Steering Box - Help!

[SF-66TC]

Needed to replace my pitman arm. Removed the 1-5/16" nut and this is what I found... Threads are pretty far gone (flat) so won't be able to re-thread unless I went to a smaller size, but that's probably not a good idea. Box works fine, but looks like I'll need to send it in for repair. If I do that they might as well rebuild to +police specs...

Suggestions????

Recommendations of places to have this rebuilt???

Power Steering Box - Firm Feel is $359 for a Stage I
All FFI Power Steering boxes are thoroughly cleaned and inspected; the cases are machined for roller bearing sector supports, and the worm gear assemblies are resized. The box is then fitted with Firm Feel's exclusive reaction springs, ranging in three steps from slightly firmer than the OE police box to two steps firmer yet, depending on your needs. All boxes are bench tested and shipped ready to install.

 

[saforwardlook]

I would have your box rebuilt by Steer & Gear. I have had much better results with them than Firm Feel.

 

[SF-66TC]

I would have your box rebuilt by Steer & Gear. I have had much better results with them than Firm Feel.

saforwardlook, So you actually had a box rebuilt by Firm Feel? Could you be a little bit more specific in what the difference was?

 

[CanCritter]

l'll ask where Paul sent mine to be rebuilt...belive will be in the NW us somewhere

 

[SF-66TC]

l'll ask where Paul sent mine to be rebuilt...belive will be in the NW us somewhere

I'm in Calif. so NW would be good - thanks. Btw, who is Paul?

 

[CanCritter]

I'm in Calif. so NW would be good - thanks. Btw, who is Paul?

Pauls doing the restoriation on my vehicle and is quite knowlageable...we just rebuilt my steering box so was going to querry him where he sent it..thought it may help....will be lots of places in Cali to take yours

 

[Fury440]

Probably Firm Feel, same as Gary's. I believe in Vancouver, WA.

 

[saforwardlook]

saforwardlook, So you actually had a box rebuilt by Firm Feel? Could you be a little bit more specific in what the difference was?

My experience was some 8 years ago. The first rebuilt box I got leaked at the output shaft and was not precise in the steering feel. The replacement had way too much slop in it, more than the first one. And the third one didn't feel that great on center either. Then I gave up with them. Maybe they are better now - don't know and don't care to know. Taking those things in and out several times was a real pain. Steer & Gear are the pros. Right the first time.

 

[CanCritter]

any other car woulda bin done with it and thrown one of these in
AGR Performance-MB Motorsports
used one in my gmc and loved it..nice feel

 

[SF-66TC]

My experience was some 8 years ago. The first rebuilt box I got leaked at the output shaft and was not precise in the steering feel. The replacement had way too much slop in it, more than the first one. And the third one didn't feel that great on center either. Then I gave up with them. Maybe they are better now - don't know and don't care to know. Taking those things in and out several times was a real pain. Steer & Gear are the pros. Right the first time.

Thanks for the feed back. Contacted them, they apparently don't have one already rebuilt for my make/model/year so I'll need to have them rebuild mine if I send it to them. Do you know whether their rebuilds entail anything more other than just replacing worn components?

 

[azblackhemi]

Here in Phoenix we have a local rebuilder who does a great job for a reasonable price. No shipping involved. Maybe you can find someone local?

 

[saylor]

MasterPro Power Steering 502-0106 - Power Steering Gear | O'Reilly Auto Parts

you will be driving by evening.

 

[commando1]

MasterPro Power Steering 502-0106 - Power Steering Gear | O'Reilly Auto Parts

you will be driving by evening.

A couple of years ago, NAPA listed a police box at a very reasonable price.
With the way that they are slashing their product line now, I dont know if it's still available.

 

[saforwardlook]

The quality of a steering box rebuild is critical to me, as it is so much of the enjoyment of driving a car. Most of the cheap rebuilds available through parts stores are replace the seals, tighten up the steering adjustment, and let it go back out. If you are lucky and get a low mileage gear, you might score. But if not, the on center feel and precision of the gear might well be wanting. With these, I have found out the hard way that paying for a pro is worth it. And I don't like dealing with taking them out and returning them when they are crappy either. If you know a local guy that is good, then that is worth considering though.

 

[CanCritter]

I have found out the hard way that paying for a pro is worth it.

amen to that.....saved me alota headaches

 

[SF-66TC]

My experience was some 8 years ago. The first rebuilt box I got leaked at the output shaft and was not precise in the steering feel. The replacement had way too much slop in it, more than the first one. And the third one didn't feel that great on center either. Then I gave up with them. Maybe they are better now - don't know and don't care to know. Taking those things in and out several times was a real pain. Steer & Gear are the pros. Right the first time.

Thanks again for the recommendation. I spoke to Craig at Steer & Gear and he did have one in stock - woohoo! so it's being shipped out to me on Monday.... and he's less expensive than FF which pays for the shipping.

 

[Wollfen]

Put a weld bead around the stripped area and cut a new thread. Done deal.

 

[SF-66TC]

Put a weld bead around the stripped area and cut a new thread. Done deal.

Thanks Wollfen - thought of doing that very thing, but decided since I'm changing just about everything on the front end other than the strut rods and tortion bars I'd throw in a rebuilt one with firmer steering.

 

[SF-66TC]

My experience was some 8 years ago. The first rebuilt box I got leaked at the output shaft and was not precise in the steering feel. The replacement had way too much slop in it, more than the first one. And the third one didn't feel that great on center either. Then I gave up with them. Maybe they are better now - don't know and don't care to know. Taking those things in and out several times was a real pain. Steer & Gear are the pros. Right the first time.

Well I got a steering box from Craig from Steer & Gear. Everything looked great until I tried to slide the coupler onto the worm gear. The worm gear on the replacement box was damaged with a chunk missing from the spline.

I contacted Craig and sent him the above photo stating I was concerned that the damage to the worm gears splines on the gear box he sent me would damage the spines on my coupler if I were to try and get them to mate. He stated the damage would not be an issue and the splines would be ok. My thought was that with cross damage of the spines I might be able to get the coupler on the worm gear, but I doubted I would be able to remove it again. It did take quite a bit of effort getting the coupler mated fully on the worm gear and the end result validated my suspicion that I would not be able to slide the coupler back off.

Even though I was able to align the roll pin hole perfectly with the worm gears groove, my greatest fear became reality.... After I bolted up the gear box to the frame there happened to be about 1/4" spacing between where the coupler's shaft and the rag joint attach. Since I could not move the couplers shaft closer to the rag joint I figured since the rag joint was made of solid rubber and only attached to the couplers shaft by 2 of the 4 nuts/bolts, the rag joint itself was capable of flexing.

I was able to attach the coupler shaft to the rag joint, but I'm not confident it's installed 100% correct. Luckily I was able to source a NOS rag joint on eBay in perfect condition and used it instead of the 50 year old cracked one that was on the car.

When I initially removed the coupler shaft from the old rag joint both pieces were flush against one another, but that could have been because they were mated for the past 50 years and it could be there always was a small gap - I'll never know.... Anyone have a similar experience with how the couplers shaft and rag joint mate up?

 

[commando1]

I can't find this totally acceptable.