Wanted to find out where a good place to get a new or reman'd steering box from. From my guesstimation I believe this is the prob, I have ALOT of play in the steering wheel. Anybody have any ideas or am I wrong? Oh ya its a 95 F-250 PSD

 

Red460..............Talk about a coincidence, Redhead Steering Gears are supposed to be the best out there....


Steering Gears | Steering Gearbox | Rack and Pinion | Red-Head Steering Gears, Inc.

 

Check and see how much play is in your steering link, I can;t think of the tech name, but the rod between your steering wheel and the steering box. It has a slip joint and a rag joint that wear out.

 

Maybe you refer to the Drag-link?. To the OP: There are several parts in the steering system that could cause slop, but anyway, getting the Red-Head is a nice upgrade. If you're looking at saving pennies, i would check every link and the Steering Box attaching bolts before replacing it (it's the most expensive part of the system). Anyway, there is a link in my signature you could like.

 

The gearbox on my '88 has an adjustment bolt to tighten up the internal gears. Maybe yours does too?

 

Yes, there is...Main center of the top area...

Screwdriver and a wrench are what is needed...


You have to hold the jamnut, while turning the adjustment bolt...1/8 of a turn at a time...

Too much, and the steering will encounter a "Dead spot" and won't wanna turn, or return to center...

 

Yeah, make sure that it really is your box before replacing it. There are a lot of different things that can make the steering loose. Also considering that most of these trucks are getting up there in mileage most are in need of some replacement parts. Not saying your box isn't worn but there is some adjustment built into the box that you can use before it's done. Tighten it up and check everything else before replacing it.

I did find my box worn out and replaced it a year ago. Redhead seems to make a good box but I used one from AGR.

Ford Applications - AGR Performance - MB Motorsports

I've had good luck with their produces in the past and they have great customer service.

 

it's amazing at how it's so mistakenly thought to be an adjustment for a worn steering box, it isn't. It's for setting the pre-load of the sector shaft inside of the steering box which is done during the assembly process. There is NO adjustment screw that takes out the slop of worn internal parts.

 

Na that's not it, but thanks anyway. Lol. If I am not mistaking the drag-link it what attaches the steering box to the tie-rod/tires.

 

Ok, ya got me...

My bad..

Ok, lets try this again, it's a SET SCREW...


Sloppy parts, are just that...Worn out, sloppy parts...if you DO get things to "Tighten" up using the set screw method, it can affect it in adverse ways...

But as Joker said, make SURE it's in the box, and not the steering shaft/joints, etc worn out...

 

In most applications it is a piece of maintenance to "adjust" steering free play in the box at this adjustment, the scary thing is most books recommend turning 1/4 at a time AHHHH!! If all else is tight, then adjust, but do it methodically, mark it where you started so you have a frame of reference, and adjust it a little at a time, an old mechanic told me 1/16th at a time so you never go too far, after you lock it down, test for rough spots or points where it will stick, then test drive carefully where you have a lot of room. If this fixes it, it means your box has experienced some wear, is it gonna go bad soon? probably not, but its an indication of wear in an otherwise forgotten part. If you cant tighten up the box without encountering rough points in the turning of the wheel, the box is beyond helped, put it back where you started and look for another. The only vehicle that I've had to put a steering box on for wear was a first gen jeep grand cherokee with close to 400k on it, so to be beyond repair is rare but not impossible.

 

I replaced mine with one rebuilt by Fenco that I bought at Advanced. steering is nice and tight now. It is definitely better as a two person job since the gear box weighs about 50 lbs or so. The only specialized tool you will need is a pitman arm puller. If your PS pewssuew minw and return line are rusted you might as well replace than as well.

 

my original tie rods wore out prematurely so I just made a custom drag link and ends out of chromoly and FK rod ends. we'll see if this can take the abuse of the 37"s. Next I'm going to look at upgrading that steering column shaft with Flamming River parts.

 

I've read in a previous post about redhead I have heard good things about them too. I'll look over everything this weekend, With so many miles on the truck I don't think its probably ever been replaced. Play is something like almost half a turn. Between that and the brakes will see how expensive this gets. First I thought it was the steering shaft but i'm leaning towards steering box now. If I can't afford Redhead then i'll just pick up one from Autozone, Napa, Oreilly's. Whatever is the cheapest. I have a feeling i'm going to be going through all the linkage and steering with a fine tooth comb. Thanks everybody for your help. Just don't want to be too dangerous just yet.

 

Didn't know Redhead was in Seattle. Sorta close.