Redhead gearbox
 

Are they really worth the money? 2005 V10 EB.

I doubt it. It's just another rebuilder but this one advertises. There's no kryptonite parts in it.

Mine should be here on Monday , but on a side note I kinda agreed with Brent on this for a little while so I orderd one off of rockauto rebuilt close to me in Cambridge mn , I had it on the truck for 1 day and 15 miles from home I pulled into a parking lot and lost power steering. I look under the truck and all my powersteering fluid is on the ground. Have to have the truck towed home and luckily I hadn't returned my core yet so I reinstalled that. I decided to take the defective box back to the rebuilder myself to see if I could find out the issue. They look at the box and tell me the snap ring fell off the pitman arm shaft and that blew the seal.

They inform me that they can take it in back and reinstall the seal and put a new snap ring on. I asked them why the snap ring fell off and they say the guys probably didn't have it seated right when they rebuilt the box. With that I said no thanks and I am getting a full refund. I ordered a redhead the same day and am excited to get it installed.

I know Brent will say that redhead had has its issues as well but I don't think anything as stupid as a snap ring..Just telling my experience..

Actually the problem with Christina's was pretty stupid too, there was a pin in the valve that came loose (maybe). It's just humans working on used OEM steering boxes but I am sorry to hear about all the trouble you are going through (I thought only I had luck like that). Would I ever buy a Redhead ? NO!
If a pin came out of your Redhead you would probably buy from Rockauto so; ..........whatever. I doubt if any of them ever get inspected because they are in a case and even if they put them on some kind of machine to test neither of your problems would have shown up right away and who knows exactly what the problem was for sure on both of them anyway ? Maybe they put a weak snap ring in or the wrong size or there was dirt in the snap ring groove. At any rate, they both screwed up and they will continue to screw up.

Subscribe..

Agreed but I hope I have better luck with the Redhead..:-drink

I just bought one from Auto Zone. It has been in truck for about two weeks. Out the door with oil $119.94. Much less than redhead but too soon to tell. All is working great right now. But........... Just couldn't see spending the 400 on something I can get for 100. I have been reading these posts here to see what you ex people have been doing and I think I made a good choice. Truck that I put steering gear in is 2001 4x4 v-10 with 97k miles on it. My other truck in my sig is still on it's original box. 230k on it. Go figure.

I really hope so too. :)

Let us know how it's going in a couple months. I firmly believe all rebuilders do the same thing. Redhead claims to put bushings in where there none originally but they also said it was rare so that is their only claim to fame and I have my doubts about that one. They also say they put bigger ball bearings in them but they have to when they grind the worm gears down unless they have a good used one which is fine too.
My PS box has 165k miles on it and it's like new.

Ive had my ReadHead on for about 2 months now and love the difference it made. Great customer service with super fast shipping.

I went through the same thing with my Old 7.3 Ex. I installed a cheapo Advance Auto parts unit and I had no issues. I think they are all pretty much the same, My OEM box was at 295,000 miles when I swapped it out.

That's nice and my parts store is 1 mile away with no shipping and a face to face return experience if needed.

I am probably one of the few that are in the boat of having run a cheap box for a couple days and then putting in the redhead. I will say the cheaper box was not all that impressive as far as steering feel, It wasn't much different than my stock box ( kinda mushy feeling ) I will be interested to see how the readhead feels once I get it installed,,

Let us know.

9/25/13 was new install. Just looked it up. I love being able to drive without white knuckles again. I was driving like in the old movies, back and forth. I will let you all know.

What's the symptoms of a bad steering box? Ours wanders bad I thought maybe we needed to get the front end aligned as the guy I bought it from did not after ball joints.

The alignment will usually fall into place after balljoints are put in and a toe in is easy to do yourself.

Hey Brent , congrats! I've heard that Red Head has offered to bring you out of retirement and offered you a spokesman job for them...:-missingt

Why does Brent not like the Redhead boxes ?? I didn't know that..}>

Thomas Edison didn't like alternating current either. And now a/c is the standard.

I like my redhead a LOT.

Sent from my Sprint PC36100 using IB AutoGroup

I don't dislike them, I just would never waste my money on one. It's like buying a gold plated pipe wrench, what for? What is in them that is so special? Are there highly paid technicians working on them?
Also; Edison wasn't a mechanic, he was an electrical genius and greatly improved the light bulb.

While I like the thought of a redhead if/when I replace my box...I can't justify the $$$. Parts store is 3-4 miles away and the "OEM" replacement is cheap.
like when he electrocuted the elephant with AC?

It would be like the old days when they jerked you off the stage with a long cane or dropped the curtain on you. :-X24

I am getting parts around for doing a gear box replacement. Is Redhead still the best choice or are there better alternatives? I also run 37" tires in the summer so it has to be built beefy.

I wouldn't be able to claim any "best" data, but RedHead and Motorcraft are about the same cost. I only have 2000 miles on my RedHead box - so far excellent.

Some of you guys REALLY make me wonder sometimes. Those that say they wouldn't "waste" the money, have you ever used a Redhead? They are a local company up here in Washington and are great people and will work with you to get you the best performance for your buck. I would absolutely use Redhead for my needs all day every day.

Had mine for a couple years; been happy with it. Group buy made the price reasonable. Installed it along with new hoses and a new cheapo ps pump which needed to be replaced. Reinstalled Ford ps pump and took off one of the dampers; been happily steering ever since.

I put a RedHead in last summer and it really tightened things up. It was the last piece of the puzzle after replacing pretty much the entire front end. Excursion is my first used truck and I couldn't deal with the sloppy feel in the steering wheel.

As far as a waste of money; thats subjective. Personally for me, anytime I've gone the cheaper alternative with vehicle parts it seems to cost me money in the long run. Because of that I don't screw around with trying the bargain basement part. If I wanted to be cheap I would have bought a Dodge.

I guess i should've updated a long time ago. I suck as a fellow human being. :-X19 With the punishment and full confession out of the way, Auto zone gearbox is doing good a year+ later. I'm thinking about slightly tightening the box adjustment due to this summer my wife told others on a camping trip that she would drive on the ladies outing that day but they needed to know she would 'steer alot'. Not sure why she said that but i am assuming my truck steers a little different then her 1996 mitsubishi mirage. }> I did notice over the last couple weeks the feeling of wander again but not sure if it's not just in my head. Tighten a small amount should tell me and it is super easy to do.

I bought a redhead box for my Bronco a few years ago and it really made a huge difference in steering over the stock box with 140k on it. I can't compare it to a cheap POS from the Chinese auto parts store, but then again I don't put parts like that my on my truck. When my Ex needs a new box, I promise you it's getting a redhead.

I put a RedHead on the truck in my avatar. 6" lift and 35" tires. Used it in the oil fields in North Dakota. I couldn't tell any real difference in the change from OEM to RedHead as opposed to the auto parts store box I put in my Excursion.

I do not think I would spring for a RedHead again.

Yep mine was a bad pin in the valve, it leaked and didn't have the correct pressures which causes additional play- not sure if that valve issue it was took out my PS pump a few weeks later. I took them a video of the issue and the warrantied the box. I hate the PS pump and the labor to do it twice.

The steering box in My 05' was replaced by Ford in 08' with just 28,000 miles on it(leaking). They also replaced the pump that they said was damaged by the steering box. 70,000 miles later the Ex still drives like new.

Did you have to pay for shipping too?

No they refunded my shipping once they received the warrantied box back I just put the shipping receipt in with the box.

how much is one from ford compared to a rebuilt from redhead?

And how much is one from O'Reillys or Autozone? (probably just as good), and what about warrantys ? I think Redhead is only 1 year.

i posted on the first page what i paid at auto zone. Lifetime warranty.

im just saying i hear lots of problems with redhead and ive not had a single problem with oem so i might go with a ford one. in the past you used to be able to get options at for like new or rebuilt. and new might be a good choice seeing as how well the original is lasting.

Looks like OEM Ford Parts has the same pump for my truck for around 350. I agree that oem would make me feel more comfortable.