This not my first rodeo...My 1999 2wd 4 door seems to have a much harder to turn steering then my 95 did and I drove a s10 pickup today with same equipment and it was a one handed turn on the wheel. Mine is two hands unless your moving fast. What could cause more steering effort??? Could a weak pump do it????

Yes I searched first!!

 

i just made a post about this exact thing. haven't figured it out yet. but the first question asked was do you have any power steering at all? (I do in mine) but if you dont have and power assist then you might have sherd a shaft in the power steering pump. if thats the case then you have your problem, if not then im in the same boat and ill keep you updated on what i figure out if i ever do figure it out.

 

It's either a problem with the pump or the steering gear. Pump problems are much more common that gear box problems.

What is the condition of your power steering fluid?

 

Yes it does have power steering and the fluid is clean. I had to replace the steering box a few months a go due to a leak....so the fluid got flushed well in the 2 weeks I had to d rive it with a leak.

 

Has the effort gotten progressively more difficult? Or was it more sudden?

If the box was replaced, the next likely source of the problem is the pump.

 

my fluid isnt very clean, looks like it could be burnt. light brown color instead of red.

 

When I bought my Blazer it has large aggressive off road tires that made a bunch of noise on the hwy. I swaped the 30.9 monsters for a new set of factory wheels and tiny little 205/70/15's. MY GOD!!!!!!!! I can steer with one hand, no more swaying at speed, and not sure why but 4 more miles to the gallon. All the shaking went away!!! WTF?? I spent $700+ dollars on front end parts. I was driving and noticed I was doing 80 MPH! I was scared to go over 60??? I'm Pissed off