'93 F-350 power steering issues

[Paul B.]

I'm not myself much of a mechanic. Not a chance I can change a power steering pump on this vehicle. Have a mechanic shop works on and maintains our fleet trucks for the landscape business. They seem competent for oil changes and minor repairs, but. They cannot seem to get the power steering on this truck right. They changed the pump, twice. It's still growls like crazy. Sitting still you gotta fight that wheel to get it to turn. "Fight" is probably not the right word. But it's not smooth.

Is is this a normal type of issue?

 

[pappawheely]

Unfortunately, yes. Ford power steering pumps are notoriously weak and noisy. Swapping to a saginaw pump is a popular upgrade; I did it on my truck. I don't remember if your truck is a diesel Paul, but if you can find the bracket from an ambulance, it's a bolt on. Otherwise you need to modify the factory bracket. You can find the details on my build thread.

 

[Paul B.]

My truck is a gasser, 460. I looked through your thread, found the link to the Extreme Off Road article. I can't go that far, but I have to find someone to do the Saginaw pump upgrade for me. That whiny power steering drives me nuts. I've almost got the thing on the road, ready to camp. That will be my likely first mechanical upgrade once I get things finished putting together the camper.

Thanks again, Mike.