2007 Steering Binding

[Prdbyford1]

The steering is binding on my 2007 Explorer 4wd. When I make a turn, especially a right turn, the steering gets really tight and you have to manually turn the wheel back straight. Once straight, it is very tight to even make a lane change to the left. Once you do move the wheel enough to the left, it loosens up until the next turn. I have greased the ball joints just in case, but they are only a couple years old. The weird part is, every once in awhile, the steering loosens up and is fine. This especially happens after the truck sits for a few days. It has however, loosened up in the middle of my driving week as well. I was thinking it might be the u-joints on the steering shaft. Any other ideas? I have Googled the issue and have not found anything about this specific issue.

Thanks in advance.

Chris

 

[Explorer_PL]

Rack and pinion ?
Check the fluid level.
The u-joint on the shaft was my next guess but it may be hydraulics.
How is it with the front jacked up and wheel in the air ?

 

[michael loibl]

My friends 2006 with 200,000 miles was doing same thing, we shot penetrating oil into u joint on steering shaft under hood and it helped tremendously, repeated following day