My steering box is leaking from the top where the plate is held with four bolts. Can I remove the top plate and replace the gasket (i assume) without damaging the power steering box?
98 D1 with leaking power steering box
- Thread starter Mud4Fun
- Start date
Look hard for a hose leak, ususally its the high pressure hose, check for loose fittings as well.
I think mine was leaking from the same place. Said hell with it and sent Will Tillery money for a new box. Finished replacing it on Sunday, and let me tell ya, makes a world of difference. Tightened everything up on my front end. I guess my old box had some play in it.
Will was the cheapest by far when I got mine. He sent me all three hoses when I only asked for the high pressure one as well.
Pretty straight forward job, the hardest part is getting the pitman arm off. Be sure to leave the nut on so it doesn't let loose! I used the biggest jaw puller I could find and it still wasn't easy. The second time I did this I had to leave the puller on for a couple days before it loosened up. You might also consider tying the steering wheel so it doesn't move. I let mine spin and broke the clock spring.
Pretty straight forward job, the hardest part is getting the pitman arm off. Be sure to leave the nut on so it doesn't let loose! I used the biggest jaw puller I could find and it still wasn't easy. The second time I did this I had to leave the puller on for a couple days before it loosened up. You might also consider tying the steering wheel so it doesn't move. I let mine spin and broke the clock spring.
I just recently had the hoses replaced, but will check again. I found a rebuild kit for $100 but am worried about the complexity of doing it myself. How much was the new box from Will and what is his contact info. Thanks for the help.
Will is in the vendors section and roverguy.com
I won't say what I paid because I don't believe it is right to do so, but like I said he was by far cheaper than anyone else.
I won't say what I paid because I don't believe it is right to do so, but like I said he was by far cheaper than anyone else.
Will had boxes on here in the classified section for a dirt cheap price a couple weeks ago. Not sure if he still has that deal though. Might contact him to verify.
Regarding the job:
1. Cover your garage floor with cardboard, cause this job is a messy one!
2. Center your steering box! On the back side of the pitman arm, there is a notch that should line up with a hole in the back side of the steering box casting. Turn the steering wheel till this notch is lined up. Once lined up, lock the steering wheel in that location by removing key from ignition.
3. Jack up and support just the drivers front of truck and remove the front drivers wheel.
4. Take the ps lines off of the box using line wrenches. This is where the mess begins. Put a pan under the truck to catch as much fluid as you can. If you can plug the lines with something, it will help with the mess even better.
5. Take both of the 13mm bolts out of the ujoint that is on the box end of the steering shaft coming from the steering wheel and slide joint off of the top shaft of steering box.
6. Remove 2 bolts that go through the frame that hold the front panhard rod on and the nut that holds the panhard bracket to the steering box. Tilt panhard bracket down so that it is out of the way. (Note: To hold the nut on the top bolt going through the frame, use and extension with a swivel and 3/4" socket. The nut is in a hard place to reach, but you can get to it.)
7. Remove steering shaft ball joint from pitman arm
8. The only thing holding the box in at this point is the 4 bolts going through the frame. Be careful when removing these bolts, cause the box is heavy and will want to fall out once the bolts are removed and it is close to trans cooler lines.
9. Once you have the box out, remove the pitman arm using a puller. I rented one from Autozone. Take large washer and smash it with a hammer making it flat again.
10. When putting pitman arm back on new box, make sure the notch is lined up with the hole in the box casting. The arm will only go onto the bottom shaft of box lined up a certain way. If not, you can turn the top shaft of box to line it up. This will ensure the box goes on in the same position the other one came off. Also, use an impact gun to put nut back on box. I believe it was 1-5/16" size. Tighten it up, then bend back part of washer up and bend the front part down against the nut to lock it into that position.
12. Remove the two bolts with nuts that are holding the bracket on the bottom of the steering box and transfer it over to the new box.
11. Time to reinstall. I had someone help me up top while I pushed the box up through hole from the bottom. He held the box up top while I put the 4 bolts through the frame and hand tightened them into box.
12. Swing panhard rod bracket back into position and bolt it back onto the frame. Use extension to tighten the top bolt and nut due to bad location close to top of frame. You can reach it with your fingers to get washer and nut back onto bolt. Tighten it up.
13. Put the nut onto the bracket that goes between the bottom of the steering box to the panhard rod bracket. I centered the shaft the nut goes on in the hole and tightened the nut down. Once that was done, I tightened the two bolts on the bottom of the steering box that holds that bracket on.
14. At this point, all the bolts going through the frame and to the steering box should be tight. The ball joint can also be attached to pitman arm.
15. Attach fluid lines on the new box and tighten with line wrenches.
16. Attach steering shaft from steering wheel onto top splined shaft of steering box and reattach the two 13mm bolts that hold the ujoint to the splined shaft on steering box.
17. Everything should be tightened and checked twice. All you need to do now is put front wheel back on, put truck back on floor, fill it with steering fluid, bleed the system, and check steering. To bleed the system, I kept filling the reservoir with the bleeder on the top of the box removed. After doing this for a while, the box somehow burped itself and fluid started coming out of the bleeder. I closed the bleeder, topped off the reservoir, and haven't looked back since.
18. If your steering is a little off, turner the steering rod up front to get the steering wheel straight again. I still have to do this, as I replaced the pitman arm ball joint when doing this.
ANYONE CAN DO THIS. If you can't, send me a PM and I can send you my phone number to walk you through it while you are doing it. I am sure I might have missed some words, spelling, grammer, little steps, etc writing this up, but I am doing it from memory and I am tired.
Good luck guys.
Regarding the job:
1. Cover your garage floor with cardboard, cause this job is a messy one!
2. Center your steering box! On the back side of the pitman arm, there is a notch that should line up with a hole in the back side of the steering box casting. Turn the steering wheel till this notch is lined up. Once lined up, lock the steering wheel in that location by removing key from ignition.
3. Jack up and support just the drivers front of truck and remove the front drivers wheel.
4. Take the ps lines off of the box using line wrenches. This is where the mess begins. Put a pan under the truck to catch as much fluid as you can. If you can plug the lines with something, it will help with the mess even better.
5. Take both of the 13mm bolts out of the ujoint that is on the box end of the steering shaft coming from the steering wheel and slide joint off of the top shaft of steering box.
6. Remove 2 bolts that go through the frame that hold the front panhard rod on and the nut that holds the panhard bracket to the steering box. Tilt panhard bracket down so that it is out of the way. (Note: To hold the nut on the top bolt going through the frame, use and extension with a swivel and 3/4" socket. The nut is in a hard place to reach, but you can get to it.)
7. Remove steering shaft ball joint from pitman arm
8. The only thing holding the box in at this point is the 4 bolts going through the frame. Be careful when removing these bolts, cause the box is heavy and will want to fall out once the bolts are removed and it is close to trans cooler lines.
9. Once you have the box out, remove the pitman arm using a puller. I rented one from Autozone. Take large washer and smash it with a hammer making it flat again.
10. When putting pitman arm back on new box, make sure the notch is lined up with the hole in the box casting. The arm will only go onto the bottom shaft of box lined up a certain way. If not, you can turn the top shaft of box to line it up. This will ensure the box goes on in the same position the other one came off. Also, use an impact gun to put nut back on box. I believe it was 1-5/16" size. Tighten it up, then bend back part of washer up and bend the front part down against the nut to lock it into that position.
12. Remove the two bolts with nuts that are holding the bracket on the bottom of the steering box and transfer it over to the new box.
11. Time to reinstall. I had someone help me up top while I pushed the box up through hole from the bottom. He held the box up top while I put the 4 bolts through the frame and hand tightened them into box.
12. Swing panhard rod bracket back into position and bolt it back onto the frame. Use extension to tighten the top bolt and nut due to bad location close to top of frame. You can reach it with your fingers to get washer and nut back onto bolt. Tighten it up.
13. Put the nut onto the bracket that goes between the bottom of the steering box to the panhard rod bracket. I centered the shaft the nut goes on in the hole and tightened the nut down. Once that was done, I tightened the two bolts on the bottom of the steering box that holds that bracket on.
14. At this point, all the bolts going through the frame and to the steering box should be tight. The ball joint can also be attached to pitman arm.
15. Attach fluid lines on the new box and tighten with line wrenches.
16. Attach steering shaft from steering wheel onto top splined shaft of steering box and reattach the two 13mm bolts that hold the ujoint to the splined shaft on steering box.
17. Everything should be tightened and checked twice. All you need to do now is put front wheel back on, put truck back on floor, fill it with steering fluid, bleed the system, and check steering. To bleed the system, I kept filling the reservoir with the bleeder on the top of the box removed. After doing this for a while, the box somehow burped itself and fluid started coming out of the bleeder. I closed the bleeder, topped off the reservoir, and haven't looked back since.
18. If your steering is a little off, turner the steering rod up front to get the steering wheel straight again. I still have to do this, as I replaced the pitman arm ball joint when doing this.
ANYONE CAN DO THIS. If you can't, send me a PM and I can send you my phone number to walk you through it while you are doing it. I am sure I might have missed some words, spelling, grammer, little steps, etc writing this up, but I am doing it from memory and I am tired.
Good luck guys.
This entire job can be accomplished in less than an hour if you don't mess around and you can get the pitman arm off your old box easily.
Ok, here is the link but I have no idea if he still has any at this price.
http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=70323&referrerid=4055
Check with Will to see if this deal is still good or not. May not be.
http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=70323&referrerid=4055
Check with Will to see if this deal is still good or not. May not be.
I'm getting ready to replace my steering box as well. Is the process the same for the DIIs? Mines an 03.
ptschram
Well-known member
Mud4Fun said:
Don't bother trying to rebuild. Buy the box from Will, his price is such that I cannot come even close to it.
I have bought many steering gearboxes from Will without a problem.
I've bought remans from other vendors and had to replace them under warranty repeatedly!
Apologies for bringing up a dead thread, but I used the above directions as they seemed really straight forward. And they are.... However...
I purchased a steering box from a local enthusiast that was rebuilt awhile back by Meridian, figured it would be a good replacement given the price. Anyhow, I got the old box out, new box in, and when putting on the steering spline coupler, noticed what may be an issue. On my old box, the input from the steering wheel has a lathed off portion 360* around the shaft. On the new box, there is only a flat section similar to the steering shaft itself that the bolt can pass through.
My issue is that with the hole/notch lined up on the box, my steering wheel needs to be 180* out of alignment so that I can put the coupler on. I guess my question is: Is there a way to align the wheel steering wheel once everything is put back together?
I figured I did not want to un-align the notch and hole since this is 'center', but unsure what to do with the steering wheel at this point!
Thanks for any assistance
I purchased a steering box from a local enthusiast that was rebuilt awhile back by Meridian, figured it would be a good replacement given the price. Anyhow, I got the old box out, new box in, and when putting on the steering spline coupler, noticed what may be an issue. On my old box, the input from the steering wheel has a lathed off portion 360* around the shaft. On the new box, there is only a flat section similar to the steering shaft itself that the bolt can pass through.
My issue is that with the hole/notch lined up on the box, my steering wheel needs to be 180* out of alignment so that I can put the coupler on. I guess my question is: Is there a way to align the wheel steering wheel once everything is put back together?
I figured I did not want to un-align the notch and hole since this is 'center', but unsure what to do with the steering wheel at this point!
Thanks for any assistance
One thing that might aid you getting the pitman arm off is mapp gas. The old box isn't likely to get reused so who cares about the lower seal. Generous application of the torch will help greatly. These can be had for around $65 on up. I use my torch all the time to save from screwing up hardware like those pesky exhaust manifold to Y-pipe nuts.
Interesting - I recently got a rebuild box from Meridian that has a circular groove instead of a single flat section that my original box had.
To somewhat answer your question...
The play in the box should only be adjusted with the hole and notch matching up (straight-ahead position).
I hope you tied your steering wheel with the seat belt or something else so you still know exactly what is a correct position.
If indeed the position of the bolt in the lower coupler is 180 degrees off compared to the flat on the input shaft of the steering box, you may have to re-engineer the steering shaft (disassemble one of three couplers and flip it 180 degrees). I have never had to do it, so take it with a grain of salt.
It could have been a screw-up by Meridian. Last box they sent me was ... from a right-hand-drive truck.