My steering box just got very sloppy, to the point of being dangerous when i am pulling my trailer.

What is the best replacement option for the steering box, Red Head or MotorCraft?

The dealer told me the MotorCraft reman they sell is as good as i can get.

What do you guys think?

 

Have you missed the nearly constant - "Redhead Group buy" threads???? That should tell you something....

 

no i did not miss the group buy threads, i just haven't seen why the Red head for the super-duty is better than the motorcraft one.

 

Ford integral P/S boxes have a built in flaw, there are no bearings on the sector shaft, it rides directly on the housing. Before too long, fluid begins leaking from the sector shaft seal.

Red Head takes the housing, machines it, installs the needle bearings that Ford omitted...on purpose, so they could sell a gazillion sector shaft seal kits.

Of course whiz bang at dealer will promote Motorcraft, ask him if Motorcraft "reman" has sector shaft bearings. I wonder if he even knows what to look for?!

If not, it's nothing more than a "resealed" gearbox .. same puppy available from autoparts stores.

 

Thank you for pointing that out

 

Also they hand fit the bearings. Not like some Chinese factory in a barn
out back when they take parts from bin A and stuff then in to hole B
and not check to see if they fit right. Then ship them off to some store
to sell then yo some cheep @$$ people. The only difference between the
Ford part and the mass market auto parts store is the name on the box IMHO.
Redhead takes the part and puts time into it beyond the stuffing of parts. The
hand fitting is where you get more cost with the trade off being lifespan and reliability.

Sean

 

I've had a A1-Cardone Reman in for the last 45K miles ... hasn't missed a beat & still precise.

 

I agree with everyone else about the Red Head steering gear being the best choice. Mine made a huge difference on my Excursion, and those I've seen who bought Motorcraft units seem unhappy with the results.