Hard steering

[JLafferty]

My power steering does not work correctly it is very hard to turn the wheel some times when I am at a full stop .

Like when I am in traffic or when I have to park and do a pull up .

Does any body have a solution for this .

IE ; bad power steering pump or something else ?

I had the fuild changed at the dealer but this has not helped .

When it was under warrenty they changed a hose on the steering system because I complained about this and that help for a while .

I am not getting rid of the truck because it is paid for so thats out .

Any help would be a great help .



Thanks

Jim Lafferty

TDR Member

-- email address removed --

 

[AH64ID]

How are your brakes?

 

[sag2]

Stock wheels and tires???

 

[JLafferty]

Brand new I just replaced them

 

[JLafferty]

Yes stock and inflated properly

 

[rjones]

If at full stop is it idling at the proper rpm

 

[Bob4x4]

The only 100% way to know is to do a pressure and flow test,but buying the tool to test one truck is not cost effective. 90% of the time it will be the gear on a 4x4 3rd gen

 

[DKreimer]

Is it possible to replace just the gear as opposed to the entire box & if so can you recommend a source?

 

[jelag]

Bob4x4 is correct... a simple pressure and flow test does the job...

but before those tests are run... look for a collapsed pressure hose, or remove the pressure hose and check for a bubble inside the hose... .

check for a loose or slipping belt... bad tensioner... along this line look for the voltmeter to drop at the same time your turning the wheel... . if the tensioner is bad and the belt is slipping the voltmeter will fall off at the same time... .

The reason you were asked about your brakes is if you have low pressure than you'll have a hard brake pedal... Sag2 asked about the tires and wheels because oversize tires and wheels will put an excessive load on the steering...

So back to my suggestion... if the voltmeter doesn't fall and the brakes don't fade you can almost be assured that the pump is good and replace the steering gear box... and I think Geno's now has them... . or someone who advertises them in the TDR...

2 people who have reman gears... BAB Steering in CA and Power Steer in TX... I've done business with both... and been happy with their products, sold reasonable amounts through the years with no problems..... Though Bill at BAB can be an excessive talker...

I've retired and have sold off all my product, otherwise I'd have them on the shelf...

Hope this helps...

 

[steved]

Could be a hydroboost issue... . mine started having "tight" spots and I've diagnosed as a faulty/failing hydroboost... . it does not affect the brakes.

 

[JMarketos]

my 0. 02-

I like Jelag's list, but one caution- not sure what year your truck is... I have read that the Volts gauges in some of our trucks don't directly indicate the Voltage at all. Rather, they display some value the computer tells them to. So the Volts gauge might or might not sag on intermittent belt slippage. Maybe someone else can confirm or deny that...



Also, you may want to check for frozen ball joints. This typically involves jacking up the front wheel, removing the tire, disconnecting the outer tie rod end and manually pivoting the steering knuckle back and forth (as if things were connected and someone was turning the steering wheel). True that a siezed ball joint will move easier with the weight of the truck off of it, but you can generally still tell if they are healthy or not- the motion should be smooth. If it feels scratchy or crusty, chances are one or both of the ball joints is a problem. Good luck and please post back what you find.

 

[gathomas]

It would help if you had a "Signature" in your post...

What year is your truck??? 4x4 or 2wd ??

 

[RWood]

I'm sure Jlag was talking about a external volt gauge.
Ramsey

 

[RByrum]

My truck same way... easy on the move, HARD at a complete stop. My truck though has always demanded complete attention when being driven. Could caster play into this?

 

[JChott]

My truck exhibits the same behavior, hard to steer when stopped or moving slowly with the engine at idle, such as parking lot maneuvers. Brakes feel fine, belt is fairly new with no squealing. Seems to be getting gradually worse, truck has nearly 100k miles on it. Tires are larger, but they've been on there for 50k miles and has just started doing this a month or two ago.



Have any of you done a fix that took care of the issue?



Thanks,

Jim

 

[JChott]

I agree that it takes more steering force when stopped and with larger tires, but the concern is that it's changing and getting harder recently. Something has changed and seems to continue to change, just don't know for sure what it is yet.

 

[sag2]

The only way to properly diagnose is to check pressure and flow, especially flow. Remember the diesel uses hydroboost and it covers brakes first and steering second for safety. When you step on the brake a large part of the pressure/flow is used by the brake side of the system, robbing the steering side of needed pressure/flow. Diesel pumps flow about 3/4 more GPM than a gas pump. As the pump wears or bypass valve sticks the steering suffers. Every dealer had/has a tester. Finding the hose adapters is the hard part.

Now that is just the hydraulic side. Depending on the amount of wheel offset, SAI and caster on your front axle, the tire contact patch does not pivot around a line drawn straight down through the center line of the tire. As the tire moves lock to lock the contact patch actually moves forward and backward. The amount depends on the items mentioned above.

Now picture all four wheels "locked up" to the ground with the braked applied when stopped. The steering gear has to "drag" your 7,000 lb truck across the pavement, perhaps as much as 1/2 inch fore and aft. The steering gear was not made to do that, thus the hard steering.

If you get a bad one, you don't even have to step on the brakes to prove it. Hook up the trailer and activate the trailer brakes to lock the truck from being able to move fore and aft. You will find the same hard steering just as though you stepped on the truck brakes.

So depending on your set up, it may or may not be "normal".