My brother took my truck for a drive while I was working thru the bucking/jerking behaviour. He mentioned that the steering seemed VERY light
and you could move the wheel what he deemed too easily side to side. ie: like there was too much power steering being applied. I wouldn't say
it was loose.

I believe these trucks never came from the factory with steering dampener's. Is this something I should be looking at to take some of this
lightness out of the steering? Just curious as to what y'all think.

 

There is nothing inherently bad about a light steering feel and unless you regularly travel on surfaces that force significant unwanted steering inputs there is no real need for a damper. That said the steering geometry in these trucks isn't the greatest with quite a of bump steer inherent to the design, so a damper might make it feel a little more stable but it won't remove the bump steer.

 

to add to that, if the OP has inconsistent behavior. such that you could start the truck, go drive, and it wanders, then stop at a store, and the trip home is not.

I would advise the OP to look at replacing the C2 pump with a Saginaw. the C2 pump is much more prone to sticking flow control valve, and that would cause binding in the bore that would sometimes make assist be way too .. assisting.

this is a saginaw pump, the part on the left is the flow control valve

this is the flow control valve. this is an example of an extremely worn one (the edges should be smooth/polished), and the Saginaw AND c2 share the same flow control valve(maybe spring too)

I extremely recommend a magnetic return line filter no matter what, bits of metal circulating are what ruin the bores in the pumps , heat then exponentially wears the fluid/lines/other components with the circulating debris

 

I'll be taking my steering box out to do a re-seal job on the sector shaft. I understand the proper way (safe) to do this is to remove the sector shaft from
the housing before attempting removal of the dust shield, snap ring and pressure seal. This way removing these items is easier since the shaft is out
of the way reducing risk of damaging the sealing surfaces.

Question: after cleaning out the bore, it is advisable to put some tape over the threaded end of the sector shaft before attempting re-install
over the new seal? Also, does the adjuster nut need to be removed BEFORE attempting removal of the sector shaft from the bore?

 

You can replace the sector shaft seals with the gear in the truck
You can also pull the sector shaft out with the gear still in the truck
Might need a new sector shaft anyway if there is a groove where the seals ride
The input shaft seals were updated, and I replaced about 1000 of them in 5 years when they started leaking bad in the mid 90's
Those input shaft seals can be replaced with the gear in the truck as well

 

Do you have to remove the adjuster nut to take the sector shaft out or just the 2 bolts holding it to the housing? I'd rather not
mess with the setup as it is decent now if at all possible.

I'll take a pic of the sector shaft after I get it out and wiped clean and post it. You can tell me if it's worn too much

RE: taking it out to do the job...I planned on cleaning the casing up and painting it anyway. I have vertigo so laying underneath
and looking up will make my head spin so limiting the time in that position is helpful.

 

You don't need to mess with the adjustment stud or the nut
Just center the gear (2 turns from either lock) and pull the big 3/4 bolts out
Then tap the sector shaft up with a brass hammer or something
Pretty damn easy to change the seals with the sector shaft out
Good luck
I have about 20 seal kits, if you need some seals or bushings, I can send you some

 

if the one I bought doesn't work out I *may* take you up on that. very nice of you to offer.

 

Can the flow control valve be replaced/inspected with the pump on the truck? Where can a feller find one of these relief valves and springs?

Since my steering box output shaft is leaking, the relief valve being stuck open and providing full pressure all the time *MAY* be the reason for the seal failure.

 

it can when you can accesss the port where the line goes in, saginaws it can be hard but i believe depending on your bracket the c2 may be easily accessed. i think on my 4.9 it is
Id recommend removing, and cleaning the reservoir and insepcting the bore as well as just cleaning things up and making sure you got no leaks etc

 

you can google a flow control valve and spring for a c2 pump or a saginaw p pump They are the same This is how you modify one for different flow/pressure (flow is modified b drilling the orifice on the thing holding the valve in the pump)

 

found a site the produces shim kits for the saginaw pumps. 18.00. I asked them if it also works for the C2 ford pump.

when you take the pressure line off the pump and unscrew the fitting, using a magnet the relief valve will come out with the spring.

the kit comes with a sleeve to surround the valve which you can then put in a vice to remove the innards of the valve. adding
shims will reduce the pressure. I'll try adding a couple and see what that does.

 

yes. as i said, its quite literally the exact same, as ford was copying saginaw to make the c2 (yet did it so terribly that a great pump becomes terrible lol)
you can literally swap a flow control valve between them , so the parts to mod one should also work for the other. remember, you need to be inspecting the smoothness of the valve outer part to make sure its not showing a lot of wear, if it is, id either suggest another pump or a GM used or new flow control valve.
I suspect that the metal quality of the ford valve may be less than GM but i do not know for sure.

you also should really put a inline magnetic filter on the return so you can prevent metal granola from wearing the parts , if that were a factor now or in the future

 

who makes the inline filter for the pressure line?

 

there is no such thing
You can only put one in the low pressure side.
https://magnefinefilters.com/

ive used this


[img alt="my 1980 gmc has this filter on. note the way its installed would kink a hose , i have a 90 degree fitting making this possible .. but thats not smart since it adds clamps and leak potential points, so id recommend using 3/8 trans cooler line to make a custom loop to install without being forced to kink IFFFFFFF it cant be done with the stock hose
to use 3/8 trans cooler line youd remove the original hose off one side of the return line to put a longer hose in so you dont add more connections"]https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ford-trucks.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/20200705_212123_261fcb7afa88b292256f4aa80c945870c4 104a24.jpg[/img]
my 1980 gmc has this filter on. note the way its installed would kink a hose , i have a 90 degree fitting making this possible .. but thats not smart since it adds clamps and leak potential points, so id recommend using 3/8 trans cooler line to make a custom loop to install without being forced to kink IFFFFFFF it cant be done with the stock hose to use 3/8 trans cooler line youd remove the original hose off one side of the return line to put a longer hose in so you dont add more connections