I have a Saginmaw steering box that is giving me problems. When I installed it I never set any of the preloads etc. I wasnt sure what luibricant to use so I filled it with oil. Now I am not sure if this is correct or if the box should be filled with grease and topped up with oil. Anybody know the correct stuff? Adam F
I run a Vega box in my 32. GM specs call for a GM lubricant, but the Chevy parts counter guys didn't know what I was talking about when I asked for it. More my fault than theirs as they've done more than good on other things and I should have had the GM grease part #. Anyhoo, I use Sta-Lube's Extreme High Pressure grease with Molybdenum-Disulphide. It's black in color and available just about anywhere. Pull the steer box lid, drain the oil, rinse it out, let it dry and use an iced tea spoon to fill the box. Once usually does it if your seals are in ok shape. Reassemble and set the preload. Preload is supposed to be set with drag link disconnected anyway, so this will be a good time to do it. Then wash the iced tea spoon and return it to the silverware drawer before your sweetie catches you. An additional method for filling is to leave the steer box lid on, pull a bolt, drain the box. While the bolt is out, center drill it in a lathe. Drill and tap the top of the bolt for a Zerk fitting. Install the "lube" bolt. Remove another bolt so as to vent the box and pump it full of grease with a grease gun - manual cuz you don't want to blow the seals - then replace the vent bolt. It wouldn't hurt to drill and tap the lid proper for the Zerk if you have enough thickness. Drill and tap a hole in the lid adjacent for venting and seal it with an NPT plug.
C9 that seems like an awful lot of work to fill the box. I am not aware of any maintenance required on a steering box do you know something I don't? What is the intervol for grease change in a steering box, I would have guessed 100k miles or so. TZ
I used to be a mechanic for the post office. Each of us had a bolt exactly as he described. We center drilled it and screwed a zerk into the bolt. Every Jeep that came in for service, we used the bolt to fill the box with grease. Then we replaced the bolt with the normal one. 2 minutes max if you have the bolt. When we auctined the last of the Jeeps in 2001, steering boxes had been unavailable through parts for 10+ years already, so we had to keep them in as good of condition as possible.
[ QUOTE ] I am not aware of any maintenance required on a steering box do you know something I don't? [/ QUOTE ] Nahh ... just the open er up, look er over, clean out the old grungy stuff, powder or paint, maybe new seals and fill it up with grease. Been working great in the 32, about 30,000 miles on a used gearbox and it's still tight and smooth.
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