Superduty steering stiffer than OBS?

OK, so perhaps it's just my imagination, but in both my '00 and my parents '02 PSDs the steering is... stiff. Not like 'armstrong', or like the powersteering isn't working(believe me, I know all about that)... but like going down the highway at 60MPH, it takes some effort to finally control and keep it in the lane. Hard to do with 1 hand.

My '92, '93, my '88s, my friends '97... they don't do this. Sure, when you are stopped, it takes some force, but going down the highway it's quite easy to use one hand and just keep it in the lane.

Now, the odd part is, it doesn't feel like steering box stiffness - with the '02, theres definitely freeplay in the steering... and even that is somewhat stiff. On the older trucks, I can use a single finger(with the engine off) and spin the wheel back and forth across the slop(left to right and back again).

Heck, with the steering shaft disconnected, you can grab the wheel and give it a good spin and it'll spin like 4+ revs before it'll stop.
I haven't tried this with the '00 or '02, but it 'feels' like it won't spin.

Any ideas on what changed? Am I imaging things?

steering wheels the same size?
SD is hydroboost. so the hydraulic systems are different

Perhaps... but that doesn't sound right. Unless the steering box is different? It feels like stiffness in the steering wheel itself.

My tan '88 has a HB unit from a '04 E450, so the same basic HB unit... steering didn't change, unless you try to crank the wheel hard while braking hard, then I've lost pressure before, for a split second.

its been about a year since ive drove my SD.
but I do remember the steering was different between that and my 87 with hydro.
im just throwin stuff out there...

Manufacturers also change pressures to change the feel of the wheel. If you want a more extreme change, move back to the 1970s. Those units spin the wheel effortlessly, but were dialed back in the 80s to give a more firm feel to the wheel.

Shadetreemechanic said:

Manufacturers also change pressures to change the feel of the wheel. If you want a more extreme change, move back to the 1970s. Those units spin the wheel effortlessly, but were dialed back in the 80s to give a more firm feel to the wheel.

Click to expand...

I still want to know how to get that sort of steering(which I'm still not sure what exactly changed... other than fewer turns lock to lock) in my trucks... ALL of them.

I've asked before, and nobody seems to know what you have to do to 'tweak' a modern truck.

I have always assumed it was some sort of flow restriction, but I know not where.

If I remember, Al @riotwarrior looked into this. Par of it is a pressure difference, and I think he shimmed the pump for more pressure. Also, the old 70’s Fords that had “pinky steering” used a Saginaw pump, not the Ford C2.

There is an orfice built into the pump outlet fitting and/or the pump end fitting. I know all of the 99-03 7.3 Superduties use the same pump as the OBS trucks.

My OBS and SD take about the same amount of effort. I'll have to drive each back to back as I've never taken notice if there is a slight difference.

Each time I have driven a 99-03 Super Duty I thought the steering was too stiff compared to my 91 and 96. It is a different box, perhaps it has a thicker torsion bar ( which controls the opening of the internal hydraulic valve)

My 2002 F 350 4x4 also seems like the steering is stiff when im pulling in and out of parking spaces... I just thought it was my 8 inch lift and oversized tires.

Drove both of my trucks back-to-back for comparison. Same size tires on both. I honestly couldn't tell a difference.