Redthies' '97 F350 Thread

[BCHauler]

Is your steering pump noisy at all. Fords pumps from those years are notorious for being noisy and weak. I swapped a saginaw pump in place of the ford pump in my 94 and the birthing moose noise went away and the steering effort dropped considerably.

[redthies]

The pump is quiet. My 92 had the moose pump, but I changed it out for a reman and it was actually louder! I ended up doing the steering gear (box) as well, and that worked like magic. Was the Saginaw swap difficult? I can't imagine it would be. My main issue is that I actually have to use a bit of effort to steer the thing, which doesn't seem right. It also doesn't always return to center on its own. I made my buddy check out his guys work (bud helped with the bearing install), and he says they disconnected the lower shaft and the wheel spun like butter. They suggested the hub as an issue, and I did find a spring that I don't think belongs, but otherwise all looked fine. I'm tempted to just change the steering box next, but the $250 could go elsewhere...

[BCHauler]

No Saginaw swap was very easy. Use a pump out of an E-series van from a similar year as your truck. Use the van bracket as well. The only awkward part is one of the hoses. The van hose will not work, I gently bent my truck hose to match up but apparently there is factory hose from a late seventies f250 that does the trick. I'll email you a link to my install from a ford forum.

I had the exact same symptoms as you with my v8 Astronomer van a few years ago and the problem turned out to be seized joints on the intermediate shaft. Replaced it myself with a junkyard shaft and solved problem . Symptoms were really stiff steering and the wheel wouldn't return to centre. Not sure if the ford trucks have an intermediate shaft.

[BCHauler]

Astronomer van? Bloody iPhone auto-correct. Should read v8 Astro van.

[redthies]

Intermediate shaft from column to box? I'll look... I bought a box just in case.

Have you seen the Telus add where the chick is texting her boss? "I'm in bed with a nasty clown"... Then she says "I meant cold"! "A nasty cold"!

[BCHauler]

I know, I sent a text to a client the other day and my phone decided to call him "Moke" instead of Mike.

[Redline]

The pump is quiet. My 92 had the moose pump, but I changed it out for a reman and it was actually louder! I ended up doing the steering gear (box) as well, and that worked like magic.

snip...
My main issue is that I actually have to use a bit of effort to steer the thing, which doesn't seem right. It also doesn't always return to center on its own ...snip...

I remember hearing/feeling the steering even more on older Gen. trucks, and seem to remember it worse on Rangers/Explorers.

Certainly sounds like something it's right, my F350 has never had very heavy steering, and with some of the aftermarket/rebuilt steering gears I installed was actually too light for my preference, but I like lots of steering 'feel', not really a feature on these old trucks.

You probably have something worn as you say, but is low caster/poor alignment settings possibly part of the problem?

[redthies]

I changed the steering gear/box, and it solved the main issue. It's still a bit of effort to turn, but I think once the gears wear in, it might loosen up. I will check into the castor and toe to see if they are correct. We are doing a four day blast down south of the line on thursday, and at least I know it will be fine for that trip.

I also took apart my hubs and found an auto hub spring forced in between the inner and outer hub pieces. That was keeping things engaged all the time. Not good!

[Redline]

snip...

I also took apart my hubs and found an auto hub spring forced in between the inner and outer hub pieces. That was keeping things engaged all the time. Not good!

Exercising the spider gears?

[Betarocker]

When my steering u-joints toasted, the steering was very difficult at some times. It depended on which access the u-joint was pivoting; one still worked, the other seized.