Gentlemen, miscreants, ne'er do wells, vagabonds and rouges,


Does anyone have any experience rebuilding the Toyota steering box? Mine has developed a leak at the input shaft.


I was hoping to be able to replace the seal without pulling the box and tearing it all apart.....any thoughts?


Has anyone ever tried to find a seal kit for these boxes? I did a quick Google search but most of the information and parts kits I see are for the later IFS box.


Any thoughts, advice, ribbing and smart-alec remarks are welcome


Thanks
Bobby

 

Rogue vs. rouge

A rogue is (1) a scoundrel, (2) a vicious or solitary animal. The word is also an adjective meaning vicious and solitary.

Rouge is a pinkish color or a reddish powder. It’s also a verb meaning to put rouge onto. It appears surprisingly often in place of rogue.

Sorry. Had to be done. Thank me later.

 

See what happens when you swap a u with a g?

 

I have resealed the IFS boxes. My 88 IFS box is an early style and the input seal is easily changed by removing the lock ring and a pin spanner removes the part with the seal.


I "think" the 1st gen boxes we use on these trucks are the same. I just bought one the other day and will have to change that seal myself. If no one else chimes in, I'll take a look and get back to you.


I own nothing but Toyota trucks besides my 52 F3. There is a Toyota Bible on Pirate 4x4 that has a TON of info. Check it out for info on the steering boxes. The seal part number may be there.

 

I just took a quick look at the 1983 steering box that I have. It looks almost the same as my 1988 that I replaced the input seal on. I did replace this seal while installed in my truck.


Knock the outer lock ring loose and take it off. The gland or whatever the term for the part with the seal in it unscrews with a pin spanner. You can put punch marks to make sure it goes back to the same spot if you want. It does set an end play on a bearing.


Just unscrew it and the seal can be pushed out of the bore. Clean the seal off to see if you can read the number. I got the seal for my 88 from Toyota.


Install new seal and screw it back together. If you go too tight, it will be hard to turn. Too loose and it will be sloppy. Just like taking play out of the old steering boxes.


Don't take the whole box apart. It doesn't usually need any work. You will probably be sorry if you do.

 

LOL...nice catch! unless some of you miscreants are pinkish in color....


Thanks
Bobby

 

Excellent information. I appreciate you taking a look and giving me some input. last winter I had the whole front clip off of my truck repositioning the steering box. In true Murphy's Law fashion, my box didn't show signs of leaking until I got it mounted back in the truck and the front clip back in place....lol


So, judging from what you said I think I can pull my column loose, remove my floor plate and should be able to have enough room to access the top of the box.


Thanks for the input
Bobby

 

So, after several years of procrastination (prefer to refer to it as "planning"). I finally tackled the leak. After a recent road trip across the state that took a quart of power steering fluid I decided it was time.
I pulled the steering column and the floor plate and took a look. Sure enough, just as Scotty's 52 F3 described, the top of the Toyota box unscrews and the seal pops right out, no muss, no fuss. The hardest part was getting the right seal.
I had started out by ordering a seal online so that I'd have it on hand and not have to have my truck apart for several weeks. Naturally the seal was wrong.
Once I pulled the old seal and got the numbers from it I ordered another seal... ...yup, you guessed it. I managed to order another wrong one.....LOL
I then sourced the correct seal from a local shop and got the box back together.
I still have the truck apart as I
m making a few steering column repairs but I was able to fire the truck up. Sure enough, no leaks....woohoo!!

Thanks for all the info
Bobby

 

Just an update for anyone who might care...

After I got the box back together I was very tickled that it didn't leak, however, my steering was very tight.
If you look at this pic of the end cap you can see that its 2 piece. There's the outer ring and then the inner piece that houses the seal. Well the inner piece is also used to set the preload on the upper bearing.
Since Murphy helps me when I work it just makes sense that after replacing the seal and screwing the mess back together it changed the preload.

So, today I pulled the steering column back out of the truck and removed the upper piece from the steering box. Tomorrow I'll see about separating the 2 pieces and start putting it back together. Hopefully I'll be back to happy motoring before too long. I'll take a few pics once I get the parts separated.

Thanks all
Bobby

 

I have just adjusted the play out while it's in the truck. Never had to pull it apart. Loosen the locking ring, adjust the end play, tighten the ring. Unless I misunderstand what's going on.

 

Scott,
My freeplay was great, no problems with the box operation. The seal on the input shaft was dumping fluid like crazy. A 150 mile trip would drain the box and self lubricate my undercarriage....lol.
So, I basically had to pull the top of the box off and replace the seal. Once I put the new seal in and put it back together my steering was way too tight, so now I'm trying to get it corrected.

Bobby

 

It can just be backed off without taking anything apart is what I'm trying to say. The part that holds the seal also sets the bearing load/clearance/end play. Unless you're saying something else inside you replaced is making it too tight? Good luck with it either way. Nobody likes leaks, especially bad leaks. I just replaced the one seal. My steering box was good otherwise. Only has about 450K miles on it.

 

Scott,
When I first pulled this end piece off to get to the seal I didn't realize it was 2 separate pieces (it was a bit dirty).
Now I just need to back off the inner piece, put it back together, adjust it, and lock it down.

 

Well, nothing is easy.
I was able to move the center piece with a big snap ring tool. Not quite the right tool for the job. I think I might take a chunk of flat bar and a couple of roll pins and make a spanner wrench.

So, if you look at the pic in the last post you can see where someone had use a center punch to make a divot at the edge, right on the threads. In the prior pic you can see that the 2 indentation don't line up. I started to unscrew the inner piece only to come to an abrupt halt at less than 1/4 turn. I turned it back in and noticed the divot. I spent some time trying to repair what I could see of the threads. I was finally able to rotate it almost 1 full turn before once again being stopped tight. However, now when its stopped tight the divots on the outer and inner piece line up.
So, I'm torn, I could reinstall it hoping that the divots signify that the two pieces are at the right place for the bearing preload and someone did that to "lock" it in place. Or, I could fab a spanner wrench and try to work this thing apart with the damaged threads.




Here's the way things are now;

 

I think I have a spare steering box I can steal those parts from if you want? I'll look tomorrow.