Problems with 2000 Ford F-250 STEERING

When driving and hitting a bump especially in a turn, the front wheels shutter violently.

We had just had new firestone transforce ht tires put on our truck. approximately four months later, as we are traveling down the highway at 65 mph, we felt a serious vibration in the left rear tire. we slowed down to 60 mph & that's when the tire blew out. we pulled to the shoulder of the highway to inspect & the tire blew out the sidewall. we did not hit anything & no road hazard caused this damage. we simply felt as a serious vibration & within a half a mile or mile it blew out. the shop where we purchased the tires charged us for another tire. this should have been covered by warranty but we went ahead and paid for it because we needed the vehicle for work. it continued to have severe vibrations which cause difficulty steering the vehicle in acceleration & in braking. so we had everything replaced on the front end. after this, the truck still felt unstable...the vibration was still there and it was still difficult to steer.. it also had a tendency to pull from one side to the other & at all times & my air pressure was at spec. then just recently, we notice that all the tires, including the one that we had replaced from the blowout, were coming apart on the side walls. there were cracks all around the sidewall of every single tire. this caused quite an alarm to us as we had been driving this truck & could have been seriously injured or killed had we not notice this flaw! there's a problem with these tires and it is serious! there's also also a problem with some of your dealers as well, because they also refused to replace these four tires under warranty just as they did for the blowout. they prorated my tire usage with no known mileage of when the tires were originally purchased because they didn't document it. all five of these tires should have been replaced under factory warranty with no charge! they need to be recalled immediately before someone gets killed!

While i was on a highway driving at 65 mph my steering and brakes went out at the same time. i happened to be 200 yards behind the traffic in front of me and i was able to stop the vehicle before impact. a hydraulic hose failed and rendered the steering and brakes almost completely useless. the steering was extremely difficult to control but i managed. the brakes were almost completely gone but i managed to slow the truck down to a safe stop off the highway. when i had the truck towed to my diesel mechanic i was told by the owner that ford engineered the hydraulic system to control the steering and brakes. i will never buy another ford with that kind of ridiculous engineering. i had three hoses replaced at a total cost of $451.54. one factory hose was $172.53, another $100.68 and the third was $24.04. the safety issue here is unreal. how could ford engineering have done such a stupid thing.

When vehicle is at idle, turning the steering wheel is impossible. it's extremely difficult to maneuver the truck in and out of parking spaces without risking hitting another vehicle or a person. *tr

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 35 mph the sector shaft of the steering gear box snapped off causing the vehicle to lose power steering resulting in a crash into an embankment. this crash caused damage to the front and passenger side of the vehicle. the contact and passenger suffered minor injuries. the vehicle was towed to an independent body shop. updated 7/21/2006 - *nm

While driving at highway speed steering wheel broke. *ak

While driving at low speeds steering wheel locked up, making it hard for consumer to turn the wheel. dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak

While traveling on the highway and without prior warning, the windshield wipers stopped while in use. *ak. the wiper motor was replaced under recall previously, however the second time the cover and switch assembly was replaced at the consumer expense. also the pinion seal was replaced due to a leak. ph *jb

While driving vehicle will pull to the right resulting in consumer losing control of vehicle and vehicle running into a ditch. dealership can not fix problem. please provide more details. ts

While vehicle is in idle and brakes are applied steering wheel will lock up. contacted dealer, and dealer was not willing to do anything.*ak

Turning locks when brakes applied at low speeds. nearly impossible to park the vehicle because steering is impeded. ps pump replaced twice without any correction. believe problem lies in the fact that the ps pump serves as a brake assist pump and is not pumping sufficiently to operate both the brakes and the steering. condition appears to be rampant as numerous complaints are noted on nhtsa's web page. should be investigated, possible mfg. defect.

While proceeding through an intersection, making a left hand turn, with oncoming traffic also making a left hand turn, halfway through the intersection my truck stopped turning. luckily, i am young and in good shape, i could "muscle it" through the rest of the turn to avoid the oncoming traffic. if it weren't for my quick thinking and "lucky" conditions, this could have easily resulted in a fatality. no safety defec tlisted. *ak

While driving would step on brakes pedal lightly and power steering will lock up without prior warning. this vehicle is a diesel model.*ak

When braking hard and trying to turn/steer as in accident prevention and evasive maneuvering, the steering will lock momentarily. it is a hard situation to duplicate since it is a reactionary action and is adrenaline powered, but it can be simulated with the engine on and the vehicle in park. ?dealer insists this is a normal condition and there is nothing to fix!!! this has occured twice within the month of may and both incidents resulted in near collisions.*ak

If there are any uneven parts of road or bumps, steering wheel will rip right out of consumer's hand, and cause loss of control. *ak

While traveling at approximately 25 to 30 mph steering gear box failed. when vehicle was directed to the right, consumer was unable to redirect vehicle to the left. vehicle went into a ditch as a result of consumer not being able to steer vehicle to the left. *ak vehicle was damaged. *slc

Splined shaft from gearbox that pitman arm attaches to snapped at bottom of gearbox, causing loss of steering and truck ran into embankment. *ak

Steering is defective. steering wheel wanders off in another direction due to ball joints being defective. *ak

Power steering had seized up when brakes were applied. would have no control of vehicle when it happened. problem been happening over a short period of time, but not getting worse. *ak the dealer was unable to solve the problem. *yh

When brakes were applied power steering wheel would lock or seize up. there would be no controlling of vehicle. problem was happening for a short period of time, and it was getting much worse. *ak *slc

When holding the brakes on level ground or a steep hill whle standing still, it is virtually impossible to turn the steering wheel until the brakes are released. this is a very dangerous situation especially on steep inclines. ford dealer says it's due to steering geometry but yet it is worse when engine comes off fast idle and power steering pump is turning slower due to lower engine speed. on a recent trip i was in a friends rather steep driveway in the smokey mountains and it was almost impossible to back out of driveway as i couldn't hold the brakes and turn the steering wheel at the same time to steer out on to the main drive. had i released the brakes i would have crashed through a retaining fence and went down the the side of the mountian. it is often necessary to to position the wheels while holding the brake at a standstill, especially in mountainous terrain. ford needs to rectify this situation as soon as possible. my ford dealer has received numerous other complaints regarding this condition and it is a topic of conversation on many online bulletin boards so it is not an isolated incident peculiar to my truck only. *ak

Steering wheel locks up and will not turn with foot on brake and stopped.*ak

Steering locking up when braking hard. *ak

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

Information provided by owner's attorney, eric g. kraft, of klenda, mitchell, austerman & zuercher, l.l.c., ph. (316)267-0331, fax (316)267-0333. please contact attorney for further information/details. ford has been contacted and has denied that any such defect exists. owner's insurer has determined that subject component is defective and refuses to cover the loss of the component, although has covered other loss associated with the collision. *ak

Interior lamp malfunctions due to head lamp switch dimmer failure. *yh

Vehicle has experienced many problems with power steering, dealer has replaced entire steering column, hydraulic lines twice on power steering pump, hydra boost twice, power steering unit, and had to fill power steering fluid because it was low, during these repairs dealer has made the aftermarket security system fail, power windows fail, and turn signals fail, dealer agreed to pay for the aftermarket security system failure, however has not done so, consumer has exhausted every resource to have problem corrected and feels ford should buy vehicle back. *slc

After waiting for a steering gear box to arrive at the local ford dealership for several weeks, my truck was returned to me. several days later, i had to hit the brakes rather hard to avoid running over a bottle ion the road. as i hit the brakes, i tried to turn to go around the bottle. i noticed that steering the truck is extremely difficult when there is pressure on the brakes. when i removed my foot from the brake pedal, normal steering returned. as i was treated poorly (to say the least ) by the local ford dealership, i returned to the dealership where i purchased the vehicle. this involved a 120 mile round-trip drive. the vehicle was returned to me today. when i got the truck back, the service madvisor, jack dugan, told me that this is "a characteristic of the truck" and that they could do nothing about it. he added that if i didn't like the way it handled, contact ford. my response is, with all of the press about the f-250, (thanks to nhtsa) why do ford marketing representatives deny the existence of the problem. apparently, mike vaughn, of ford motor co., spoke with nhtsa and said that ford is cooperating with the investigation. also, if i remember correctly from driver's education, in the event of a skid, you should steer in the direction of the skid. this is impossible to do with this truck. i can foresee many accidents due to this system. according to jack dugan, the brakes and steering use the same power booster. i tow a 23' travel trailer that weighs about 5,000 lbs. i am afraid to tow the trailer because of this situation. this has put quite a damper on our summer activities. can you tell me how the investigation is going and what i should do about the problem? i like the truck overall, but cannot believe the run-around i get from ford and casa ford in el paso. borman auto plex has treated me very well throughout this dilema. please keep up the good work. i gave a copy of the nhtsa printout to jack dugan at borman auto plex.

Since purchase of vehicle steering has had problems. when turning steering wheel there is a delay. consumer turns wheel 1/4 of a turn and vehicle will not respond. dealer has tightened steering and gearbox. did not remedy problem. dealer stated ford is aware of problem, but has no remedy.*ak also the vehicle steers left and right. *yh

While comming out of a turn steering system malfunctioned, causing vehicle not to straighten out, which may cause a crash. dealer could not determine the cause. *ak

At very slow speed with the brake applied (such as front & back parking maneuvers, or jacking a trailer into a tight spot), the steering has almost no power assist. i didn't mention it to the dealer until february of 2001,and he told me that this was "normal" and gave me a copy of a service memo from ford stating that this is normal and "no repairs should be attempted". around november of 2001 i received a survey form from ford asking basically how i liked my truck. i told them about my concern with the steering. i actually received a call from ford about my problem. they also called the dealer and we set up an appointment for the dealer to look at the problem. on 12/11/01 the dealer's service manager personally checked-out the problem (with me along), and agreed that the steering problem was not normal and his comment was "it's like the wheel is against a rock". he said that he had not experienced this problem before, and would call the ford engineers. he called me later that same day and informed me that ford was adamant that the condition is "normal" and absolutely no repairs should be attempted. they said that he could change all the power steering parts, and that it would probably not make any difference and that they would not pay him to do any work on the problem. i was told the problem is caused by the hydroboost system diverts all of the power assist to the brakes at low speed and not to the power steering, and nothing could be done about this design. the ford engineer gave the dealer a report number to use if there is any further reference to this situation. the report number is "1lkeb013" dated 12/11/01. on 12/12/01 i called back to the customer assistance person that originally called me (rosa at 1-800-393-3673x2452) and report the results. she informed me that there was nothing more that she could do because the ford engineer declared the problem to be normal operating characteristics.*ak

Entire steering wheel assembly would not turn to the left, passed the center. the problem was reported to the dealership. dealership could not duplicate the problem. the truck has been returned to the dealership. please provide any further information. *ak

While driving vehicle would pull to the right if steering wheel is held loosely or not at all. speed is not a factor. took vehicle to dealership & was informed by mechanic the manufacturer knows of the problem, but has no corrective solutions. *ak *ml

When at a stop not able to turn wheels while brakes are applied. ford company indicated that this was the way vehicle was designed. *ak the design flaw is the cause for steering problem that occurs when brakes are applied. a new wider stance, tie rod angle and the fact that there is more weight in the front end than on the 97 older body style vehicle. *yh

Power steering fails at low speeds,especialy when brakes are applied. *ak

Will not steer when hard or emergency braking, or at stand still, ford states it is normal operating condition and no repair action. special service messages 12995. this is dangerous and something should be done about repairs, the complaint is wide spread. if one is towing a trailer, downhill and needs to slow or stop there will be on steering, or a hard braking at a turn.

When consumer is trying to park on a hill and apply the brakes fully, consumer cannot turn the steering wheel. service bulletin #99-19-04 was issued which stated that this was normal operating conditions, and no repairs would be necessary. *ak *yc

Steering is very touchy, when turning wheel just a bit vehicle will respond too much.*ak