red-head steering boxes
 

good day another member posted some links a few weeks ago that i was checking out and found this company based in seattle wash. called red-head steering. the web site looks good so i called them and was told they have "the fix" for these boxes with machined houseings bearings on the lower shaft and "resized bearing balls" for the sector shaft my ? is has any one here used these boxes from this company for a 79 2wd? by the time i pay for the box,shipping to alberta,and core charge its a $500.00 bill so i am just wondering if their as good as they say they are any comments?
thanks in advance

ALL Ford/Saginaw P/S gearboxes have a built in flaw: There are no bearings on the sector shaft. And because of this, within a short time, P/S fluid begins leaking past the sector shaft seal. :-arrgh

ALL the so-called "rebuilt" P/S gearboxes sold by FoMoCo and autoparts stores are nothing more than resealed gearboxes. :(

Red Head takes the housing, machines it, installs the bearings that FoMoCo left out...on purpose...so they could sell a gazillion seal kits!

Ford/Saginaw P/S introduced in 1965 Galaxie/LTD, in F100/250 2WD's and F350's in 1969 from serial number D96,001. Thru 1972, only a master seal kit (C5AZ-3C538-A) was available.

D7AZ-3E501-B (replaced D7AZ-3E501-A, D3AZ-3E501-A & C5AZ-3C538-A) .. Sector Shaft Seal Kit // F3AZ-3E502-A (replaced D7AZ-3E502-A, D3AZ-3E502-A & C5AZ-3C538-A) .. Input Shaft Seal Kit.

Last FoMoCo vehicles to use Ford/Saginaw P/S: 2002 Crown Vic/Mercury Grand Marquis, went to Rack & Pinion P/S beginning in 2003. 2010: Mercury cancelled, 2011: Crown Vic cancelled.

so bill do you think the work they do with the sector shaft/ball bearings would make a difference? it seems like all most every truck i have has a "steering issue" either the box is too loose [road wander] or it starts to load up the pump it the ajuster is to tight spending the $ is not a problem if it works

I've recommended Red Head for 6 years and not because I have red hair.

The Ford/Saginaw P/S gearbox has been crap since day one, because there are no bearings on the sector shaft.

And btw, there isn't a peep in Ford parts catalogs about the gear being made by Saginaw, probably because...Saginaw is a division of General (aka Government) Motors. :(

AFAIK, FTE member jowilker let the "cat oughtta the bag" by calling the gearbox a Saginaw. The first day I noticed that, I said to myself "What the hell is he talking about?" Investigated, found out he was right.

I have one and several other FTE members have them.
Works great. As Bill said, they correct the design defect in the box. The sector shaft now rides on needle bearings instead of just the cast iron housing.
Their price is competitive with the chain store "spray and pray" rebuilt units.
You can either send them yours and they'll rebuild it or they can ship you one from stock and use yours as a core.
Mine cost around $226.00 plus the UPS charges.

I'm going to get mine done too. I have the advantage of living near Seattle, so no shipping charges for me.


Jameson

Red Head is good stuff.

There very popular in the 7.3 forum also. Theres a group buy going on right now to get them cheaper.

I bought one from red head and it cannot be beat they put a bearing on the pitman arm end. I'm ordering one now for my 79 with only 70K mi. and the lower bushing is worn. makes the truck wander. there price is right also.

Yeah, if I ever do the '77's box, it'll be there as well. Red Head is the place.
:-X22

No bushing, no bearings as original in the steering box. Red Head machines the housing, installs the needle bearings on the sector shaft that FoMoCo omitted, so they could sell a gazillion seal kits!

See posts 2 & 4 for additional info.

The hard parts to actually rebuild the internals of the steering box haven't been available for years. Besides adding the needle bearings to the sector shaft Red Head also regrinds the "screw" of the input shaft and then fits oversize balls so these units are truly rebuilt not just resealed like you'll get from the chain stores.
They also work their "magic" on manual 2WD and 4WD boxes.

The gear I just picked up is going directly to Redhead.:-X22

the group buy is the way to go,looks like there at about 50 dollars off at this point,and i think the order ends dec 3rd-5th

My excursion has a redhead steering box on it. They charged my credit card for the core charge and would not refund it 2 months after I'd sent the core back (with deliver receipt so I knew they got it). When I called (a few times, mind you) they always sounded stoned. Just take any teen movie with a bored, stoned drive through burger clerk and imagine his voice over the phone... "uh, I dunno man, I don't see your order anywere (rustling of papers) nah I dunno man." I finally had to threaten to do a charge back on my credit card after accruing 2 months of interest before they would refund the core charge. Mind you, they never said they didn't get it, and they never said it was damaged. I shipped it return receipt with insurance. And about 4-5 months after this fantastic expensive magical steering box was installed, its now groaning every time I turn the wheel.
I won't be doing business with them anymore, I can tell you that.

I had a different experience when I called them.
Talked to someone that I figured was the owner and he sounded bright and on the ball.
I don't have experience with a unit yet, but I like what I hear ( unlike what hasteranger is hearing).

Hey Bill, what is the average cost of RedHEeads rebuild??? milling and installing bearings and such. I guess I could call them but I'm sure you must have heard something. I plan on doing mine some time here. It doesn't leak right now but like you said, its for sure it will.... ;o(

red head
 

:-X22think i paid 280 plus shipping F250 79 box 4x4

What's the URL? I found at least three 7.3 forums here....

Mine was $226.00 plus shipping. That was about a year ago.

Its under the Excursion forum and the title is "anybody up for a group redhead steering box buy". I would post the URL but im on my phone.

Here ya go

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...g-box-buy.html

Jameson

:)
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Heck I think I'm gonna join up. It's a heckuva deal right now


Jameson

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...g-box-buy.html

Call in date is Dec 3-5, 2012. :-wink

Avag $250 plus shipping is a good chunk of $$$ but I guess its good insurance to know its not going to leak later on.......... I'm still amazed there was NO bearing ass put into these things in the first place. I think of FORD as being that tough name. Wishful thinking I guess.

thanks guys for the input i seems like the right thing to do even at $500 a pop to get it to alberta but like every thing else with my trucks if it needs it it gets it and if it fixes my 502 79 reg cab it may just save me from doing a body/drive train swap its such a shame i built this truck and dont even care to drive it as is due to the steering being such a chore again thank you and i will advise of my out come when i get it instsalled regards joe

red-head
 

Wow Joe that is a chunk of change,and seattle is just a little south of Alberta,that just seems to high,I have purchased from NWF and shipping is a little higher but that just seams crazy,I picked up my 4x4 box at jy for 75$ and shipped it right out to Washinton State

I gotta get one of mine sent out there to get rebuilt. Shipping isn't going to be cheap, but having a nice rebuilt steering gear would be nice.

I'm a little late to this party but i too will vouch for Red-heads work, got my box rebuilt nearly 8yrs ago and have been happy with it ever since. ;)

I shipped mine UPS and its about as far as you can go in the continental US, basically Orlando, FL to Seattle, WA. The UPS charges were about $50.00. The $226.00 I paid included return shipping. Like I said, this was a little over a year ago.

That's not too bad then. I was expecting the $75 mark for shipping from MN to WA. I'll probably get one sent out next summer after I get my current project up to par.

bucks have you done the swap over to the later box. if so i would do a trade and some cash{not much by the way} for stock to stock box. you could ship one of mine up there then send my your old one when your new one comes in. maybe even trade for something else in return.

Ya I did. I don't have the original power assist setup anymore. I kept it, but somehow it ended up missing where I was storing some extra parts.

to me if the unit will fit in a 12x12x5.5 box like the guy at redhead said to shipping should be 15 dollars plus ins ,and that is in one of those "if it fits it ships " box from usps ,i'm I wrong?

a lot of times i envy you people in the U.S.A. or you have better laws against ripping off people than we do in canada $50.00 to ship from one end of the country to the other? i will not use ups if i dont have to for the simple fact their shipping/ border charges are way too high but somtimes thats the only way for big or heavy parts i was quoted $265 for the box,$135 for shipping [+ border fees] + plus a $100 core charge either way it makes no sence to ship the old box back worth $100 for $135 so it probebly will be closer to $600 with all the fees oh well it is what it is

shipping
 

NWF does not use UPS some name that begins with a letter P pretty reasonable.That 4 bolt 4x4 ps unit is pretty heavy,and its heavy duty

They charged me I think $37 to ship it USPS or fedex or something, and I shipped my core back to them in a large flat rate box, for $17 or something. And then didn't give me my money back for several months and now the expensive box they sold me is groaning louder than my diesel. Worth repeating.

Great people to deal with. I'm very pleased with the product and I would deal with them again. I installed it on my 79 F-100

I realize you know what your doing but sometimes I miss stuff so.........
You sure it's not the pump?