Steering issues

[JAyers]

About 3weeks ago the power steering started getting grumpy in the mornings. For the first 3-4 miles instead of gently turning to the left or right it would lurch or jump to the left or right. It would also have about 1/2 a turn of play in the steering wheel before it would do anything in either direction. After those 3-4 miles everything would tighten back up and go back to normal. It got worse, much worse. To the point of throwing the truck off the road or into the other lane.

First i started off by checking all steering joints..draglink, etc. Everything seems to be fine. Then i check the ball joints and wheels bearings...they were ok too, not a bit of play. Next i checked the steering shaft, its a borgeson and it was tight as a new one.

So next i put a new steering box on it...also checked mounting plate....it was fine. The new box seemed to help it for the first couple days then it went right back to the way it was. Jumping and lurching. I also ended up loosing power steering completly, it turned out to be the pump. Shes got a new one of those now. It still jumps and carry's on...any help would be greatly appriciated. All parts came from NAPA. I think its the gearbox but i cant see a new one going bad in two days like that.

Sorry for the book and thanks for your time!

[GO OVRIT]

It sure sounds like the gear box. I had a fairly new AGR box that was supposed to be top notch do the same thing. It felt like somebody was holding the steering wheel while I was trying to turn then suddenly letting go. A bad draglink can do that some too. When you replaced the box and the pump, was the fluid clean? Doing them one at a time may have let metal shavings and/or chunks flow through the new components. NAPA is usually pretty good, but you can get a bad part(especially reman) from anywhere.

[Ace]

The PS systems on these trucks have stupid small fluid capacity. I never measured how much it takes, but it damn sure ain't enough. If you're not changing the PS fluid at least every couple years you're gonna develop problems. I installed a Magnafine filter and cooler on mine to alleviate this problem. It holds about an additional half quart and should run cool and clean for alot longer now.

[JAyers]

GO OVRIT Thats exactly what it feels like. Your also the third person whos told me that today so guess what ill be doing this weekend....changing the gearbox again. Yea i did change them one at a time. But when i changed the powersteering pump i ran as much out of the gear as i could. Then put in new fluid. Ill give another gear a try and see what happens.

ACE Ive been thinking about doing something similar for a while but just never have gotten around to it.

Thanks for your time guys! Ill let you know how it works out.