Higher than normal steering effort

So over the weekend my brother in law dropped off his 05 Tacoma TRD sport with me to go through it and detail it. Hadn't been cleaned in a long time and it was FILTHY. But one of the things he wanted me to look at was the steering. And I'll be honest I haven't investigated it more than driving it so far. He said the steering felt stiff to him. And it does. The power steering works but it's noticeable higher effort than my truck. Recently he had a somewhat shady local garage do a 60K mile service (he suspects they did nothing but an oil change as it runs no different, shop is becoming well known for this stuff) and the only thing I can think of is maybe they changed the fluid with something other than dex III. No strange noises and it drives fine but the steering is a little stiff. Truck has 61k on it and is bone stock with 265/65/17 General grabber at2's on it. Any other ideas?

 

If the pump was going bad, you could hear it. The incorrect fluid might be it. Since there are jo noises, it makes it kinda hard to know. Good luck

 

Check the fluid. You could always replace it to make sure.

 

The u-joint in the steering shaft can cause the steering to be harder than normal when it wears out and dries up. I good oiling can buy you a few months of more normal steering feel.