Originally Posted by
Franklin2
80 thru 96, f100 thru f350 and Bronco did all use the same steering box. I would have thought by 85 that power steering was standard and a manual box would not have been available, but the junkyard site does show a manual steering gear as a choice.
I think it was mainly the F100 and the F150's that were getting the manual gear box.
I wouldn't want manual steering in an F350 dually with a heavy load behind it.
My reasoning is that if your truck has a power steering pump, just replace the pump and keep rolling with the power steering.
How do you know that the truck originally came with manual steering? The presence of a pump kind of contradicts this...
Also, what caused the power steering pump to go out?
Two things to check are the steering gear shaft that sits just above the pitman arm, and your pressure hose and return line connections to the reservoir on the pump.
I bought a new power steering pump for my truck just recently. Hooked it up, filled it with fluid and turned it by hand until the system was full. Hooked the belt up and fired the truck up and it was blowing PS fluid all over my steering components. I've got to do the pitman shaft seal on my steering box, and if the box is worn out enough, the 8$ seal won't fix it and you'll need a new power steering gearbox.