NHTSA Complaint #11000547 — 2009 FORD F-250

I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF A 2009 F250 SUPER DUTY PU. THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN WELL MAINTAINED OVER THE 61630 MILES I HAVE ACCUMULATED. RECENTLY THE TRUCK HAS STARTED EXPERIENCING WHAT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS A LOSS OF POWER STEERING. THIS SEEMS TO MOST OFTEN OCCUR AFTER STARTING FROM A STOP, AND TURNING LEFT. THE WHEELS SEEM TO BE "STUCK" IN THE TURNED DIRECTION, AND NEEDS TO BE MUSCLED BACK INTO A STRAIGHT PATH. THIS IS USUALLY FOLLOWED BY AN UNUSUAL SLIGHT TUGGING OF THE WHEEL IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. THE OTHER DAY IT WAS STICKING FROM ONE DIRECTION TO THE OTHER DIRECTION. FORTUNATELY WE HAD JUST STARTED TO MERGE ONTO A ROAD THAT TYPICALLY IS 45 MPH (WE WERE ONLY DOING ABOUT 20 MPH). MY PARTNER THOUGHT I WAS HORSING AROUND BY "YANKING THE STEERING FROM SIDE TO SIDE, BUT IT WAS THE TRUCKS STEERING THAT WAS DOING IT, AND I WAS TRYING TO STRAIGHTEN IT OUT. WE PULLED OFF THE ROAD, AND AS I WAS PULLING FORWARD I COULD FEEL A DIFFERENCE IN THE STEERING (BACK TO NORMAL). MY COMMUTE IS A MERE 15 MINS, BUT BASED ON LOCATIONS OF MY HOME AND WORK, I DO TYPICALLY JUMP ON THE HIGHWAY. I HAVE STOPPED DOING THIS BECAUSE I FEAR WITH INCREASED TRAFFIC AND SPEED, I WORRY ABOUT CAUSING AN ACCIDENT, ALTHOUGH I HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED THIS AT NORMAL SPEED. I HAVE BROUGHT THIS TO MY MECHANIC AND HE COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE CONDITION. HE CHECKED THE VEHICLE OVER, AND FOUND NOTHING WORN OR BROKEN. HE HAS BEEN THE ONLY PERSON SERVICING THIS VEHICLE SINCE NOV 2009, SO HE IS VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE UPKEEP. IN FACT HE HAD REPLACED THE BRAKES AND ROTATED THE TIRES AT 59000 MILES. I DO HAUL SINGLE AND DOUBLE AXLE TRAILERS FROM TIME TO TIME, AND WORRY ABOUT THE NEXT TIME I NEED TO.