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I upgraded my 62 f-100 flare side with power steering putting a MII IFS front end on with a 1988 Ford Thunderbird rack and pinion. I'm having a problem with the steering and wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if so, what did you do?
The truck has a 302 CID engine with a Saginaw GM type power steering pump. I have put three shims in the pump to reduce the pressure as required when using this type pump with a ford product. When I serviced the power steering and started the truck, the steering wheel immediately went to full stop to the left, the tires moved the same. I could not pull the wheel back by hand and had to turn it off to move the wheel back. The immediate thought was the pressure was too high so I added an additional shim to the pump dropping the pressure from 1,000 PSI to 850 PSI. Started it and the same thing happened. Talked to the Borgenson people who made the pump and they said it is in the rack, not the pump.
A friend suggested that the high pressure and return lines may be installed backwards but in checking the pressure line is closest to the steering wheel per several drawing I've reviewed. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated before I have to replace the rack and pinion.
Last edited by oldracerjones; May 15, 2020 at 04:59 PM.
Reason: Changed the word return to pressure.
Ford390gashog, thanks for your post. I put the order of the lines incorrect. The pressure line is closest to the steering shaft. I've attached a photo. Have you ever heard of the wheel going full left like this?
Well I figured it out. Tried bleeding it one more time and no change. Decided to change it out with a new one. Once installed, the tie rods were about 3 inches short on each side. We looked the outer tie rods up and found they were longer and thicker than what I had on the truck as part of the suspension upgrade. I was wondering what the heck was going on so I pulled the rubber boots or the rack and found the right side tie rods had a 3" extension installed on it. When I installed the new one it was very specific that the part had been centered in the factory and to not move it at all until everything was connected. When I installed the original rack I remember it being "off" and had to work to make it even when connecting the tie rods. No doubt I moved it before it was fully connected. If the extension (on one side only) caused me to move it past center, starting the engine would force fluid into one side of the rack causing it to push it to one side.
I called the maker of the kit and he said it should have had an extension on each side, not just one. So I learned a couple lessons; cheap prices usually mean cheap parts, and pay more attention during install instead of just following directions.
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