I just got back to Boise in a rental car because of power steering problems. Steering locked up on my wife and the local shop just thought it needed a new pump. Drove to Bozeman to pickup a new pump and after it was installed, still no power steering. Local shop thinks it now needs steering gear rebuilt/replaced. He found metal shavings in the PS fluid but there are no leaks anywhere. Now pickup is at a dealer in Idaho Falls awaiting holiday weekend before anyone will look at it. Anybody else seen this? I haul a slide-in camper. Can this cause pre-mature failure of the power-steering components??

 

When my power steering went out last year, I had no choice but to drive with fully manual steering for two weeks, which was a hell of a chore. Obviously steering meant to be manual is easier to turn than one meant to be power assisted. Mine did end up being the pump though, and it leaked all over for those two weeks...