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steering gear box update

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As some of you might remember after the 5th day of installing the Borgeson shaft my gear box decided to leak(thought i had gotten away with it :rolleyes: ) well this past Friday and me being off those three days from work i decided it was warm enough to do the work plus i was really tired of the ps fluid being all over the place, went and picked up the new remaned steering box, core charge 150. 00 :eek: ... first problem the drag link i replaced was loose obviously i didn't get it tight enough the first time, no biggy as there was no damage. second problem went to take the lines loose and pop right about the flare nut the return line popped(it was frozen) well the high pressure line was also frozen, could not find a return line anywhere so i had Carquest order a universal replacement which was the correct threading and was also metric, couldn't find any 11/32 line, so went with 3/8 put to small clamps on the end next to the gear box and one on the line where it fits over the tubing into the resevior. The high pressure line was a B**** to find but after calling 6 parts stores advance had one in Roanoke and was delivered Sunday morning. I can tell you this i can take that box off with my eyes closed now, would i do it again heck yeah, some asked why didn't you take it somewhere, i said because i wanted the satisfaction of doing it myself plus i can't afford $60 an hour for labor. I did call a dealership about he high pressure line he said it was at their national warehouse and Atlanta didn't have one in stock, $60 for the part plus next day air freight, yeah right!!

So i have a gear box installed with no leaks and can at least not worry about one less thing :-laf
 
Me too

I'm going through the same thing.

After driving the truck for about 50K miles and an untold number of unsucessful DWI stops I finally decided to do the box and track bar.

My high pressure and low press lines were also frozen. :eek:

Box was $165. 00 ($225 core charge :eek: ) and track bar was $129. 00. Both lifetime warranty. Got them at autozone.

The lines will run me another $60. 00~ish from Dodge.

I also BOMBED the p/s pump.

http://westtexasoffroad.homestead.com/powersteering.html



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69047&highlight=spring



The screen was clean. I change the P/S fluid annually with the valvoline synthetic stuff.



The parts should be in late tomorrow, and hopefully I should have it buttoned up by the weekend.

Eric
 
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im thinking of having both high pressure and the return line ordered as a backup, those lines being froze was the basis of my frustration the whole 3 days, after getting the lines everything went back like a charm.
 
how do those Autozone boxes feel for steering. Kinda curious about the quality of the rebuild.



By trackbar do you mean Draglink? Is it adjustable or just like the stock one?
 
ARhine, I dont know yet. I'll post what happens when it's in for a while.



WyattEarp, I just looked up my P/S hoses on Rock auto.

Gates hoses are almost 1/3 what I payed from the dealer. High press hose was around $25. 00.



When you "want it now" you sure pay for it. :eek:
 
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Yeah thats for sure the high pressure line was quoted to me $29 plus $25 for next day air freight as they didn't have one sitting in Atlanta, i got the same hose at Advance auto(made in mexico believe it or not) not in china lol, it came the next morning on Sunday $16. 00 and some change for it, Wahla 2pm sunday evening im done. The return line that i ended up getting was a 90degree elbow from Carquest and 2ft of 3/8 hose total cost $7. 50 and i have a new return line. .

I guess im a firm believer in fly by the seat of the pants engineering and most parts for these trucks are getting obsolete or it takes an arm,leg and other body parts to get and pay for *adapt and overcome* the only way to go
 
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It's all buttoned up.

Hardest part was getting the splined steering shaft on the input shaft on the box. Had to run a dam chisel into the split to get it spread enough to start it. :(

After that it was cake.

I put in about 20 oz of the valvoline synthetic PS fluid and started her up.

For a while I thought I screwed something up, there was no PS for a good long time. :eek:

I was reluctant to run the pump "dry". :{

Shut her down, rechecked the fluid. Added more. Restarted it, still no PS. :{

Took it around the block a couple times to work the air out of the system.

It started woking a little, and some pretty strange PS pump noises.

Checked fluid again. Added some more, actually I overflowed it. :rolleyes:

Couple more times around the block and it's now working good.

The Advanced auto box I got is (at least now) a 100% improvement over the factory box @ 112K miles.

The steering wheel is about 90 degrees off center, other than that I'm happy.

I will have the front end shop fix the wheel. The steering shaft seems like it dont want to slip into itself, so the box may need to be removed to straighten the wheel out. I just aint doing that again. :mad:

For the $$$ (under $300. 00)I'm satisfied. I'll have to get a Darrins steering stabiliser now, just for good measure.



Eric
 
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The steering shaft seems like it dont want to slip into itself



What year truck are you working on? Is the shaft oem?



E-mail me at -- email address removed -- please. Thanks.
 
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So the aluminum yoke gave you fits eh?

The shaft only goes on one way so your steering wheel orientation issue is due to something you did when installing the new box.

E mail me privately if you want help figuring out why the shaft won't slide... The slider is not supposed to come apart. e-mail address is in my reply above.

Jay
 
after Sunday finishing mine up and driving the past couple of days i noticed a slight vibration, i did nothing different than when i replaced the drag link bar, had my wheels lined up straight and well the drag link bar that goes in the pitman arm won't fit but one way so could it be i might be out of alignment a tad? Or could i have lost a wheel weight?
 
Update!!! had the 2 front tires rebalanced, that did the trick, and also steering box number 2 went on yesterday the first one started leaking and the parts manager at Oreilly's told me that A-1 parts( that might have been A-1 auto not sure) does all the remans on steering boxes and they are the same ones that do the remans on all master cylinders. So far the second box is doing the trick. .
 
Update here too....

Well, the new steering box is in. I took it to a shop to get an idea of what else it may need.

It dont need anything else!!! :cool:

112500 miles on the factory front balljoints, that has to be a record.

The front end place wanted to know who's rebuilt box it was. They said it was fantastic! :D

When I told them it was a Cardone, they were very suprised.

They had horror stories... . 3 boxes in a row from Cardone that were no good. :eek:

I'm very happy that I can just get new tires and drive now.

The shop said that these Dodges seldom loose the front end setting.

I'm sure mines fine as I've never offroaded, or driven up curbs at highway speed etc. etc.



Eric :D
 
Good Patriot sounds like yours went a tad better than mine... the first box leaked a little so i jerked it off and put on another one, drove it for a tad today, saw a little fluid, checked things out and tightened my return line at the flange nut and all is well... . :D I am going to post a picture of that bracket on mine that is broken/split. The bracket right about the left front leaf spring bushing(on the very end where its starts) hope i can get the part or a junk dealer has one.
 
Does the steering arm that attach's to the gear box, come with the new gear box, or do I have to try and take that off before replacing the gear box ? Mine is going to get replaced soon ( I have it off on the bench now ) but didn't know if the new gear box comes with the steering arm already attached of if I have to use my old one. Thanks
 
Mine didnt come with it. Autozone had a tool and I pulled it right on their counter.

Get it good and tight then smack the puller bolt with a hammer. Came right off.

Eric
 
You are refering to the pitman arm, that has to come off, its the only one you have and does not come with the gear box. I bought a puller from Oreilly's and with a big hammer it finally came off. . good luck.
 
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