Replacing steering gear difficulty?

[nitro71]

Unfourtunately I have to sell the exploder to help pay for my contracting van. The steering gear is shot and needs replaced. How hard is it to replace? I can't imagine it being more than a couple of bolts, the power steering fittings and the pitman(if that's the right term).

 

[MrQ]

You mean the gearbox? Your Haynes, or Chilton's, manual should get you pointed in the right direction.

 

[rhauf]

3 bolts hold the power steering gearbox in. you'll want a socket to get those bolts out (they are about 3/4 or 11/16 heads). there is a bolt holding the steering shaft to the box, you'll want a 10mm 12 point socket to get that bolt out, then the steering shaft slides up and off the box. you'll also need a couple line wrenches to get the fluid lines off the box. you'll also need a pitman arm puller (looks like something from the movie tron) to pull the pitman arm..

all in all it should take about an hour. it's a pretty easy job. you can rent the pitman arm puller from autozone or somewhere for free.. otherwise they are cheap anyway, like 15 bux.

i did sort of give the order of removal of things wrong.. do it in this order

1: pitmarn arm off
2: steering shaft off
3: cooling lines off
4: unbolt and remove box (3 bolts through frame)

edit: if you're replacing the steering box because steering feels loose, you should also check a few other things. such as, play in the steering shaft (a little plastic piece in the slip joint sometimes wears out, easy to fix) also check tie rod ends, ball joints, and axle pivot and R/A bushings while you're at it.


installation of the new box is opposite order

 

[nitro71]

Thanks for the heads up! Line wrench? I'm not familiar with that one. Slotted wrench for the fittings I take it? The steering box is shot. Bottom seal is bad, leaks quite a bit. I've tightened it up a few times and the steering gets pretty good then the gear wears some and it loosens. Seems pretty unsafe actually for me to do that. Only thing that could be suspect that I don't know how to check would be the pivot bushings. Has new RA's. New ball joints on one side. Other side seems good. Other two ball joints aren't OEM. Same for the tie rod ends. They seem good. Have less than a 1/16 of bearing wobble on one bearing. Any tighter and I think the bearing will fail. Appreciate the help!

 

[rhauf]

Thanks for the heads up! Line wrench? I'm not familiar with that one. Slotted wrench for the fittings I take it? The steering box is shot. Bottom seal is bad, leaks quite a bit. I've tightened it up a few times and the steering gets pretty good then the gear wears some and it loosens. Seems pretty unsafe actually for me to do that. Only thing that could be suspect that I don't know how to check would be the pivot bushings. Has new RA's. New ball joints on one side. Other side seems good. Other two ball joints aren't OEM. Same for the tie rod ends. They seem good. Have less than a 1/16 of bearing wobble on one bearing. Any tighter and I think the bearing will fail. Appreciate the help!

Sounds like you have it mostly under control then. the axle pivot bushings are where the inside of each TTB axle beam connects to the frame (and pivots). if they're bad, it's obvious by looking at them (even though you can only see them a little) but they dont go bad that much and it sounds like you've definitely narrowed it down to the box.

the line wrenches of which i speak are like a regular wrench except they have a slot so you can get the "round end" around a line to get the fitting off, it prevents rounding off the fittings. any auto parts store will have them for sale, harbor freight also has a cheap set of them.

i assume you mean 1/16" of wobble at the ends of the rotors when wiggling them, that sounds perfect (as opposed to you can pull the whole rotor in and out)

 

[nitro71]

It has a little bearing wobble, about 1/16 at the end of the tire to 1/8 there. Any tighter and it feels to tight if you know what I mean. It's probably due to the lack of fine adjustment on the auto hub nut. It's go time on the gear as soon as I get the money. Ford needs a new home. Just got a 97 Dodge van with 23K on it if you can believe it. I couldn't, was super skeptical on that one.

 

[Tony H]

Thanks for the heads up! Line wrench? I'm not familiar with that one. Slotted wrench for the fittings I take it? The steering box is shot. Bottom seal is bad, leaks quite a bit. I've tightened it up a few times and the steering gets pretty good then the gear wears some and it loosens. Seems pretty unsafe actually for me to do that. Only thing that could be suspect that I don't know how to check would be the pivot bushings. Has new RA's. New ball joints on one side. Other side seems good. Other two ball joints aren't OEM. Same for the tie rod ends. They seem good. Have less than a 1/16 of bearing wobble on one bearing. Any tighter and I think the bearing will fail. Appreciate the help!

Line wrench: He means Flare Nut wrenches. They grab the Hex Fittings in more places then just an Open End wrench. Keeps you from stripping them. See the picture here. http://www.mytoolstore.com/sk/sk03150.html

The Pitman arm: 99% of the time you need a Puller. Big Puller. That tapered fit just does not want to let go. Watch out. when you crank down on the puller, it will be stressed, then when the Pitman arm decides to let go of the steering box it almost explodes off.
After that, the job is very simple.

 

[nitro71]

So don't put your face right up on the pitman when you pull it. Got it!

 

[TedJ]

Another tip, if you get the puller really tight and it looks like the puller might explode instead of the pitman arm coming off, give the arm a couple whacks with a hammer. The shock force helps to break it free.

 

[Tony H]

Another tip, if you get the puller really tight and it looks like the puller might explode instead of the pitman arm coming off, give the arm a couple whacks with a hammer. The shock force helps to break it free.

I forgot to write that. I have done that. I have also cranked the puller tight, walked to the garage to get the Hammer and hear the thing let go and scare the crap out of me. Just watch out for all your body parts when it comes to getting the pitman arm off.

 

[nitro71]

Thanks for that hammer tip, I'm sure it will be rusted on.

 

[TedJ]

I forgot to write that. I have done that. I have also cranked the puller tight, walked to the garage to get the Hammer and hear the thing let go and scare the crap out of me. Just watch out for all your body parts when it comes to getting the pitman arm off.

One time I was cranking on the puller which was on an inner tie rod end and it was starting to spread the puller apart. I got up to grab the hammer, and as I sat down my cell starts ringing. I proceed to get stuck in a complicated conversation, trying to help someone with some inane bullshit, so I start aimlessly tapping on the joint while talking. Of course I had a fun time explaining to the other person why I suddenly got so excited....

 

[nitro71]

I got it done but it was a beatch. I didn't have my floor jack and had it up on ramps. Couldn't get the puller under the pitman. Not enough clearance between the pumpkin and the puller. If I'd had my jack i could have dropped the axle and would have worked better. I couldn't get the pitman on the new gear shaft as far as it was on the old one. Was turning it on with a 20" wrench while pushing on it with both feet and my back braced against the tire. Pretty sure it's tight enough. Had most of my car tools stolen a while back. Made me realize how much stuff they really got.

 

[nitro71]

Steers much better and the brakes don't pull like they did before either.