Greetings all, new poster here, I've looked around a little bit & this looks like a great forum.

Big ford fan here, my first truck was a 78 f150 4x4 reg cab long box, 400 & a C-6. actually pictured in my avatar. the truck was a heap when i bought it & over a period of years I fully restored it & I mean I was into everything!!! except... the steering sector, I had zero problems & no reason to do anything with the steering box on that truck, pump? sure, did that, high pressure hose, sure... but never the sector.

Well, that truck is gone now & I now have a 77 halfie 4x4 with a 351 & a C-6. love the truck, much better shape to start with than my 78 ever was... but i have steering trouble. I replaced the pump as it was shot. I did the rag joint as soon as I got the truck as it was also shot.. track arm bushings were also shot so I replaced them. Now everything is tight joint wise & linkage wise, pump is new... but my steering kind of comes & goes. Here, then gone. I drove the truck to work this morning & I had power steering but... not like it should be. I've snooped the forum a bit for tips on adjusting the .... the um, stud on te top of the housing, and I think I better understand it is more of a lash sort of adjustment & I will be checking that tonight. If I understand correctly I am to adjust at center & have someone turn the steering across center as I adjust, am I to basically snug this stud at center?

Could my intermittent power problem have to do with the fluid itself? I put in "power steering fluid" when i put the new pump on, I was surprised to see that it was clear instead of red & thought it looked a little "heavy"?

thanks in advance for any tips anyone can share with me, looks like a great site here.

Dave

 

do you think you have an air bubble in it? start it up and turn the wheel lock to lock 3 or so times, and it will work air out. i think it could be your problem. if it doesn't work, start her up, and open the pump cap and watch to see the fluid moving inside, make sure its not a bad pump. i had one that did the same for a while, i drove the crap out of it and its ok now.

 

Adjusting the box is only going to solve any play problems that are assosciated with loose steering. If you turn the wheel, and the box is capable of moving the sector the same amount, then the box does not need to be adjusted.
You mentioned "steering comes and goes" which would indicate something other than a mechanical adjustment problem. You also mentioned clear fluid, and red fluid, and this might be the problem. Many guys will use ATF in the PS system, and while this may work alright, can lead to compatability problems if mixed with other fluids. I suspect that you have introduced real power steering fluid to a system that probably has ATF in it, you are running into a simple problem with the two fluids.
Flush it, and replace with power steering fluid, and you should solve your troubles.

 

you know, I had considered that & while out on a test run the other night with it I did excercise the steering a bit. run it left to right a couple times, since then i haven't noticed as much with the intermittent power.... I'm hoping if I get the steering sector properly adjusted things will be ok.

 

ok, sounds like that's worth a shot. what's the best way to flush that system or drain that system?

do you think i'm getting some foaming going on or something?

as far as the adjustment, I just want to get the mechanical adjustment set correctly. I'll admit i've screwed with it & I probably shouldn't have... I just want to be sure it's back were it needs to be & that i'm not binding anything, want to be sure I don't have it so out of wack that i will cause damage to the unit.

anybody have any tips for properly adjusting it?

 

adjusting the steering box without the proper tools can damage the steering box more than helping.
Too many boxes have been destroyed by people who Guess.

Chances are the problem is hydraulic.

 

that's were i need help, i know the guy i bought the truck from had screwed with it & i have done some guessing myself trying to get it were it needs to be. how do i get it set correctly?

 

Basically it is procedure meant to take the slop out of the steering wheel.

It requires a tension sytle torque wrench on the steering wheel nut.

I'll see if I can find a pic

 

very cool, much appreciated.

 

Here you go ....meshload adjustment procedure

http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us...rInfoPages.htm

 

ahh, "meshload sdjustment", always nice to know the proper terminology.

thank you, that will be of great help.