Redheads are a problem

[ScrapIron]

Back when i commented on this steering box issue couple years ago i had done a bunch of research which included all the specs on the E-series versus the 2005 heavy duty F-series steering box. I found that the spline counts matched, the centering spline matched, the bolt pattern, even the steering ratio was the same... Which meant i should be able to yank my existing pitman arm and put it onto the 2005 F-series heavy duty box and install it in the E-350 with no issues. Even the steering ratio and number of turns to full clock matched.

I did buy an F-series drop pitman arm at one point when i started the 4x4 swap and it did in fact fit perfectly on the Van steering box so that part is a no brainer. If the F-series arm fits the E-series box then it will work vice versa as well.
The problem with the F-series arm on the E-series is that it is longer and makes the steering way to fast unless you like white knuckle steering.

I spoke with the guy who made that video first hand at that time and he stated as he says in the video that you have to drill the mount holes out to 9/16" versus your existing 1/2" bolt holes, or find oversize 1/2" helicoil inserts and install them in the 9/16" hole in the steering box. Then obviously you have to address the drag link and the fact that the F-series box sits about an inch further inward on the frame.

If youre running a 2005+ front dana 60 axle even that is a non-issue because you can simply ream your pitman arm with a taper reamer and use the 2005 F-series drag link which is about 1" inch shorter than the E-series draglink.

I considered doing it to mine but i ended up just buying another remanufactured box from ford in the interest of time since i had so much other stuff to get done. I also considered ordering a redhead box instead of another reman ford box, but even back then there were already tons of complaints about redheads quality control lacking.

[Annie O]

*it happens.

Mine was installed in 2018/19 (need to look it up). Has been great performance and i has excellent service from them. I’d say that would be the next item for replacement on HellBetty…. I know about as much as a mouse.

But sorry to hear your impression of recent Redhead QAQC.

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by ScrapIron

Back when i commented on this steering box issue couple years ago i had done a bunch of research which included all the specs on the E-series versus the 2005 heavy duty F-series steering box. I found that the spline counts matched, the centering spline matched, the bolt pattern, even the steering ratio was the same... Which meant i should be able to yank my existing pitman arm and put it onto the 2005 F-series heavy duty box and install it in the E-350 with no issues. Even the steering ratio and number of turns to full clock matched.

Thanks for the info. If I were 20 years younger, I’d consider taking on that project, but at this point, I’d rather spend my time traveling and exploring. So, I’m installing yet another Redhead box, (they finally agreed to take the last one back under warranty) finishing up several other maintenance issues and then hitting the road. I’ll update the thread once I’m done.

[ScrapIron]

Sweet, at least you get to make your trip now.

[doublevan2]

ScrapIron -- what year make/model is your E-series van ?

[ScrapIron]

2005 E-350 SD dually

[JWA]

Originally Posted by doublevan2

ScrapIron -- what year make/model is your E-series van ?

Originally Posted by ScrapIron

2005 E-350 SD dually

Was the rear axle swapped to accomodate the dually set up? Extended body?

[arctictraveller]

Update: The latest box is installed and started working right off the bat after a quick bleeding procedure. A short test drive indicates that the wandering is greatly reduced, but the steering effort has increased noticeably. Many years ago I had installed a fox steering dampener to try and reduce the amount of wandering. After a complete rebuild of the front end, I removed it as it was no longer needed. About six months ago I reinstalled it to try and compensate for the extra play in the steering box. Now that I have a box with presumably, zero play, I’m going to remove it and see if it helps reduce the amount of steering effort required. Currently, The amount of steering effort required now feels as if I had deflated the tires. Nevertheless, compared to the amount of wandering I had before, this is a big improvement. The nonworking box had been sitting on my bench for over a year and when I finally installed it and then discovered it didn’t work, I called redhead to discuss it and was told that because it had been shipped over a year ago, it was no longer under warranty. At that point, I asked to speak to the owner but was told he was unavailable. I asked for a callback, but never got one. But, about five days later, I received a call from someone located in Post Falls Idaho. That person was willing to help me out, and ultimately said we will ship you out a new one today. I was required to purchase a new box to the tune of about $700, which included the core charge, but was told I would receive 100% of my money back once they received the core in return. Less than 24 hours later the replacement box was at my front door. That’s what I call customer service, now if they can just get a handle on quality control.

[Timerider]

ArcticTraveller,

Years ago, I read with interest your experiences with steering box problems, as I was in the midst of solving a case of "death wobble" in our "Silver Kitten" (2002 E-350/Quigley 4X4 SMB w/RIP-kit). Her steering was vague, at best, and a few thousand miles after we bought her, we experienced our first episode of the dreaded death-wobble while braking on a downhill stretch, coming down from around 55 MPH.

My dial indicator and other test instruments said that all of the usual suspects (i.e. tires, kingpins, tie-rod ends, bearings, brake rotors, brake pads, steering damper, bushings, etc.) on the "Silver Kitten" were well within factory specifications, with the exception of the >0.130" play at the end of the Pittman arm. Since one of my first rules of troubleshooting is to fix what's "obviously wrong" and then evaluate what remains, a rebuild of our steering box was our first step in the right direction.

(Note: our death-wobble was eventually cured with a better steering damper setup in place of the older and failing steering damper that Agile had installed for the previous owner as part of the RIP-kit. That damper had probably been worked-to-death by the recurrent death-wobble incidents that made my wife refuse to drive our SMB until the problem was fixed. We also upgraded the bushings on the upper and lower Quigley arms along the way, which didn't cure the death-wobble, but we did get more precise steering out of this change.)

Thus, we sent our steering box to RedHead for a rebuild and waited a few weeks (we didn't opt for the core swap - "better the devil you know"), and also elected to have the auxiliary ports for a steering cylinder installed for possible future use.

Yes, our steering was "stiff" when we got the steering box back from RedHead, and the return-to-center tendency was practically zero. However, when we're talking about a process that involves hand-selecting new ball bearings in increments of tens or hundreds of micro-inches, that will go to work in a channel worn-out by the original balls, I suspect that it might be reasonable to expect some sort of "break-in period" while the new and old metal surfaces all get acquainted with one another.

After a few thousand miles, we noticed that the steering stiffness of the newly rebuilt steering box began to subside, and there was once again some minimal return-to-center tendency. Now, more than 11,000 miles after the RedHead rebuild, the steering "stiffness" is subjectively about half of what it was with the newly rebuilt steering box, and the return-to-center characteristics of our steering also continue to improve.

Including the shipping cost, the roughly $500 that we spent to have RedHead rebuild our steering box was one of the two best investments we've made in our SMB so far as her second owners. (The other was the dual-Bilstein steering damper setup from Precision Metal Fab, which cured the death-wobble.)

Thank you for posting about your experiences, as we have often relied upon your posts when making decisions about options and upgrades for our SMB. I'm so sorry to hear that your experiences with RedHead have been "uneven", and that they may have some Q.A. issues.

In the interest of fairness, I just wanted to present our experience with RedHead as a counterpoint, because without their rebuild of our SMB's steering box, I suspect that she would still be afflicted with the same degree of "wander" that she exhibited when we bought her from her original owner.

We are now looking forward to that "sweet spot in the middle" of the service life of our rebuilt steering box when everything has loosened up just enough, but not too much, and our SMB's steering will be precise, effortless, and consistent for a long time to come.

Timerider

[sierraoneill]

That’s a bummer, I’ve had one in my van for 7 years, no issues, still tight and right!