Steering Wheel Angle Sensor Calibration

[HeavyAssault]

Haven't been in an area similar to see but it didn't matter which lane I was in on the highway. I found it was the least obnoxious in the left lane, I assume due to the crown of the road.
Would be interesting to see how it does if there no lane markers since I assume it uses those to self correct

Don't let roadway "crown" or "pull/push" make you go crazy. Yes, it happens, but there's a simple way to check the truck. Be safe with the procedure below.

Big picture on a flat parking lot :
If at any point the truck tracks straight with the steering wheel off center it's an easy fix.
If the steering wheel "holds" off center AND makes the truck turn either direction it's a bigger problem.

A parking lot tends to be a bit more flat versus a typical roadway. I like to "test" the steering holding/tracking on a nice huge wide open parking lot. Align the wheel, drive forward slowly (it doesn't take much) watch the steering wheel.
IF the steering strays off....how bad?? Does it track like you are turning the wheel for a turn or does it stop at some point??

Testing for return-to-center (RTC) : Start with the steering wheel centered. Drive forward, turn the steering full lock in one direction (count number of turns estimate on a partial turn if found like 1/2, 1/4 etc etc). Release the steering wheel while still moving forward, steering wheel should RTC (almost 100%, maybe REALLY close but not back to 12 o'clock).
Now center the steering back to 12 o'clock (remember the number of turns from the other side), with the vehicle moving forward turn the steering wheel in the opposite direction counting the number of turns. Moving forward release the steering wheel to RTC, see where the steering wheel ends up.

Results/findings : Compare the number of turns for each side. If that number is the same, good deal. If it's a little off....could be just the way it is setup. If there's a huge difference (1/2 turn or more) you need to fix that first likely a little adjustment you can do in the driveway to "center" the steering wheel.

Owner induced problems : Bigger tires, wider wheels, lift kits can make this seem like you have HUGE issues, it's not really the case all the time. I think wheels/tires make a return-to-center more difficult to be 100% accurate. It can give a false positive failure by not RTC, as I said "close enough" can be like a steering wheel turn of an 1/8 or 1/16 of a turn to get center. I'd say that much additional turn to RTC by the driver is normal for "larger wheels/tires/greater offset over OEM specs".

Don't waste too much time waiting on a dealership. It's not hard to spend 20-30 minutes to drive to a large parking lot to see for yourself.

 

[MX45]

Your SWA (relative Steering Wheel Angle) is reading 2.20°, which is basically centered. However, your STR_ANG_ABS (Absolute Steering Angle) is reading -304.90°.

A full rotation of the steering wheel is 360°. That massive absolute reading means your steering wheel, steering shaft, or clock spring is roughly one entire revolution off from its true mechanical center. This happens a lot during lift installs or front-end work if the steering linkage gets disconnected and the wheel gets spun before everything is bolted back up tight.

These newer Super Duties use Electronic Power Assist Steering (EPAS), which features a system called Pull/Drift Compensation. Because the computer's absolute angle is reading -304.90°, the EPAS thinks you are constantly in a massive turn or fighting a huge road crown. The electric power steering motor is literally fighting you and pushing the steering off to the left to try and "correct" a problem that doesn't physically exist.

Your other stock F-250 probably tracks straighter because its absolute angle was never thrown a full rotation out of whack.

Here is the exact sequence to get this completely fixed:

Step 1: Mechanical Centering
Have the shop verify the steering shaft and clock spring aren't a full turn off. Once they confirm that, they need to manually adjust the drag link sleeve so the steering wheel is dead-nuts straight while the tires are pointing perfectly straight on the alignment rack.

Step 2: Steering Wheel Angle Calibration (FORScan)
After the alignment is mechanically perfect, connect FORScan. Click on the Service Procedures tab (the wrench icon). Go into the ABS or SCCM module and run the Steering Angle Sensor Calibration (sometimes called the IVD Initialization sequence). Follow the prompts to zero out the sensor. This will fix that -304.90° reading.

Step 3: Reset Pull Drift Compensation (FORScan)
This is the crucial final step. Under that same Service Procedures tab, find the PSCM (Power Steering Control Module) and run the Reset Pull Drift Compensation (or clear the learned steering values).

Once you zero out both the Steering Angle Sensor and the Pull Drift Compensation, the electronic steering will stop fighting you, and the truck will track perfectly straight again. Let me know how it goes!

Just dropped it off and the manager swore there was no way the clock spring or other components could have been thrown off when they did the lift. He said they have a tool, not forscan that resets the wheel angle after the lift but that's all they do. I think I insulted him when I suggested they may have thrown off the wheel

I should get the truck back this afternoon and will recheck what forscan sees and perform the resets

 

[cayenne]

Outside of what Optimus described previously, there is no steering angle reset on these trucks. At least on 23+ I'm not sure on pre-23

I have a Mongoose and it's not an available option. If you happen to get it back and the angle reading is correct they disconnected the steering linkage and corrected it that way. The fact that he acted like there's no way they would've accidentally done it tells you a lot.

Most shops would've immediately understood it could be a possibility, apologized and thrown it on a rack.

 

[MX45]

Outside of what Optimus described previously, there is no steering angle reset on these trucks. At least on 23+ I'm not sure on pre-23

I have a Mongoose and it's not an available option. If you happen to get it back and the angle reading is correct they disconnected the steering linkage and corrected it that way. The fact that he acted like there's no way they would've accidentally done it tells you a lot.

Most shops would've immediately understood it could be a possibility, apologized and thrown it on a rack.

I don't disagree what you're saying at all. He didn't see real familiar when I regurgitated Optimus' comments, to be clear I'm far from intelligent on this stuff either, but I'd think they would be. This is a place that's been in business a long time and is an approved S&B installer so I'd hope they know what the hell they are doing.

He wasn't shitty about it but did act like there is no way they could have done it. Maybe the tech doing the actual work knows his stuff and will get it corrected. Not looking for blame just to have it resolved.

We will see when I pick it up

 

[Hoppy12]

I know this is old but I've been dealing with the same issue of my truck pulling to the left, sometimes way worse than others, since I got it. I took it in initially for the problem to Ford and they though it was a hub/ bearing issue and replaced the vacuum hub with a manual locker version. Well that did not fix the problem and I've been dealing with it since then. I got the lift installed and was hoping maybe whatever the cause is would be corrected with a professional alignment performed but after this latest trip it actually seems to have gotten worst.
I went into Forscan to check what it was seeing for wheel angle and with the wheels straight and the steering wheel centered it is reading the below . If i get the angle to read 0 the wheel is at the 1 o'clock position roughly.
View attachment 262715

I'm taking the truck back so they can go through everything on the lift and ensure it's all tight and I'm going to ask them to check the alignment again to ensure it read as it should.

My question is if there is something I should do to reset/ check in Forscan after they confirm the alignment that may help to fix this issue? For what it's worth our other F250 is doing the same thing just not as bad and it is still stock

Did anyone ever get this corrected. I have a 2026 f350 Platinum Tremor. Did a 2” bds coil, bds radius arms for the caster which is 5.6 feels great driving but 50mph and up more on the highway the random stiffness one way or the other sometimes depending on road crown and turn. My forscan steering angle sensors says it’s at 16 degrees to the right which is basically where it was when I did the level kit and had to re center using the drag link. I cannot find any procedures in forscan or any modules to reset the angle or anything. The dealer things they can using fdrs.

 

[MX45]

Did anyone ever get this corrected. I have a 2026 f350 Platinum Tremor. Did a 2” bds coil, bds radius arms for the caster which is 5.6 feels great driving but 50mph and up more on the highway the random stiffness one way or the other sometimes depending on road crown and turn. My forscan steering angle sensors says it’s at 16 degrees to the right which is basically where it was when I did the level kit and had to re center using the drag link. I cannot find any procedures in forscan or any modules to reset the angle or anything. The dealer things they can using fdrs.

I can't say if mine is corrected yet or not. as it's currently at the dealer. After taking my truck back to the installers to have the alignment checked I called and spoke to S&B as the alignment specs didn't seem to match what they called out on their site. Spoke to the suspension specialist who confirmed that everything was good on the alignment specs and the only item that was a bit different was the Caster. And according to him S&B likes to see a bit more angle just to take out some of the light/ wander feel at the steering wheel. I mentioned that I was going to reset the Absolute angle via Forscan, per Optimus's message, and he was very quick to say not do that method since it was just lifted. Seems the truck uses every camera and multiple other sensors to compensate for the lane keeping and steering compensation and until those are recalibrated to account for the ride height difference anything else will likely just make it worse.
Since my truck was going in for the AAT I also had them do the All Systems Reset of everything, minus speedometer, as he expects that will resolve the issue. And since it was only $250 for them to do it so not terrible.

All that was a long way to say I don't have a solution yet but since you have a lift it may be worth having the above done. I think you can accomplish the same via Forscan but it was way more involved more than i wanted to take on right now. I'll hopefully get the truck back tomorrow and will update how it drives.

 

[cayenne]

Did anyone ever get this corrected. I have a 2026 f350 Platinum Tremor. Did a 2” bds coil, bds radius arms for the caster which is 5.6 feels great driving but 50mph and up more on the highway the random stiffness one way or the other sometimes depending on road crown and turn. My forscan steering angle sensors says it’s at 16 degrees to the right which is basically where it was when I did the level kit and had to re center using the drag link. I cannot find any procedures in forscan or any modules to reset the angle or anything. The dealer things they can using fdrs.

I explained my findings in the bottom of the original post. The elimination of steering assist eliminated the random stiffness that I experienced.

 

[MX45]

I explained my findings in the bottom of the original post. The elimination of steering assist eliminated the random stiffness that I experienced.

Sadly disabling that via the settings that did not help with mine. Hopefully it does for others. as it did on yours

 

[cayenne]

Sadly disabling that via the settings that did not help with mine. Hopefully it does for others. as it did on yours

I suspect your sensor readings are highlighting a larger issue whatever may be contributing to it.

Once your sensor readings are dialed in, confirming that the ESA motor is applying no voltage to "help" steering will confirm you are on the right path.

 

[Hoppy12]

I explained my findings in the bottom of the original post. The elimination of steering assist eliminated the random stiffness that I experienced.

Copy I kind of got lost in the posts. I have another friend that has a 3” lift with the same issues. I really feel like the simple alignments and not resetting the angel sensors is the culprit for these issues combined with the cameras but idk hoenstly

 

[Hoppy12]

I can't say if mine is corrected yet or not. as it's currently at the dealer. After taking my truck back to the installers to have the alignment checked I called and spoke to S&B as the alignment specs didn't seem to match what they called out on their site. Spoke to the suspension specialist who confirmed that everything was good on the alignment specs and the only item that was a bit different was the Caster. And according to him S&B likes to see a bit more angle just to take out some of the light/ wander feel at the steering wheel. I mentioned that I was going to reset the Absolute angle via Forscan, per Optimus's message, and he was very quick to say not do that method since it was just lifted. Seems the truck uses every camera and multiple other sensors to compensate for the lane keeping and steering compensation and until those are recalibrated to account for the ride height difference anything else will likely just make it worse.
Since my truck was going in for the AAT I also had them do the All Systems Reset of everything, minus speedometer, as he expects that will resolve the issue. And since it was only $250 for them to do it so not terrible.

All that was a long way to say I don't have a solution yet but since you have a lift it may be worth having the above done. I think you can accomplish the same via Forscan but it was way more involved more than i wanted to take on right now. I'll hopefully get the truck back tomorrow and will update how it drives.

Where is the post from Optimus

 

[MX45]

Where is the post from Optimus

Post #16 in this thread and here

 

[Hoppy12]

Post #16 in this thread and here

Copy, what gets me is all the people with these trucks and level kits and lifts and it’s not a more talked about thing. I called Whiteface ford who does all the Carli kits and they said they never mess with resetting that or aligning them they just adjust the drag link to straiten the steering wheel. . Maybe it doesn’t bother people much but man it does me

 

[cayenne]

Copy, what gets me is all the people with these trucks and level kits and lifts and it’s not a more talked about thing. I called Whiteface ford who does all the Carli kits and they said they never mess with resetting that or aligning them they just adjust the drag link to straiten the steering wheel. . Maybe it doesn’t bother people much but man it does me

What tires and wheel offsets are you running and what about steering stabilization? All of these come into play. I've been modifying the suspension on my trucks for 3 decades now, there is always something to fine tune and dial in. Tire and wheel weight can come into play, even something as minimal as a left hand or right hand pull bias impacts things.

Also, have you had a solid axle truck before? They do certainly feel different once you lift them and add corner weight as you dive into a corner.

The Platinum and I believe the King Ranch with the electric steering assist motor does change things. You can see how it responds right in FDRS as you drive if everything isn't dialed in.

 

[MX45]

Copy, what gets me is all the people with these trucks and level kits and lifts and it’s not a more talked about thing. I called Whiteface ford who does all the Carli kits and they said they never mess with resetting that or aligning them they just adjust the drag link to straiten the steering wheel. . Maybe it doesn’t bother people much but man it does me

It definitely bothers the shit out of me. For what it's worth S&B seems to be stark opponents of using the drag link to straighten the wheel. This is from their alignment process on the site

You must not try to straighten the steering wheel in the truck by making the drag link shorter or longer. No old school alignments are allowed on these trucks. Don’t waste your money on a non-computer alignment, it will damage your truck.

I'm not knowledgeable enough to have an opinion one way or the other on their statement but its odd that others use that exact method for the correction. I'm sure someone smarter will chime in

 

[cayenne]

It definitely bothers the shit out of me. For what it's worth S&B seems to be stark opponents of using the drag link to straighten the wheel. This is from their alignment process on the site

You must not try to straighten the steering wheel in the truck by making the drag link shorter or longer. No old school alignments are allowed on these trucks. Don’t waste your money on a non-computer alignment, it will damage your truck.

I'm not knowledgeable enough to have an opinion one way or the other on their statement but its odd that others use that exact method for the correction. I'm sure someone smarter will chime in

That is carry over information from OuO who S&B purchased. I don't believe any of these Super Duty's have ETA: ADAS controlled steering which is electronically disconnected from mechanical linkage. . I can promise you your steering angle will not correct itself like they say it will.

In a Adaptive Steering truck, the steering wheel is not connected to the steering column and will center itself. You will leave the shop with the steering wheel not aligned and over the next 50 to 100 miles it will align itself.

 

[MX45]

That is carry over information from OuO who S&B purchased. I don't believe any of these Super Duty's have ADAS . I can promise you your steering angle will not correct itself like they say it will.

In a Adaptive Steering truck, the steering wheel is not connected to the steering column and will center itself. You will leave the shop with the steering wheel not aligned and over the next 50 to 100 miles it will align itself.

I could be wrong but I thought the ADAS encompassed features like the lane Keeping, adaptive cruise control and few other things. I would have a hard time believing the wheel will self-correct on its own but Technology is cool

I posted in the private Facebook S&B group t o ask about the specs. If they are out dated they should really pull them from their site

 

[cayenne]

I could be wrong but I thought the ADAS encompassed features like the lane Keeping, adaptive cruise control and few other things. I would have a hard time believing the wheel will self-correct on its own but Technology is cool

I posted in the private Facebook S&B group t o ask about the specs. If they are out dated they should really pull them from their site

Yea, sorry I mistyped the ADAS part. The ADAS in integrated through the entire Ford CoPilot offering. The steering wheel is connected to the shaft, pitman arm, and link however.

 

[MX45]

Yea, sorry I mistyped the ADAS part. The ADAS in integrated through the entire Ford CoPilot offering. The steering wheel is connected to the shaft, pitman arm, and link however.

Well they claim they are still accurate and want those followed after their kits are installed. I may be more confused now then when this started

 

[MX45]

I can't seem to freaking win on this problem. After having the shop do the 'All Systems Reset' i took it on a 4 hour drive to my Daughter's graduation-Go Noles!!. And for the first 50 miles or so it was no better at all but as the drive went on it did seem to get better and I thought it may have actually been fixed. Well it wasn't, not really anyways. Just periodically the truck would start to fight me and try to overcorrect the same as it has been doing. When I got home last night I throw Forscan back on and it still shows the Absolute angle as the same -304.9 so I'm guessing that is not part of the process Ford did. Although they did do the tire size change so I know they were in it at least as the speedo matched my app.
What is weird is that I started playing around with the Lane Keeping system and when I changed the alert the wheel vibrated but I could not get it to respond when it should have crossing lines regardless of what mode I was set to. Now for the embarrassing part-I'm not sure it was ever actually working. I've been so focused on this problem that I don't recall ever noticing a vibration before.
Just wanted to update that it's getting better but still a problem. Guess I'm gonna take it back to Ford to have them test the Alert system now also since neither me or the wife felt any change in the wheel when crossing lines.