Manual Steering Issue or Normal?!

[JayM_71Bronco]

Hi all,

Purchased my 71 and FINALLY with the help of a bunch of you it runs and drives... well sort of.. I have always thought to myself that power steering would be the next step or power brakes. I figured I could deal with the manual steering for a while until I made the switch by my goodness something has to be wrong!!

Long story short I can imagine this is what normal manual steering feels like. I simply cannot drive this truck like this. When stopped you cannot move the wheel at all and even when rolling i am fighting it hard to turn. Drove her for the first time and within 5 mins of driving it in an open parking lot my arms were smoked. Something has to be wrong here right? I imagine factory manual steering is rough but not to the point where you have to use two arms and pull as hard as possible to turn the wheel at all.

I have stock ride hide and i added some BFG All Terrain 32x10.5 x15 wheels on it. Any ideas on where to start? I opened up the grease box steering box and it was full of grease but wondering what else it might be? Any thoughts would be appreciated before i just jump online and order power steering...

Manual steering friends where are you at??

Thanks guys look forward to the replies and please let me know what other details might be helpful to break this down or provide more clarity.

Thanks,
Jay

 

[SHX669]

Well - it's been awhile since Ive driven an EB with manual steering and larger than stock tires but I seem to remember not being able to turn when at a dead stop and having to use two arms to steer so I guess it's a matter of " degree" of difficulty ....

 

[gr8scott]

Your 32" tires are actually 11.5" wide, not 10.5". Manual steering probably works really well with stock size tires.
If you order this kit, your arms will love you for it. Or use a vendor based on your location for cheaper shipping prices.

https://www.wildhorses4x4.com/produ...ring_System_Deluxe/bronco_Power_Steering_Kits

You'll need some new pulleys too.

https://www.wildhorses4x4.com/product/Water_Pump_Crank_Pulley_Kit/early_bronco_water_pumps

 

[Rangerbj]

Question. Do you have a steering stabilizer unit on your bronco? If so, is it old and rusted out? If so, it can make steering impossible. FYI

 

[Broncobowsher]

Put the front on jackstands. Cycle the steering. How does it feel?
If it is still really stiff you have something bound up and can be fixed. If not, that is how manual steering is.

I remember growing up with manual steering on 31s. It was a workout. parking lots were difficult. Turing while stopped, felt like you were trying to twist the steering shaft in half. After a couple years I figured it was easier to turn the steering if I wasn't on the brakes. The front tires actually roll a little as you steer.

That was normal 15x8 wheels. If you have spacers and/or really low backspacing wheels for extra width it will be even worse.

I was so happy when I got power steering. It was about the best thing that could happen.

 

[jhill52]

I have 10.50 tires with manual steering. It takes both arms to turn sitting still. i steers firm but comfortable going down the road.
I am gathering the parts to go to power.

 

[BronCowie]

I thought when I went from 10.5" to 12.5" tires it would drive me to upgrade my manual steering. But after driving with 33"X12.5" tires for a while now, I don't have any unusual issues. I just don't try to turn the wheel while stopped, rather get it rolling slightly and can turn with minimal effort.

 

[thegreatjustino]

What steering wheel are you using? When I bought my first Bronco 21 years ago, it had 31" tires, manual steering, and an aftermarket 12" or so Grant steering wheel. What a nightmare.

Simply getting rid of the little steering wheel in favor of a stock one made a huge difference.

A couple of years later when I had the funds to convert to power steering, it was the best upgrade I'd made to that point.

 

[Revelation]

Are the hubs locked? Have seen that cause stiffer than normal steering

 

[DirtDonk]

Pretty much everything every one has already said JayM. But unless your arms are just not used to this much work, it does sound to me like you have something going on. And I'm assuming your arms are probably stronger than mine because most are these days!

There are a few things to check to find out where the trouble is.
But first, what is your caster reading? Have you ever had it tested on an alignment rack? The higher the positive caster number is, the harder it is to steer. The more rubber on the ground the harder to steer too of course, but a big part of this is the offset of the wheel. If your wheels are wider and stick out further from the fenders, that pits more tire-leverage against the steering-leverage.
The easiest things to verify first are to measure your steering wheel (unless you know it's stock?) and to remove your steering stabilizer.

A partial list of potential culprits:
1. Stabilizer shock.
2. Axle shaft u-joints.
3. Ball-joints if a Dana 44 or king-pin bearings if a Dana 30 (your '71 could have either depending on when it was built)
4. Bound up tie-rod ends.
5. A suspension lift without dropped pitman arm.
6. Steering column bearings (not common for them to jam up, but it's possible)
7. As mentioned too, if the lockouts are in the LOCK position and you have a limited-slip front differential, it could be very hard to turn.
8. Finally, the steering gearbox itself. They definitely do wear out and I can attest that a new or rebuilt one will turn more easily than an old tired one will.

My '71's manual box was not in that bad of shape, but I replaced it anyway when I was doing a test for a case of the Death-Wobbles. Even though I already figured it was the tires, I also figured that at $175 bucks (almost cheaper than new tie-rods!) a new steering box couldn't hurt.
It didn't! The new box was notably easier to turn than the old one that had less than 100k miles on it.

So those are a few things you need to isolate and check. You obviously can't drive it this way, so get ready to dig into things. If it still feels tight off the ground, start disconnecting things until it gets easier.
Things like Dana 30 king-pin bearings tend to never get serviced because they're a mystery to most anymore. Axle u-joints get ignored until they can't be ignored anymore because you have to dig so deep to change them.
But those are only two of several possibilities.

Good luck.

Paul

 

[BronCowie]

I thought when I went from 10.5" to 12.5" tires it would drive me to upgrade my manual steering. But after driving with 33"X12.5" tires for a while now, I don't have any unusual issues. I just don't try to turn the wheel while stopped, rather get it rolling slightly and can turn with minimal effort.

FYI, I have the stock big steering wheel. A smaller one no doubt would exacerbate the situation.

 

[m_m70]

when I bought mine back in '89, the PO had tightened the crap out of the pre-load screw. made for an interesting and tough feel.

 

[JayM_71Bronco]

I currently am running the stock steering wheel and on factory ride height at the moment. Most of the suspension underneath is probably the original equipment so it might be the stabilizer or a combo of old parts. I will take a look through and consider those above recommendations.

No way of saying this without being a tool haha but im a fairly good sized dude, it just seems like something is off because it doesnt seem at all like this could be normal. I am going to run through as much of it as I can if I find a lead culprit ill be sure to let you all know!

Thanks for all the answers, appreciate it!

 

[DirtDonk]

Look forward to hearing what it ended up being. All those things mentioned like the pivoting points (ball joints or king pins) and u-joints only need to be bound up slightly at one wheel to make it pretty hard to steer.
But it sure would be nice to just remove the steering stabilizer shock to find the cure!

You can drive around just fine without it (theoretically, depending on the condition of other things) but they are also available new to fit the old stock brackets too, for a pretty reasonable price still.

Here's crossing fingers for the cheap fixes!

Paul