Very hard steering

[darkstar66]

So I just had my vacuum pump replaced. 2nd time. The first was in January. Drove fine for 9 months. It went out again last week. Mechanic replaced it. Within 5 miles it went out. Both times a silver round part had blown off. They checked everything and replaced it again
Two days later and the brakes are still working easy to press. Well a few minutes ago I pulled into my street and I couldn't turn the steering wheel. Like if the engine was off but it wasn't. Are these two issues related? Any ideas on why the wheel won't turn? Thanks so much if you are reading this. I have been trying to start a 5 month fly fishing road trip but this damn van
2006 Ford E350 6.0

[Twoxentrix]

I had a similar issue years ago, It was the Steering box.
I still have the link to a thread I had pulled up back then (had it on an e-mail I saved from when I was conversing with the shop that did the work...provided some good info for me to discuss with them at the time):
https://www.powerstroke.org/threads/...center.216829/