Power steering acting up - Help?

[66crawler]

My bronco power steering is doing some weird stuff. If I lock the front hubs and do some flexing and crawling and then back up or go forward then turn sharp, the steering sticks in the turned position and won’t let me straighten the wheels. It actually fights me and pulls the wheels back to the angle they are turned. Then..all the sudden, it starts steering fine again. I have the 6:1 turn bronco box and original Ford crappy pump. Which one is going bad?



This happens on dirt or pavement. I have 37" muds so I need advice on going to a really stout system if I need to replace this one. %)

Mark
66' Bronco

 

[michael084]

You say the hubs are locked are you in four wheel drive as well?

 

[66crawler]

yes..4 low have a detroit in the front too

 

[dpmerrill]

Have you tried bleeding the steering system. You may just have some air in there...

 

[Mikeg23]

Did it just start doing this or has it always done it with this tire and Detroit combo. I would say the pump is getting overworked big time.

Do you only have a steering problem when your sitting still? If you let off the brake or even let it roll a little does it loosen up?

 

[Mikeg23]

Also (bear with me I am making this up as I go) if you are sitting still transmission in neutral hubs unlocked. When you turn the wheel the tires want to spin different directions. So when you lock the hubs and you have a Detroit locker the tires can't spin at different rates which causes them to bind, then when you let off the steering wheel they return to where they were before you put them in a bind.

Maybe you need a heavy duty pump and a hydraulic assist ram.

 

[67EB_in_619]

I would think the detriot would only come into play if there is input (accel or decel) coming from the pinion... no pressure from the driveshaft, the locker stays unlocked... right?

FWIW: I have had the same trouble with PS, detriot in the front, and 4L hubs locked... the pump wasnt groaning, so I dont think that was it. It could be that I am totally wrong on my above comment and the locker is making the wheels fight against each other.. someone will chime in I hope.

 

[76Broncofromhell]

I blew the stock pump with 31's on, I can't imagine what it would be like with 37's. I used a pump off an 86 F-350 and it does the job just fine.

My guess is your pump has seen better days.

 

[66crawler]

Would the NAPA saginaw pump be a good one to go with then? $110 seems pretty reasonable.

 

[TOFIC]

Steering problem

Heres my 2 cents worth.
It has nothing to do with the Detroit. I cannot see this having any real effect on the steering.
On a guess, 2 things the pressure control valve in the pump is sticking or the box is jamming due to fluid contamination.
Before you blow a bunch of bucks on a new pump, try cleaning everything out and flushing the system with fresh fluid. This will probably fix it up but my next question would be what caused the contamination, age? hoses deteriorating, lines not good, leak in the PS box?
Start looking before you start spending
TOFIC

 

[Skuzzlebutt]

This problem has popped up a few times on the EBML. It always turned out to be something wrong inside the box. I can't remember the specifics tho

 

[Mikeg23]

Yea, you two are right the Detroit would be unlocked sitting still. I wasn't thinking about that.