funny steering

[69oiler]

my truck's steering seems to stick. it's acting like stuck king pins do. 3 out of my 4 ball joints have zerk fittings and are greased and the 4th i used a needle fitting on the grease gun to grease it. tie rods are greased. this helped a little but the problem is still there.

i'm pretty sure this is a ball joint problem but is there any chance it could be a steering box problem? the truck has had the typical Ford power steering whine since i've had it. power steering fluid checks out OK. 153k on the truck.

 

[94f450sd]

it can be one of a few things.how are the bearings in your steering column?my 95 needed a new column when i got it and the steering would stick cuz of the shot bearings in the column.it could be the steering box,i just replaced the box in my 95 due to this a few months ago.could be the balljoints or steering linkages.but if they all took grease without problem i highly doubt its any of those.most likey the steering box.

 

[69oiler]

well i did the trick where you jack up the truck and pry on the wheels with a bar and the ball joints look tight. NAPA bearing less than 1 year old has some slop but BJs look OK. the way it's steering i doubt the column bearings are the problem, it wanders and doesn't want to return to center when i make a turn. no noises or roughness to indicate column bearings.

would the steering box tighten up like that? i guess i'll start pricing steering boxes.

 

[Dieselmaster]

The stearing box is one of the biggest complaints that I have seen from guys... The biggest complaint being that if you step on the brake and try to steer at the same time that you don't get any power steering.

They also whine quite a bit. My 99 had a terrible whine and was even worse after I replaced it with a rebuilt one from Autozone.. I think there is a vendor selling modified steering boxes that are stronger and quieter... I'll try looking around to see if I can find which one it was.

 

[94f450sd]

you could try seperateing the tie rods from the knuckles and trying to turn each wheel by hand and see if they turn easily or hard.that will rule out the ball jointsand if 4wd check the front axles as they may be binding when you turn

 

[Double-S-Diesel]

possibility of the axle joints being tight and binding, also as said before, may need to jack up the front and seperate the tie rods and see if the BJs are too tight
wheel brng should have no slop.
dont discount what those column bearings will doo, had quite a few that gave me greif.

as for boxes and pumps aftermarket sucks on these models.

 

[69oiler]

one question. if i turn the steering wheel with the engine turned off power steering fluid spurts out of the pump all over the place. with engine running no leakage. is this normal, or could it be a symptom of steering box problems

 

[Mr. Bob]

Yes... that is normal.. you are forcing all the fluid in your return line into the reservoir without pumping any out... thus the fluid pukes out!!!

99% of the time I deal with this complaint its a seized/ing axle joint....

I would jack up the front end again ( both front wheels ) and turn the wheels all the way to one direction. Then lock both hubs and spin the tires slowly. If it gets tight or hard to turn you have a seized joint....

 

[69oiler]

that does make sense.