I know a few people brought up steering problems but I'm at a loss with my 2004 International 9400. It drives great on a perfectly straight road, but as soon as the road surface tilts (like when you're in a curb lane), the truck just steers itself in the direction of the tilt. Most of the time when I'm in the curb lane I have to keep my steering wheel turned to the left. If I take my hands off, the steering wheel returns to the central position and the truck starts drifting towards the ditch.

"Your alignment is perfect", I was told more than once by technicians in various Ontario, Canada shops. I did all the axles twice, plus had caster adjusted on top of that... all to no avail. The tires are fairly new (installed them in June 2007), and I just had the truck thoroughly checked out for wear and tear in kingpins, tie rods, and improper tightening of wheel bearings. I was also told the steering box had defects.

What can cause this over-sentivity of the steering? I personally tend to think it's either the steering box or the wrong size tires (the original tires were low profile 295s; and now I have larger diameter 22.5).

I called a couple of shops for a quote on a steering box and it's 700 bucks minimum with the exchange.... plus labor.

Do you guys think replacing the gear box can help make the steering normal again or would it be just a waste of money? The truck has only 219,000 miles and the steering box is Sheppard M100.

Thanks!

 

Why do you think this is abnormal ?

 

sounds normal to me. the weight of the truck is just following where gravity is pulling. and in this case its going down towards the curb. you should only test the alignment on a straight, FLAT and LEVEL roadway.

 

It's possible your steering box is adjusted too loose.

Is there a lot of free play in the steering shaft?

 

Because this is not the only truck I ever drove. I have something to compare to.

that's why they invented "caster" - to prevent the truck from being unruly on the road. i talked to company drivers in the yard who drive the same model (International 9400 or 9200) and mostly people said their trucks didn't pull to the side as bad as mine.

I'd say - yes. With the engine off, I can grab the steering shaft near the steering box and it turns back and forth quite a bit. I can even see the wheels to start turning. On my previous truck (Freightliner Columbia) I don't think I was able to turn the wheels with my bare hands when the engine was off. My steering box (Sheppard M-100) is not adjustable.

 

Well what I'm talking about is looseness between you're steering wheel and tires. If you can move the tires easily.. probably not it.

How does the truck do in ruts?

 

It follows them. And I have to steer hard to keep the truck on track.

 

What do you mean "the steering box had defects" ? If the pitman arm is moving up and down you'll have wandering issues. How much caster are you running? usually the more caster you have the less the truck wants to wander. You can run engine oil in the steering box. I know when I went to 15w40 from ATF the steering effort went up and it seemed to tighten up the steering a tad. Some trucks are more apt to do this than others. My T-600 did the same as your's. Sometimes the movement comes from the rear suspension moving around. My Pete with the Air Trac doesn't ride as good as the 8-bag but it also doesn't wander or head for the ditch on a high crowned road. Good luck.

 

good point special k, check the torque arms. Made a huge difference on my truck.

 

Sorry, I made a mistake. It should have read, "... the steering box had no defects". Thanks for the tip about the arms. I'll have them checked.