Hard steering at idle

[utah300rum]

I have talked to several people with Powerstrokes with oversized tires that have little or no power steering when at idle or not moving. My truck is the same way just a bear to turn while backing a trailer. I have talked to mechanics at 2 local Ford dealers and they say thats just the way the system is designed.

I have talked to people who build rock crawlers and they build what they call hydraulic assist. They have the steering box drilled and tappped than add a small ram to the steering arm. SOme creative brackets, couple of hoses and bam! you have one finger steering.

Has anyone heard of or tried this on a PSD? or have more info on giving this a try?

[460+]

No I havent heard of this but if its that hard you may have bad ball joints or a weak pump or even a bad gear box.

[cj41foley]

my 02 with 305's was hard to turn when at idle, check out a company called ARG, I think they make and sell the rock ram kits

[jostaman]

There is a system that is/ was used on Hanidcaped vans to make it finger steering. what it did was take out the back pressure . we had guy come to the shop and do the mod there. Not sure what he did would not let us watch. but is cool.

[Raul@Stealth Automotive]

I carry them but they are not cheap.... let me know if your interested... they are made by ORU

[dieselcrawler]

My truck steers hard, much the same as discribed above... I'm used to my ol' chevys, turn 'em lock to lock at an idle with one finger. I agree, trialering, backing up, much harder with my SuperDuty...
If anyone comes up with some info on the mod to make it easier, please post it... All my steering stuff seems fine, per NTB, just did an alinement. Steering box, ball joints, tierod ends, all ok... rev the motor a little, turns fine. Idle, takes both hands to turn it fast. It's almost got me in trouble in a panic situation (if being in the driveway can ever be called a panic situation!) almost hit the outbuilding, couldn't turn the wheel fast enough!

[460+]

Im runin 315's and mine turns fine. Might jack it up on stands and see if it turns free.

[Raul@Stealth Automotive]

just on a side note im running 37's and i can turn mine pretty easily

[dieselcrawler]

If things work ok otherwise, just sluggish at idle, is the pump not putting out enough, or could the problem be in the steering box? New PS pump might cure the problem?

[utah300rum]

I have found some more info on this problem and a few resolutions.

The best but most $$ fix is a ram kit, there are several out there but they start at $1,000 up to $1,500. The kits include a new steering box, ram, brackets and hoses. This looks awesome and I bet works great, but it looks like alot of work and money.

I have found 2 companies that offer upgraded powersteering pumps. They claim to increase the pressure and gpm flow over the stock pump. They run about $200-$250. This makes me a little nervous since I already blew one of my steering hoses ight out of the pump 3 days after I bought the truck. The dealer said it was fairly common on the PSD to do that. The fitting has 2 steel pieces with a brass clip that hold them together. The rocking of the engine/offroading causes the steel to wear the brass clip, then it blows the connector apart.

I am going to keep looking but an upgraded pump may be the option for me due to the cost. I hope to sell my truck in a year so I dont want to put in too much $ into it.