4X4 power steering problem,,,need info please !

[72 K20]

Hi every body !!

My 72 K20 was delivered 2 weeks ago from Vegas. My son took care of the transaction and had told me that the power steering didn't work. I told him that I'd take care of it when it got here.
I noticed that the gear box had been leaking for a long time by the looks of the left leaf spring covered with oil.
I filled the pump with ATF to see what I was up against. No difference. I figured that with the sector leaking for so long it had burned out the pump.

I got a reman pump and a rebuild kit for the sector.

When I took the sector apart I was very careful to not lose any of the balls,, and truly believe that I saved all that there was,,22 total.

The articles that I read said there would be 24 or 26. And that they would be 2 different sizes.
All 22 of these balls measured .280,, so I put it back together and mounted it up. Installed the reman pump and have exactly what I had before,, no power steering.
I made sure that the pump was full, started the truck and turned the wheel right to left and shut it off. Refilled the pump and repeated until the fluid level stayed put and I knew the sector was full.
I started the truck and turned it back and forth with no improvement.

Is this sector just plain bad ?
Could someone have lost some of the balls ?
Would being 2 or 4 short cause this problem ?
Is it because they are all the same size ?

I have an 84 truck that the sector appears to be the same,,,,I know it works.

I really want to drive this truck,,,, with power steering !!

Thank you in advance for any and all information !!

Tom

[JimKshortstep4x4]

The balls are set up originally so that there are are spacer balls in between slightly larger balls. While the same size balls could cause some binding the assist should work unless the centering valve is bad. If the pump is known to have pressure then my suggestion would be to replace the steering box. 4x4 boxes up to the early 80's are a direct bolt in. The 84 you have probably has different connections in it but can be made to work.

Jim

[72 K20]

Thanks for the reply Jim !!
Do you happen to know how much difference in size there is between the "large" and "small" balls ?

Can you replace the centering valve with one from a 2wd steering box ?

I think I'm going to try to rig a test port to check the pressure from the pump,, what should the pressure be ?

In the articles I read on rebuilding, they showed putting the balls in the channel and then taking the remaining balls ,placing them in the crossover tube and installing it .
I did not have any extra balls after filling the channel. So the crossover was empty.
Could that be the problem ? Where would I get more of those balls ?

Kind of "typing out loud here" LOL !

If anyone has had a similar experience I'd like to hear about it !!

Thank You !!
Tom

[72 K20]

Ttt