Steering Problem
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
Steering Problem
Can somebody help me figure out what I broke?
Story:
Driving down the street, truck is pulling a little to the left like it has as long as I've owned it (I've had it aligned several times, but it always goes back to pulling left within a couple of weeks). Stop at a red light. When the light turns green and I begin to give it some gas I notice it feels a little sluggish immediately. Then it starts pulling HARD left. The truck starts to die so I give it 3/4 throttle while forcing the truck to go straight just so I don't hit anybody. Pull the wheel hard right to turn into a parking lot trying to be gentle on it so as to not break anything worse. Suddenly there is a loud bang from the front of the truck and it stops pulling left and starts driving normally.
I Pull it into a parking space and pop the hood. There's steering fluid everywhere that's come out of the fill cap. It's all over the exhaust manifold and there's smoke pouring into the cab through the A/C vents. I decide to not risk it and call a tow truck and have it towed somewhere I can park it and work on it.
It's fine getting it onto and off of the tow truck, but as it hits a sharp ridge while parking it the wheel locks, to the right this time, and the truck loses power again. I give it just enough power to finish the turn I was trying to make and put it in neutral. This time turning the wheel is a no-go, it's locked, so I leave the whole mess to cool down (as it was steaming again).
I went out later and started her up and worked the wheel a little bit and it seemed to be fine again.
The Rest:
I'm no mechanic, but this is not my daily driver, and I can easily leave it mid-repair where it is, so I am eager to try and fix it, whatever it is. Personally I was thinking it could be a tie-rod end or maybe the rack-and-pinion, but while I know what and where these pieces are, I have no idea what I'm looking at to tell if something is amiss.
Can anybody point me in the right direction?
Story:
Driving down the street, truck is pulling a little to the left like it has as long as I've owned it (I've had it aligned several times, but it always goes back to pulling left within a couple of weeks). Stop at a red light. When the light turns green and I begin to give it some gas I notice it feels a little sluggish immediately. Then it starts pulling HARD left. The truck starts to die so I give it 3/4 throttle while forcing the truck to go straight just so I don't hit anybody. Pull the wheel hard right to turn into a parking lot trying to be gentle on it so as to not break anything worse. Suddenly there is a loud bang from the front of the truck and it stops pulling left and starts driving normally.
I Pull it into a parking space and pop the hood. There's steering fluid everywhere that's come out of the fill cap. It's all over the exhaust manifold and there's smoke pouring into the cab through the A/C vents. I decide to not risk it and call a tow truck and have it towed somewhere I can park it and work on it.
It's fine getting it onto and off of the tow truck, but as it hits a sharp ridge while parking it the wheel locks, to the right this time, and the truck loses power again. I give it just enough power to finish the turn I was trying to make and put it in neutral. This time turning the wheel is a no-go, it's locked, so I leave the whole mess to cool down (as it was steaming again).
I went out later and started her up and worked the wheel a little bit and it seemed to be fine again.
The Rest:
I'm no mechanic, but this is not my daily driver, and I can easily leave it mid-repair where it is, so I am eager to try and fix it, whatever it is. Personally I was thinking it could be a tie-rod end or maybe the rack-and-pinion, but while I know what and where these pieces are, I have no idea what I'm looking at to tell if something is amiss.
Can anybody point me in the right direction?
broke white boy
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,888
Likes: 73
From: mid missouri aka the sticks
easy fix:
get a new steering box
get a new power steering pump,
might as well get a new pressure line while you are at it too.
you might have had a gear break off inside the box.
get a new steering box
get a new power steering pump,
might as well get a new pressure line while you are at it too.
you might have had a gear break off inside the box.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
How sure are you that it's the steering box and not something else? Is there any way to know for sure that the steering box is the problem once I get under it?