So, we drove the truck into town a few times. Maybe put 10 miles on it. Came out to the garage one morning and noticed a puddle underneath the truck. Aw man, power steering fluid. The steering was rather noisy at full lock, but I find out that is typical. Time to dig in and see what's going on.
Looks like it's been a problem for some time.
It mostly seemed to be leaking from the output shaft. It appears that all the steering components are original or atleast VERY old. Ragjoint is falling apart too. I guess it's time to make the first repair. Might as well replace the pump too. No telling how old it is either.
Once I started ripping all the old stuff out I realized it was going to be easier to do this with the inner fenders out. Once I got them out, I discovered something new...more cancer. Yikes! However, after reading more in these here forums, I realize this is typical. So, these will get replaced at a later date.
A couple trips to Advance and a few parts from LMC and I was ready to go. I hope everything is as easy as this job. It took longer to get the parts in than it did anything else. I originally got new lines from Advance but they didn't fit well at all. They were pre-bent and they were heading the wrong direction. The ones from LMC had the correct bends and fit really well. Overall, a very easy job that anybody can do and probaly should.
No more leaks and the steering feels a lot less sloppy than it did.
More to come...