Can't turn tires at idle and sitting stationary, did flush and still very difficult. thinking about doing a Hydro assist. Has anyone done this and if so is there a thread out there with a good write up with pics?

 

When you are sitting stationary at idle and trying to turn the tires, is your foot also on the brake pedal?

If so, it will help you immensely if you take your foot off of the brake pedal when trying to turn the tires, and allow the truck to roll at idle while you are turning.

The brakes and the steering are boosted by the same hydraulic assist system (called hydro boost), unlike a gasoline truck where the brakes are powered by Vacuum assist, leaving the hydraulic steering pump alone to do nothing but assist with steering.

The fact that you have larger tires doesn't help, as the larger diameter and width, even with the higher sidewall aspect ratio, still represents a larger contact patch on the ground that you are trying to scrape the tread off of the tires when grinding them on asphalt while standing still.

I learned to drive in the days when power steering was a novelty, not a "necessity". Back in those days, no one even attempted to "pre steer" the wheels while standing still. We steered as we rolled, as that was the only way to do it. In fact, I recall even being taught this basic steering principle in driver's ed, during parallel parking practice.

No need for hydro assist if you can manage to steer as if you had no power steering, by only steering when your foot is off the brake, while you are rolling slowly into the direction you are steering toward.

 

I also flushed my power steering system with ATF and I notice the same thing. Foot on brake means not much power steering assist. Foot off brake, and the power steering assist works much better.

 

Your power steer system is linked the brake system call Hydroboost system as stated , so when you touch your foot on the brake and about to stop your steering will become harder to turn and vise the versa , like when you do a three point turn , this is normal for this Hydroboost system.

http://www.brakeandfrontend.com/oper...ssist-systems/

 

Is this the FTE version of the old joke?:

Patient "Doc, it hurts when I do this (bending fingers backwards)"
Doctor "Stop doing that".

Jeez... the stuff we old farts know that we take for granted. This made me chuckle because I recently crossed the line and officially attained the moniker of "senior citizen"... according to AARP.

 

I remember my first AARP letter. That sucked. How the fudge do they know? They are like the Latter Day Saints... always tracking.

I remember when power steering was a high line sales feature on cars, much like built in Navigation systems are today. Quite common enough, but still novelties, not necessities. Television and movies of the late 50's and 60's would show the likes of Elvis steering his Cadillac with a finger. Unreal!

But power steering on pickup trucks? Fagetabout it! That's why trucks had big giant steering wheels with three hard spokes you could grab onto to in order to crank the 16:1 ratio steering gear about. My first Ford pickup, a 1963 F100 Unibody with a drop center solid I beam front axle (before the days of "Twin Traction Beam") was still easy enough to steer if I kept it rolling. With a manual transmission (3 on the tree) my hands and feet were busy, but I could shift into neutral and roll with momentum if I needed to move slower as I steered.

 

steering is no bueno

I had a 49 Buick verry large steering wheel if you were not rolling you could not steer it even with the larger steering wheel diameter.

SIDE NOTE:
Tugly
Where did yoy aquire the nice rug topper for your dash? That looks great and I would like to get one to keep the sun off my dash.
Thanks
AJ

 

That's a Dash Mat "Ultimat". They have a mold of the original dash and form the mat very precisely. When I got it out of the box, it was a little warpy, but after bending the mat back into shape -it held the form I gave it. Weird stuff, but it works.

 

So it's just a normal thing associated with the geometry of the front end of these trucks. I can live with that, and I have had my share of vehicles with no power steering, the last one was a 55 big window chev truck. it's just a pain to back a trailer into a tight spot when I need to go slow and make some small steering corrections to get it where I need it.

 

Associated with the type of hydraulic assist system... called Hydroboost... where both the brakes and the steering are assisted by the same system, rather then the brakes being boosted by vacuum, which is not as readily available as it is in a gasoline vehicle.

Geometry enters into the equation as well, with bigger tires, more contact patch, more resistance to steering effort, and changes in caster from any lift or leveling kit to accommodate the bigger tires. But Hydroboost was the main issue most of us were trying to point out. Try and keep your foot off of the service brake when steering, and it will be a lot easier.