van and had not been in any accidents at all.

[Cali Native]

Here's a link to the post -

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...iles-5875.html

[Doug]

I too have a Sportsmobile E350 EB 4X4, and up until this summer, it was miserable to drive on some stretches of highway, wandering all over the road. In June, I took it to John at Agile Offroad in Santee Calif. (near San Diego) and he did an amazing job on it. I just finished a five day trip to the Eastern Mojave National Preserve, that included driving on a combination of interstates, two lane roads, dirt roads, and dirt tracks across the desert. The van was easy to handle in all driving conditions and a huge improvement - magic. Even my wife enjoyed driving the van. John specializes in fixing Sportsmobile suspensions and really understands them. Here is the link to his website: https://agileoffroad.com Good luck with yours.

[86Scotty]

OP, I think a lot of this has to do with your tire pressure. I would drop the rear pressure from 75 down to 60 first and foremost. I had bad issues with my first Econoline and this problem. I was running way too much tire pressure in the e-rated tires because I thought I should. Dropping to 55-60 did wonders.