Howdy Gents, A co-worker has a '78 3/4 ton with power steering. he tells me that when making a turn in either direction but mostly to the right, a stiffness developes just momentarily and then smooths out again. it is always at the same point in the turn. He says that it always does it on a right turn but only occasionally or maybe not as noticably on a left turn. Any ideas? thanks Steve

 

Is it a 4x4? I had a buddy once that had stiffness in his steering sometimes and it ended up being a rusty and siezed u-joint in the front axle

 

The problem sounds like Power steering system needs to be bled and to be safe replace the u joints from the transfercase to the wheels the count should be 4 Summitracing.com has them from 14.69 to 59.95 so theres some info

 

Sounds to me like the large spool valve inside the P/S gearbox has developed a "high" spot.

When this occurs, turning the steering wheel causes the valve to bind up momentarily.

This is a typical problem with these Ford P/S gearboxes.

The only cure is to replace the box, because the spool valve is no longer available from Ford, and when it was, cost well over $200.00!

A rebuilt box from NAPA usually runs $150.00 - $175.00 exchange.