A week or two ago, Andrew and I went to a junk yard and took several pieces off another 74 2002. One of those parts was a steering box. This would allow me to rebuild the steering box while leaving the current on in the car and thus still driveable.
The current box in the car is covered into it's own oil (a common problem I hear).
So I bought the two seals and gasket package from Blunt Tech and decided to rebuild the box.
First I had to drain the oil from the junk yard box which is easily done by removing the red cap on the top of the box. The oil coming out was thick so I let the box sit overnight over an oil drain pail.
I first removed the top 4 bolts. Due to age and suction, the top cap might not want to come off at first, but it you push up on the main spline (originally connected to the idler arm) the whole unit should pop up.
Next you have to unbolt the 4 bolts on the back plate. This was difficult as two of the bolts are allen bolts (which I hate). Don't try to do this with an allen key, as these four bolts are torqued on pretty tight and you'll nearly strip the allen thread. Instead I used an allen socket which did the trick.
Once removed you'll find the back plate and three shims: thick, medium and thin.
Getting the this gear out may also require some back pressure on the opposite end.
After the gear, bearing and various rings we out i cleaned everything with the degreaser and then rinsed the various bits.
Once dry, I reassembled the box, in reverse order, but replaced the 2 seals and paper gasket. I also added some oil to the tight spots during the reassembly to make sure it go into every crevice
The service manual said to torque the back plate screws to 14 lbs per sq in, which I did.
The last bit was to fill the box with oil. I used Castrol 80-90 Hypoid gear oil.
Voila! A refreshed gear box ready to be installed when the rest of the suspension rebuild parts come!
Hey Beck - what was the effect on the steering when you put it back in? Mine is super heavy on stock wheels and tyres and hoping the refresh will lighten it up.
ReplyDeleteMatt
Hey Matt,
ReplyDeleteI didn't see a much difference in the steering movement due to the refresher.
Changing the seals and oil doesn't change the feel of the box, it just extends it's life and prevents leaks.
What you need to look at is either the adjustment screw on top of the box or your steering linkages.
If your adjustment screw is too tight it could be causing the the gears to bind, making the steering very heavy. Problem could also be in the steering linkages. Those all have bushings and ball joints that could be worn out. Big culprit is the idler arm bushing apparently.
Blunt tech sells the entire suspension and steering kit (minus the steering box). This is what I used (plus some extra parts I wanted to replace too like the sway bar bushings).
http://blunttechclassic.com/?page_id=273