Steering issue

[des456]

My friends 91 Explorer is having some steering problems. I read a bunch of threads but nothing is an exact match to the problem.

So here it is.......BTW This started during a huge rainstorm.

When you take a turn to the right it wants to keep going right same as when you turn left. The steering doesn't want to come back to center on it's own.

When you manually steer back to center it is ok except for a drift to the right
from a much needed front end alignment.

I though that perhaps the hubs were an issue so I totally disabled the 4x4 by removing the components inside the hubs. (retaining pins were sheared off anyway)
This did not correct the situation.

I do plan on working on it next week - first to check for ball joint issues and general lubrication.

Any ideas on what else I should look at ?? Could the power steering have anything to do with this ?

Thanks in advance

 

[IZwack]

Get the front tires up in the air with a jack, turn the engine on and turn left/right all the way. If you feel any binding/grinding/difficulty, track down where the binding/friction is coming from. If there is no binding, then it might be a problem with the steering gearbox.

 

[Tony H]

Question: If you start the car and rev the engine, does the wheel turn to the left by itself?
That would be in the steering box. The Valving is messed up. Could have gotten some crap in on valve.

 

[des456]

I will be trying both suggestions over the weekend and a thorough inspection. Will post my findings......

Thanks for the suggestions

 

[atistang]

i had this on a bronco before, it ended up being that the ball joints were so stiff and dry that they were keeping the wheels from turning back lol

 

[des456]

This is too strange.......I spoke to the owner yesterday and now outta nowhere its working as it should......

 

[Donner]

It'll be back... did they do as recommended above, or did the thing just fix itself? Now that it's working, look for the problem...