hello everyone,
over the past 5000 miles I have been replacing the front end parts. I have done 4 ball joints, both tie rods, both drag links, seals, and bearings and alignment. The gearbox was definitely on this list and was loose and I did adjust it about 2000 Miles's ago with the goal of improvement not fixing it. Anyways, I had enjoyed the pleasure of commanding the truck in the lane constantly enough and was happy this would be replaced soon. Fast forward to living on an island with Irma on the way. I evacuated north to the Carolinas. Before the trip I knew it would be rough. But hey I've put so many miles and it goes take it slow I told my self. Fast forward to day 2 I spent the night with a friend at the beach to lessen the strain on me or the truck idk lol I'm on the highway way then steering becomes hard to the left not so much to the right. Around a trurn I could turn the wheel let it go and the truck would track around the turn like a boat in auto pilot. Don't worry I didn't put my hands in the air like a roller coaster. A couple times the back end got rowdy it just was not safe for highway speeds. It was then I decided 50-55 mph and checking the truck hourly would be my new plan. The shaft in the gearbox was loose and the Pittman arm had some movement up and down. Fast foward to South Carolinas and I could not even descend a hill safely. (40 mph. On the highway flashers on O/D off to drag the rear tonhelp keep the front on. After getting into NC I was able to happily take back roads and spend the extra hour plus of drive time knowing I was cruising at 35-40 and feeling good.

What I'm looking to see is the. Redhead worth the wait (shipping etc) vs going to ford today and slapping on a new ford box? Also what are some criteria to see if that pitman drop Pittman arm can be reused.

my truck is lifted on 35s. And I plan on keeping it for a long time.
Thanks

 

Redhead is over rated and over priced. There is no reason for you to wait, in an "emergency" situation. Or pay more, in any situation. The Motorcraft box actually has superior characteristics, if the marketing info is to be believed. It was discussed in a somewhat recent redhead group buy attempt/thread that fizzled out. Motorcraft uses some new parts that Redhead re-conditions.

The important thing to check, in order to re-use your drop pitman arm ( which you need, being lifted) is to make sure the new box has the same spline count. They came 2 ways. 32 spline and 36. If your truck is a 4x4 diesel, its most likely the 36 spline, but you need to make sure. You should be able to count the splines on the sector shaft, even with the pitman arm still attached.

Of course, you also want to inspect the pitman to make sure it is not damaged, and the tapered hole for the steering linkage is still in good shape. As long as that connection is currently tight, its probably fine.

 

Have you replaced the Pitman arm? If you have what did you torque it to? There should be absolutely no play whatsoever in the Pitman arm if it's torqued properly. The other thing I would suggest looking at is the geometry of your track bar, draglink, and tie rod with the drop Pitman arm installed. The majority of the time the drop Pitman arm will negatively affect the front and geometry.

I did a Google search about a month ago on the redhead and across several forums I came to the conclusion that a lot of guys said although it was an improvement they didn't think it was worth the money.
How many miles on your original gearbox? If you got 100,000 miles on the original gearbox and you need one NOW, I would probably slap a Ford on it and call it good.

 

Also, you'll need info from your door tag.
There are 2 different 36 spline boxes.

If your front axle has a Gross Axle Weight Rating of 4200LBS or greater, you need STG42RM

If not, then the part# is STG60RM

 

My steering gear exploded, literally sheared off one of the bolts on the top plate about 8 months ago when I was pulling into a campground. I had the help of a fellow FTE member in replacing it. I bought a steering gear from AutoZone and the pitman arm to save myself time and effort of removing the old one.

The box has been solid and firm in steering since. Would I have liked to get a RedHead steering gear, yes. Does the AZ version work, yes.

Although, as of late I have seen more and more RedHead problems. When speaking with a well known suspension shop, they told me not to feel bad about the AutoZone one as they would have done the same thing in that situation.

Ford would have been a better choice, but nothing was available locally and I had a short amount of time before I had to get the truck on the road again.

 

I'm thinking that the spline count has more to do with the date of manufacture but I don't know which came first, the 32 or the 36.

 

Thanks for the replies I've been driving the 450 and ranger in the meantime. The gearbox was replaced with a used one about 30000 miles ago. The local ford dealer wants a whopping 480 and 75 for the fuel filter I was able to find the motor craft box online for 256 plus shipping. That's looking to be the route to take. Hopefully the Pittman arm looks good when it's taken apart.
are you guys torquing it to 200ftlbs or doing the hit it with the impact method on the 34mm bolt?

 

Make sure you secure the steering wheel before you take your box off. Torque to the max of your wrench then mark the nut and sector shaft then hit it with the impact. If you see your marks separate you know the nut tightened more than what you had it torqued to.

 

Actually, it may not be a good idea to use an impact on the pitman arm to steering box nut. I read somewhere that one likely cause of sudden sector shaft failure is prior damage/hidden hairline fractures of the sector shaft due to the nut being over tightened (from an impact gun) and forcing the pitman arm past the splined portion of the sector shaft.

 

BBB / VISION-OE N5010119 New

Anyone know about this steering gear? good / bad ??

 

I had an emergency blow out of my steering box as well and had to get the AutoZoo box. That box failed on my 6 months later with a very slow leak from the output shaft. I replaced that with a lifetime warranty box from AutoZoo just because I couldn't see myself paying ~$500 to RedHead after being stiffed with the core charge (not OEM gear being sent back) and shipping it across the country.

If this warranty replacement fails, I will get a Motorcraft reman.

When I was looking at hydro-boost systems this past weekend, I saw BBB / Vision as the only new option. I have never heard of that company and tried to look up reviews, very little info out there.

If it were me (and it probably will be again) I will get the Motorcraft reman.

 

sorry to tag on but have an issue here possibly..
Well. Rock auto had the specs and 4x4 on the stg60rm and I got it but my sticker in door reads front axle is 5200#. So can I use it or do I need to get the other one? I’ve checked 3 other references and they all recommended stg60rm. Very confused now.

 

I thought a steering box was a steering box so I can't help you but here's a bump for you.

 

I went with Blue-Top for my latest steering gearbox and I was very happy with it. Better than a generic OEM rebuild and more cost-effective than a Red Head.

Just my .02

 

understood. I looked into all three. I have the str60rm IN HAND so if it will work I plan to install but just need to make sure. If not, then I can reevaluate.