yesterday when i was driving my steering was bad.. if i took a hard corner, well not even that hard, when i went to go straight again i had to bring the wheel the rest of the way back or it would continue to steer in the direction i had just turned... fluids are full.. any ideas? pump?

If the pump is not whining , then it might be a Tie-rod going bad.Have someone turn the wheel while your under it and look at everything for wear.

I've always heard that the steering not returning to center is a tell-tale sign of bad ball joints.

Jack up your front end and get a good strong metal bar/tube under the tire, wedge it between the tire and the ground and the pull up real hard then back down. There should be NO movement in the wheel up and down, if there is you've got a bad ball joint. This method of course is only conclusive if you feel movement in the tire (bad ball joint). If you DON'T feel movement you can't guarantee your ball joints are still good, although they might be.

ball joints were done no more than a year ago, should be fine. passed inspection 3 months ago too

my pump whines but thats normal with this gen ford..

steering is a little harder so im thinking my pump is on its way out

It is possible that the control valves inside the steering box are going. That could cause it to do as you described. It may be time for a rebuilt box.

Jack your front up and use the tire to turn the wheel back and forth, if you feel that its hard to turn then you might have a sticky tie rod. Id say you might be right with the pump if its gettin hard, could be on its way out.

95F350XL said:

Jack your front up and use the tire to turn the wheel back and forth, if you feel that its hard to turn then you might have a sticky tie rod. Id say you might be right with the pump if its gettin hard, could be on its way out.

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You could try what we did one the Ranger- flushed out all the old guck and put new in. Not 100%, but a dramatic improvement. Also an eye opener as to how the old fluid looked. Pretty much the same color and consistency as the mud the kid's been running through.

hmm ill try that... im off to the bahamas until friday so ill catch you guys later

NICE, wish I was there, but there is junk to fix.

NeXtras said:

hmm ill try that... im off to the bahamas until friday so ill catch you guys later

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You rat. You didn't invite me.....

My steering tight now. I will do the ball joints anyway as I'll have it apart . I put a Saginaw pump and bracket off a eVAn on it when put motor in. . No whine squeal and love large tires . There r Saginaw conversion Pumps out there that r bolt on.

Well hope trip is fun.

oh yes, lots of fun! here now.. wasnt sure if id have connection or not..

So what did you find? I Just spent 4 hours going over mine last night. There was np tight spots in tie rods or ball joints . I will replace rods but the ball joints have only 30000 ish on em and r Ford items (Found receipt for repairs by the old owner ) U jiont seem fine Nice tight spin free . I'll play some more and see . But I think the box or pump R going.

havent had someone look at it yet, planning that this week

Lost said:

So what did you find? I Just spent 4 hours going over mine last night. There was np tight spots in tie rods or ball joints . I will replace rods but the ball joints have only 30000 ish on em and r Ford items (Found receipt for repairs by the old owner ) U jiont seem fine Nice tight spin free . I'll play some more and see . But I think the box or pump R going.

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OK let me rewrite. There seemed to be no tight spots. Read my post I found a few.

To check the balljoints, just jack it up and wiggle the tire left to right or up and down and check for play. You'll understand what I'm sayin' when you do it. Up and down for balljoints, side to side for tie rods.

Lost said:

You rat. You didn't invite me.....

My steering tight now. I will do the ball joints anyway as I'll have it apart . I put a Saginaw pump and bracket off a eVAn on it when put motor in. . No whine squeal and love large tires . There r Saginaw conversion Pumps out there that r bolt on.

Well hope trip is fun.

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trip was fun

i dont know if its my pump or steering box.. which is y im taking it to a mechanic