One problem related to front suspension upper ball joint has been reported for the 1997 Ford F-250. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
My tires were severely worn on the inside edges. I bought new tires and went to have the truck aligned. Virginia spring and alignment, arlington, va, 22213, informed me that my right front spring was dangerously weak and had caused the upper ball joint to become loose. They said every Ford 250 diesel they see has this problem and that Ford did not put strong enough springs on these trucks. Ford in fact had issued TSB-96-23-16 which called for adding a leaf to each front spring and realignment. They refuse to fix the defect in my truck because it has over 36,000 miles on it. If this spring fails, a 3/4 ton truck goes out of control.