any one else been having an issue with the steering locking up around 35 degrees on the wheel? usually upon restart after long trips and mountain roads. regardless of engine speed? I don't mean loss of power steering, this is stand up and pull with both hands either direction and no movement. Finally got dealership to change out the steering box but truck came back with the center wiggle after hitting bumps. caster, ball joints and steering booster changed out, now fine. Am I the only one or have all the others gone off the road and died?

 

uberkarldrei,

Welcome to FTE, a little more info on your truck would be helpful, ie year, model, engine, trans, mileage etc.

Sounds like you had a bad ball joint and that was causing the difficulty in turning. Depending on the mileage and use of the truck bad ball joints are not that uncommon. My best guess based on the information you have given is that the ball joints were the problem and the dealer tech mis-diagnosed the problem the first time and just threw parts at it.

 

06 F350 crew swb, 6.0 liter diesel, 5speed auto, 37,100k.
This wasn't difficulty steering, complete lock up. Got the big song and dance on how complex the hydraulic asist steering/brake system is and how they are both tied together. kinda funny since all the cars I have owned, repaired and built have hydraulic brake boosters. the ball joints and steering damper didn't get changed untill after the steering box and the steering lockup was gone but now had the center wiggle as denoted in a TSB on the ball joints. now the truck pulls to the right and I bought the 285 BF Goodrich the dealer has stated these are AFTERMARKET and are causing the problem. even after I swapped them to all 4 corners. I have called just about every dealer service shop in the Pacific Northwest and no one has reported any issue like this. not even the service shop outside of the Kentuckey plant.

 

If the dealer is blaming it on the tires he's a moron UNLESS you have a separated tire. Rotating tires would make the problem move. If it still persists then the suspension still isn't right and/or they don't know what they're doing.

 

i've not had this problem sorry. but i can tell you that all your previous cars were not setup like the powerstroke.

the power brakes on the diesel superduties is called hydra-boost, it uses your power steering pump and power steering fluid to provide the POWER for your power brakes, not vacuum like your other vehicles, so yes, the steering and brakes are tied together. this probably has nothing to do with your problem, i was trying to help you understand why he was telling you what he was telling you if that helps at all

 

Dealer needs to check for a collapsed hydraulic line....think Ford had a TSB on that.

 

on the hydraulic lines collapsing, I'll have to look up on that one.

contacted BF Goodrich and they replied back they'll stand behind their tires for 6 years and if there is a problem with them, they will take care of it.

LvTitan, I'm gonna guess you don't work on BMW's very much, but thanks for the...very cordial... general information on other vacuum brake boosters on standard V6 and V8 gasoline vehicles vs low vacuum motors and forced intake Inline gasoline motors with hydraulic brake boosters and self leveling suspension that feed off the power steering pump and an pressure accumulator should your belt brake you still have brake assist, kinda like early M5's and 1980's Turbocharged 745's.
I was quite surprised at how small the Power stroke's pump actually was. and am seriously contemplating a higher volume one that would be better suited and run a couple of cooling lines through the grill (similar to gas motor setups). Sorry for that, I just went round and round with the service department when they were trying to point out my ignorance on the mysticism of Hydra-Boost

since I'm gonna have to wrench on this thing, totally defeating the purpose of buying a new truck, the dealer thing is kind of a moot point. but I do hope like hell that at least one Ford Service Tech is on this board and can make some sense of what my dealer is up to. I have no desire to even attempt to hold them to a standard of craftsmanship and service that I thought I was purchasing. now the only focus is on why it broke and what will break next.

 

would the steering only lock up when you have your foot on the pedal? or would it lock up doing a "parking lot" manuver.

 

My first thought was the rpm's of the pump but this was at various rpm's, with overdrive on and off, 1st 2nd and 3rd and at speeds from starting up to 50mph on various conditions like parking lots, turns on residential roadways and mountain highways.
very intermittently and could not pinpoint one specific action other than traversing wheel from one direction to another I was able to duplicate it after a couple of tries so I could make sure the service tech could also duplicate it.

 

intermittent issues are very difficult. i have seen a couple of booster issues on tghese trucks where the gas charge will be low or depleted and it will cause the steering to lock up due to overwhelming the pump. it may be a pump issue as well. if i remember correctly, these are falling flow pumps and the internal parts could be sticking or hanging up. good luck and if you need any more help let me know.

by the way, these are awesome pumps and i believe you will not find a better pump for its size. i have seen 4wd with 38s and dual steering stabilizers, turn great at idle.