2.5" lvl so nothing out of whack with steering geometry. Usually kicks in after about 15mins of driving. For example I go to the store,its working by the time I park then the same on return trip... I've never had power steering come and go on any vehicle I've owned so I'm not familiar with this behavior. Its usually all or nothing. Any know issues that would spawn this?

 

You're gonna need to explain the issue better and more specifically to get any responses.

 

No power steering at all upon start up. After roughly 15mins or so of driving it will kick in then its on and off. I've been testing whether uphill/downhill matters but it doesn't. My brain tells me faulty ground but its too consistent for it to be that. Consistent I mean in regards to it taking about 7-10miles/15 mins to engage.

 

Check the u joint at the steering shaft under the hood. When worn, it can cause binding that makes the wheel "harder" to turn randomly. A thorough greasing of the u joint might help you diagnosis the issue. Slather and pack grease into the joint and it might take care if the issue for a long time. It is a very common issue..

 

That sounds plausible for what I'm experiencing... I'll give it a go and see if it does the trick. It may not be a complete loss of the power steer but like you said "harder" to turn the wheel. I was looking at the power steer due to the lack of rebound on the steering wheel as well when making a turn.... but then its magically back by the time I get used to wrestling with the wheel... then gone again. Its really aggravating.

 

Sounds like you got the same bind I had..

Check this out.. http://www.f150forum.com/f4/f150-ste...92/?styleid=14

 

Excellent... thank you. Definitely worth a shot with grease first I suppose. Lithium grease should do the trick? And better to disassemble or just grease the hell out of them as they sit, just rotating to get all angles covered?

 

Its going on the to-do list for replacement... the bottom joint looks pretty nasty. Hopefully a good greasing can put it off for a little while as the jeeps been bleeding my wallet so far this year. Know of anybody fabricating a boot to protect the joints from excessive corrosion due to road salt? I'm in the northeast so that's likely the culprit.

 

I used standard red grease from my grease gun. I put my hand into a plastic bag, pumped grease into my hand, and packed it into the joint. I also have it a few squirts of kroil before I greased it.

I'm from the northeast too. I think that adding grease in copious amounts to the joint will keep it living long. I'm still using my problematic joint since I greased it.. It's been well over a year now. I would also grease up a new replacement steering shaft as well.

 

The bottom joint is too nasty looking or me to ignore. I'm going to attempt your method as I feel that should suffice if this ends up being the issue but its on my radar now. I'm thinking about getting a dust cover for a shock and cutting it in half to make 2 boots and securing the ends possibly with hose clamps haha. I'll have to play around with this idea some to make sure nothing will catch and interfere with the steering. Upper joint doesn't look bad, just routine corrosion.