Piled my truck with 1300lbs of scrape metal and went to the yard. Made about 200$. On the way there coming into a corner I lost control of the truck. I was turning the wheel and the truck didn't want to go in that direction. All of a sudden it kicked on and the truck made a sharp turn and I had to counter that. Almost like the steering box had a hiccup. I drove back home doing about 50mph in-case it was going to happen again. Nothing. Woke up early because we had boards being cut at the amish for dirt cheap. Loaded the truck pretty good this time. Pump started to act up on me again... this time it felt kind of stiff and then everything was good to go.

I checked the steering fluid and it's full, it seems to only happen on sharp turns. I can't describe it honestly.. it's almost like you steering in a certain direction and then the truck just doesn't want to turn so you steer it harder in that direction and boom. I'm thinking it's either the pump or my gearbox has some serious issues. Possible it could be air bound? I was thinking about bleeding the system and putting fresh fluid in, perhaps it has water in it. Doubt it, nothing white in there or signs of water.

 

Is the truck 4x4? If so, might want to check the outer axle joints, might have one seizing up.

 

Indeed, I do have a universal that is bad on the driver side. Noticed that when I was looking at the pump.

 

my shop notified me of the same issue, bad universal. fortunately I never had any handling problems, which would be scary on a 6,000# truck with a high center of gravity

when my shop took everything apart, they saw that the U-joint at the end of the half-shaft was torqued, flattened and no good. they also told me that they ordered the last half-shaft at Chrysler, so I hope you don't need one!

 

Expensive?

 

the replacement of the universal joint was going to be $350

the half-shaft part was another $300

prolly some additional labor...$750 total

but cheaper than scrambling the whole front end when the u-joint fails

fortunately the passenger side drive system is still sound

shop speculated that a PO abused the front end a bit

I'll take a shot of the torqued U-joint for ya

 

I have the tools to do it myself, I just bought a universal from napa. Has a nice grease fitting and costed me about 30$.

There is a nice article on here about taking apart the locking hub so I'll be reading up on that. Take a picture if you can, I'm interested to see what it looks like. Coming from a Subaru mechanic background.. the cummins is a bit different in some areas.

 

that cost is for the entire job, most of which is labor

 

my 93 did the same, my half shafts were completely worn out, and had to replace my hubs....oem is always better, if you can do it....the parts really do last longer....

 

Anyone have any part numbers? I would imagine that there are two because of the yoke and the universal that fits the two together.

 

Check you frame out by the PS pump, where it bolts on to the frame to make sure you didnt crak the frame in that area. These trucks were noted for that, at least the 4x4s were

 

Rockauto has the short side...Mark

 

Right ^^^ THERE ^^^ is where I would be looking.


The steering-box bolts to a bracket that is notorious for the bolts loosening and the bracket cracking.



As to the O.P., The next time drive a lot slower than 50-MPH; I might be on the same road.

 

Could it be the clockspring binding?

 

No. The clock-spring is in the steering column and is associated with the horn and cruise control, etc.