I know how that goes, got a list as long as my arm, never seem to get past my fingers. what pitman arm did you use?

 

Both the '78 and '79 were supercabs and looked to use the same front suspension and steering box, including the pitman arm. The only difference was the axle. I used the steering box and pitman arm that came with the '78 F-150.

 

so, when you first did the hydro boost, everything worked well? what was the first thing it did to show you there was trouble?

 

Everything worked well...yup. The original hydroboost P/S pump started to make a little more whine than what it dod at the start and steering L or R would get spots every 1/2 to 1 turn that felt as if there wasn't power steering on the truck. Those spots felt like there was some sort of external binding or interference in the linkages.

 

Hmm. I think I need to check the steering linkage going into the box from the steering wheel and see if something is rubbing......

 

might be a torn fiber joint. my mustang used to eat them like candy. finally bought a borgeson u joint, cured it. but it never bound up, just got real squrriely

 

well been a couple days project but I used the truck to vacuum down the a-c system and charged it up pictures of the redneck vacuum devise follows
the hook up

holding a steady 18 lbs of vacuum

shes blowing cold now

 

cool deal. hope it stays that way

 

So where was the leak?

 

oh I forgot a big thank you to Charlie dusty bumpers-with out his guidance over the phone and on here I could not have done it-Kudos Charlie-thanks!

 

never did find a big one-I used a leak sealer and detector in it-so it should show up-or seal itself

 

oh gee, golly, garsh. now my hat won't fit, from the swollen head.

 

yeah right-it do blow cold though

 

Following up on a previous post in this thread about one of my shop guys saying I needed a new steering box.

I was working on trying to figure out what was really causing my steering to stick about every 1/4 turn of the wheel. I decided Sunday was the day to figure out the problem. I thought I'd start by looking at my steering stabilizer shock. When I was undoing the nuts for the shock, I noticed that the steering bar seemed 'funky'. I took it off and found my problem...both tie rod ends were hanging up in spots.

So, this afternoon, my wife picked up the new parts I ordered and I installed them tonight. I took careful measurements to be sure I got it back as close as possible without me having to immediately go get a front end alignment. Took it for a test drive...wow. The steering is nice and smooth and there's no pulling (I got it back pretty close). I might get the alignment checked sometime just to be sure.

The downside of this repair was I had to buy the whole bar and all since the '79 Dana 60 doesn't use replacable tie rod ends. I dished out over $250 bucks for 'need 'em now' parts ... The family is going to Assateague Thursday and I wanted to take FrankenTruck instead of the '97 Explorer. At least the parts are Moog, so they should last a while.

 

very good, glad it is fixed. $250 seems like a lot, until you concider your safty at 60 mph, and the steering locks up.