So I took my truck to a local shop today to have it aligned. Further investigation they told me my steering box has play in it and enough to say it needs replaced.

I really liked the shop and owner seemed very knowledgeable and straight forward with me and said he could do the alignment but not replacing the box first kind of negates it. I should replace box first then alignment. Sound correct?

He also recommend I go with motorcraft instead of a after market product where he may not warranty as much and find myself coming back 6 months later.

So in all of your experiences should I invest in the motorcraft, go with red head or local auto parts setup?

Shop wanted $1300 for motorcraft and with alignment and box installed I'm looking at $2000.

How hard would it be to do the swap myself and by that I'm mechanical savvy just never did one of these on a truck only my 1969 Mustang long ago.

Figured if I can save the $300 or so in labor might be worth it?

Thoughts and concerns or suggestions and experiences with all types of steering boxes?

I don't off road with my truck so only highway driving and minimal towing.

Thanks guys!

On a side note he said my ball joints and everything is OEM and with the truck having 180k + mikes he was very impressed that I have minimal wear on all parts and shocked the box hasn't gone out well before along with other items.

 

A steering box for the 7.3 is about $300, how could a 6.0 box be that much more unless you were going right to the dealer?

Link directly to redhead below.

2005-2007 Ford F-250 and F-350 SuperDuty Steering Gear | RedHeadSteeringGears.com

Some say that OEM is the same as redhead, but a bit cheaper. Also, installing a gear box is not hard, just takes a bit of time and patience. This applies if you go OEM or redhead.

 

I think he was quoting me for dealer direct price. In fact now that I think of it he did say he would need to order/pickup from dealer.

No I understand that price is cheap but I believe the box I'll need is going to run me with core and the other option is necessary up front $900 but I'll get the $250 back but I'm still at $650.

Speaking of which when I order from redhead it asks for core but then ask for additional charge $150 not exactly sure what that option is and how would I know if I need that?

 

Disregard apparently I was on a different website and not using the site you linked. Okay so $721 out the door and then $275 back to me so essentially $446 I think much better in price than $1300 plus $260 in labor

 

Sure does suck though when you walk into alignment shop expecting to pay $125 for alignment maybe extra for bushings if needed and then find out they nearly want $2000 for complete job. So much for a tax return huh I had it and now it's gone lol. Well I think I'm gonna order it myself and do the work myself just have to find a dedicated day or two to get it done. Plus I like working on my own **** anyhow .

Anyone else share any experience with redhead or others?

 

I also notice a 12 month unlimited mile warranty so I think that's worth it if it goes out in 6 months then at least I know I'm covered lol.

 

fordparts.com has Motorcraft Steering Gear #STG-152 for $678, which should be for a new part, so there is NO core charge. You should only get a 'core' charge for rebuilt parts.

I would RUN from this alignment shop for charging that much for the steering gear.

 

I will check that site out I see you can put your VIN in and I do recall him saying he was going to pull my VIN to verify part I would need.

I don't know perhaps he needed to make a extra dollar but Jesus you already charging me $300 in labor and on top of that double the price of steering box.

It's California for you out here they rip you off foe everything. Only thing he didn't apply was my military discount which email conversation before my appointment he did say they offer 10 percent. Either way I liked there service and appreciated him not just doing alignment but rather tell me it needed other items but at the same time I'm thinking he was maybe trying to scam me.

For the record though I did see oil wetness on pitman arm and box do I know he wasn't lying and the steering does have some play. To me though I found it normal with almost all Fords I drive.

 

The site also mentions that if it's just leaking, you can get a seal kit instead of replacing the unit.

 

I would wonder how hard to fix leak with new seals then? Anyone done this?

I would love to save what I can my wife is not pleased right now, great timing though just received my tax return doesn't things always happen like that lol

Just when you think your ahead bam get back to the starting line

I'm not upset just she is

 

Replacing the seals should be pretty straightforward, once the steering gear is out of the truck. I would expect it to have just an input and output shaft seal, and maybe some O-rings for the PS fluid lines, but googling for 'Motorcraft 3E502' comes up with a couple of different variations on that part number, some with a whole mess of O-rings, so you should probably to talk to the dealer about getting the right one [if you go down that route], but it'll still be WAY cheaper than a new or even rebuilt steering gear [unless the steering gear has to be totally disassembled to replace the seals, which shouldn't be the case (then labour costs may tip towards a rebuilt one)].

You might have enough left over to buy her a belated Valentines Day card.