More Steering Problems...

[CA_LEO]

Ok guys, I usually have really good luck with searching this site but I can not seem to find the post that was similar to this a couple years back... About a year ago my steering on my M1009 got really sloppy all of a sudden. Luckily this was literally a minute away from home and happened as I got off the freeway. I pulled into my driveway popped the hood and turned the steering shaft by hand. I immediately saw that my steering box was twisting away from the frame, yes I parked it until I could fix it. A couple of weeks later I went to go pull the bolts out of it and found one completely broken and two of the three remaining were very close to being broken off. I should note that the bots were obviously not stock and I do not know if it was the previous owner or the military who put them in there. Whatever they were, they were far from a high quality metal. Whoever had drilled out the original studs did one heck of a sloppy job threading the ears on the steering box. So I went online and got some grade 8 hardware and locking nuts. Put the steering box back on so that it was basically being sandwiched against the frame by the new hardware instead of threading directly into the steering box. Got it back on the road and everything was right as rain.

A couple of months back I parked my M1009 again because it would not start anytime it dropped below freezing. I did the resistor bypass, new glowplugs and all that phone stuff last week. Started to drive it and was enjoying how well the darn thing was actually starting for once. Well, on Monday morning, coming down the same stretch of freeway my steering started to get a little sloppy again. I immediately got off the freeway and popped the hood. The steering box was not as bad this time, but it was definitely twisting away from the frame a small amount again. Took the back roads home and parked it.

I should describe the symptoms a little better then being sloppy. So the best way I could describe it is when I wold turn the steering wheel there was no response at first then all of a sudden it would appear as though the steering was trying to catch up with itself and would sharply turn in the direction I had the wheel. This only was noticeable on the freeway traveling around 60 MPH. on surface streets doing under 20 MPH it was steering just fine, no slop or anything.

So I had sometime to look into it today figuring maybe I have multiple issues going on here. I jacked up the front end and put on axle stands. I tried the steering myself and noticed the with the wheels off the ground my steering seems pretty difficult to turn with the engine off. I did start the engine and noticed that although it was easier to turn it still appeared to be stiffer then normal, even though the wheels were off the ground.I had my wife turn the wheels from left to right, not going quite all the way to wheel lock. I looked at pitman arm and tie rods just to see if they appeared to be binding up at all and all APPEARED okay. The U joints feel just fine, do not appear to be binding up at all.

So I had my wife trying to turn the wheels again and before I knew, power steering fluid came gushing out of the back of the power steering reservoir... I can not see exactly where it is coming from but it definitely is coming from the rear of the reservoir. I did not have time today to pull the steering box off and see what is going on with the bolts yet but I will hopefully have time to do that soon. I will post photos of what I find.

I consulted the TM's last night before doing any of this and I honestly feel a little confused by this whole thing. So I figured I would come in here and see if anybody has any words of wisdom. I know I have to pull the power steering pump off and get that all taken care of but I was wondering where else to look and see if there is more going on. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Barrman]

It seems you have multiple issues. Fix the steering box mount first. Then, with the engine off and the truck on a concrete surface. Have your wife turn the wheel 45˚ each direction over and over again while you lay down there and put your hand on every single connection in the steering system. You will be able to feel slop before you hear it and hear it before you see it. Replace anything with slop. From what you described. I think your front axle ujoints or ball joints are binding some.

Which leads to the fluid coming out. It probably came out of the fill cap. The system is supposed to be turned with the engine running. All power steering systems will push fluid out if you turn the box without the engine running. Wipe it off and forget about it unless it happens while the engine is running.

While you have it up on jack stands. Go ahead and pull/push on the top of the tires while standing next to the fender. If there is any slop, figure out if it is wheel bearings or ball joints.

 

[porkysplace]

Is this the thread you were looking for ? Diy steering box brace
Cracked frame by steering box

 

[firefox]

You didn't mention the standoffs that the bolts go thru. Can someone make a comment on these.
Bruce

 

[CA_LEO]

Thanks for the replies guys. I feel like an idiot, sure enough the fluid shot out the top of the power steering pump. I will do the other things mentioned.

That's not the post I was looking for but that had some good info in it, thanks. I ordered the ORD brace and weld on kit earlier today.

 

[porkysplace]

If there is exessive play in the gears in the steering box it can cause binding also .

 

[Mainsail]

I had an old Ford Courier that didn’t have power steering. When I bought it I noticed that the steering wheel was hard to turn, after a turn the steering wheel would not return to center on its own, I had to “unsteer” after turning. I lived with it like that for a few months until I got jammed in a narrow parking lot and had to do a 56-point K-turn to get out. Of course the difficult steering was only adding to my frustration, so I yanked the wheel hard over and heard something POP- then the steering got really easy….too easy.

It turned out that the (permanently lubricated) ball of the pitman arm had no grease in it whatsoever, and had gotten so corroded it finally broke clean off.

So anyway, check your tie-rods etc and make sure everything is moving properly. It sort of sounds like your power steering is in a serious battle with some component in your directional control system.

 

[Cucvnut]

Mainsail, its really hard to read black text on this site. Could you please change it to something else please.

 

[Mainsail]

Mainsail, its really hard to read black text on this site. Could you please change it to something else please.

I don't know how it did that. I'll see if I can change it.

Weird, I didn't mess with any of the color settings. Fixed.

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

I've noticed that happen to a few folks since the site upgrade a few months back. Seems random.