i posted a while back about some possible clues as to what might cause some lowspeed hard steering.
i thought it might be my power steering pump going bad, but just recently i went to get brakes and an alignment and the guy told me i had a busted ball joint

that wouldnt cause my power steering to get hard at lowspeeds would it?

 

is the pump making noise even at idle?

 

no it doesnt make noise evre, it just is really hard to turn unless i give it gas or im going over 20

 

oh yea, its a k-5, one of the old blazers

1985

 

nobody?

 

Is the power steering fluid level good?

 

does it use the rackinpinion(sp) steering? sounds like the same thing that happend to my Z24.

said i needed a new rack........I'd talk to chevylover, he has a whole family of K5's

 

Nope, it would be the old reciprocating ball steering box. And to answer the original question, I don't think that a worn ball joint would make slow speed turning more difficult, although you will want to get it changed ASAP. Well, that is if you like keeping that wheel in place...

It is possible that your pump is worn and requires more RPMs to assist in the steering at slow speeds.

As mentioned earlier, is the fluid in the res up to the proper level? If it is, then it is quite possible that you need a new pump.

 

My ol' Mazda was almost the same... sometimes at less than 1500 RPM, the power steering would work in reverse... made it harder to turn, than if it would just stop assisting.... rev the snot out of it and it went back to normal...

 

yea the power steering fliud is good and at the proper level, so i guess it must be the pump, i wsa afraid that would happen