Can anyone give me some advice on what they think this problem might be? Every once and a while my steering wheel gets very hard to turn in both directions, more often to the right, then a minuite later its back to normal. Its not lifted but i have 31's on it, its only been doing this for about a week and a half its only has 80,000 on it

Check fluid level. Varify it isnt burnt or evidence of overheating the system. Check for leaks.

Any strange noises around the pump when engine is idling? Feel the lines, abnormally hot? i would start with simple stuff like that.

Check your upper ball joints, too. I had one where the boot was cracked and the joint got all gunked up. Made turning the wheel very hard. Replaced it and it was good to go.

HTH

Had the same problems on my wifes.
It was hard to steer right and sometimes left.........before I got to fix it she broke her steering rack <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />
After we replaced the rack (which was leaking fluid pressure past the seals)it steers fine now.
So in our case we eliminated the pump,lines and level as the cause when we replaced the rack.
As for the fluid,what little bit leaked out during the install was minimal and it wasn't burnt etc. it took less than two quarts to fill it up.

I'm not sure if it's that your slowly loosing pressure(past the seals)or maybe your fluid has broken down.

I would change the fluid a couple times(to get rid of residual fluid in rack) and try it it isn't hard to do,just a little messy.
Good luck

Bansil

Thanks i will have to look into that, All the lines are good, and the ball joints i just replaced today for the hell of it, and the tie rods are good, so it has to be the fluid or the steering rack, hopefully for mysake its the fluid but your problem is the exact same as mine so might have to be my next repair. mine has been going about a week and a half now but only once and a while, will its be fine for another 2 or 3 weeks? I am moving from Rochester NY to Cape Cod on this saturday

DOes anyone know where is the best spot to drain the steering fluid? i can't get enough out of the pump, where do i go from there?

You be fine,if the seals were to totally go out,you'd still have steering,it's mechanically connected.It wouldn't be very bad while moving,just might make you have popeye arms while stopped.

If you remove the skid plate,you can access the lines on the rack itself. Make sure to use a flare nut wrench when taking loose the lines .

With tires off the ground you can pull the tires side to side and it'll pump out the fluid from the rack.Drain the pump and reservor by what ever means you can,taking loose lines etc.

Make sure to follow refill/bleeding procedures per the manual,so no pump damage from cavitation(air)results.
Good luck and let us know if a fluid change works.

This will be a messy job.
Make sure to wipe/wire brush all fittings before you loosen them to keep contaminents out of the system.

Bansil