Alright I'm in the process of building a 1979 F250 4x4 with a 12 valve and a 5 speed out of a 96 ram. I did the hydroboost swap as well and the power steering worked very well. I could turn the wheel with a finger, but the other day I was moving the truck in the shop and all power steering fluid was on the ground in a matter of seconds. It came out of the bottom of the steering box. Really crappy seal? I think I read something on the forums here that said the output of the cummins steering pump was too much for the ford steering gear but I cant for the life of me find it. I'm kinda stuck on this and any help would be greatly appreciated!

Side note: the truck only has 285/70/17s on it but I was turning on the spot when it dumped all the fluid.

 

Can't help much but I have the cummins pump feeding the ford box - no hydroboost brakes. I've put more than ten thousand miles on it without any steering fluid leaks or issues. 35" tires - 315/70/17

 

Have you got anything on it for a cooler/filter? Sounds like a plugged return line, possibly.....

 

2X on plugged line.

Are you running a filter on the power steering line or something? Some guys do, some guys don't... but it's likely the first thing to plug the system.

 

So I just did a 12 v with hydroboost and a 79 gearbox but also ram assist from west texas offroad.... I am having issues with not having any power steering at all right now.....

Been on vacation but going to have a look in the morning....

I go from the pressure port on the bottom of the 12v Saginaw pump to the port on the hydroboost on the passenger side ( 18mm dia I believe ) then the low pressure return from the hydro boost goes to the pump reservoir. The high pressure port on the drivers side ( 16mm diameter ) goes to the 79 bronco gearbox to the smaller of the 2 diameter ports which is the port towards the front of the truck , both ports are underneath and on the side of the gearbox towards the engine, the port towards the firewall goes back to the pump reservoir..... I have had no luck getting power steering to work the few hours I worked on it last week.....

Anything sound ****ed up?

I also have the 2 lines going from the ports added by west texas offroad on the gearbox to the ram cylinder and those are hooked up correctly as when I disconnected the ram it went the proper direction when I turned the wheel to the right or left....

Could I just have an air bubble issue??

Thanks guys

 

I've got no filter or cooler on it. I did little bit of driving before it dumped all the fluid and it worked awesome. Before I put the new seal in I'll pull all the lines off and blow them out. Thanks for the input!

 

E-works it does sound like air in the system. I've read and used this method to get it out. Jack up your vehicle. Turn lock to lock back and forth multiple times. Watch fluid level. Start engine for just a moment. Turn it off. Check fluid. Turn back and forth. Repeat. The goal is to not start it (and run for any length of time) with air in the lines or it just foams up.

 

Right on.... I was thinking of making some type of device to draw fluid from the gearbox to try to pull air out but that will be my last resort....

 

Alright I still have a fluid leak issue. I replaced the seal in the bottom of the steering box and the power steering worked great for driving the truck in and out of the shop. However today pulling the truck in I was doing some fairly fast steering and the seal in the bottom of the box is leaking again.

 

Time for a Redhead Steering box?

Blue Top steering boxes don't look too bad either.

 

The thought definitely crossed my mind. I rebuilt this box when I had the truck apart and Im wondering if i put something back together wrong? I can't think of what I might have messed up for fluid to leak like that though.

 

Do you have pics of the rebuild?

It almost sounds like you're missing a seal or a grommet or something between two sealing surfaces.

If it's leaking at a "seeping" rate (not a constant drip, but not one drip per drive either), it sounds like a part is missing or worn. Leads me to think of the same situation where you have a leaky intake manifold because of poor contact between sealing surfaces.

 

I could take some pics the next time I get home from working on the road. I did the rebuild using a ford service manual and double checked when I put the new seal in. I was doing some reading the other day and may have found a possible fix. A shim behind the snap ring, in between the snap ring and the seal. I was reading that the shaft has a taper and sometimes fluid pressure can push the seal too far down the taper. I'm not too confident in this working because I don't recall a taper on the shaft. Going to give it a go the next time I'm home anyway, also going to triple check seal configuration. Cant hurt to move the seal onto a new sealing surface and I reeeeaaly want to try to save this box if i can. That Redhead box would be damn expensive by the time it got here

 

Update on this steering box issue. I haven't had a chance to get the box apart again but it was in the truck and working pretty good. No major leaks just a fairly constant drip. I just had the box bolted in with 2 of the 4 bolts because I was constantly pulling this thing out. The other day I put the other 2 bolts in and torqued them up and the second I started the truck and turned it puked all the fluid immediately. So I'm thinking something may be crooked and distorting the box? Starting to get very frustrating but I have another box I'm going to try hopefully tonight.

 

Redhead or bluetop?