Hey folks,
Hope you knowledgeable gents can help me out - again. I'm very confused about what steering box I have in my truck and how to maintain it. The truck is a 67 F250 4x4 with the 4 spd NP transmission. That all checks out with the VIN plate. The lack of a hydraulic pump and my sore arms confirm that it is NOT power steering. The steering box that is in the truck looks like the one in the diagram below (part 3504), but that says it's for the 3 spd m/t. The diagrams specific to the 67 4 spd do not match what is on my truck. Mine is definitely a 4 spd. Looking in the service manual, there are several types of steering boxes for these vehicles. Can someone tell me the name of that box and what I need to do to maintain it? Is it really as simple as opening the cap on the top and squirting in grease? Seems pretty basic. I did a search on the forum and everything seemed to be about converting to power steering. As always, thanks for your assistance.

 

Curious too. Hopefully someone can confirm that it's just a paperwork glitch and that some trucks came with a particular steering gearbox whether they had one transmission or another.

And yes, sometimes it's as simple as adding lubricant through the top fill hole. It's what you use specifically though, that's important.
Many boxes of different manufacture could use the same lube, whether it was actually grease, or a liquid gear lube. I've even used a mix of the two on some older cars at the recommendation of long-time users.
But for my one and only Ford manual box I used heavy duty synthetic gear lube. I want to say it was 140w but that was eons ago and I don't remember. I used 75w/90 in every other box, so might even have topped it off with that. But again, not sure.
When I bought it though, the original box was filled with grease. Whether from Ford or the PO I do not know. I was fairly young (5 years and 55k miles) so would not usually have had a replacement box in that time. But it was also used hard (Montana Hunting Club near Billings) so there's no way to know for sure.
However, it was pretty worn out by 100k miles, so it was very likely the original.
When I bought a brand new manual box from Ford in about '80 or so, I used synthetic gear lube from then on, until I sold it around 2000 still working like new.

Sorry for the novel. Just figured I'd add some fluff while we were waiting for someone that knows for sure to chime in.

Paul

 

Ford screwed up. The drawing for the 4 speed box actually shows the F-100 box, not the actual box used for F-250's which is the one in the 3 speed drawing with the shaft going out through the frame. They all used the so-called "3 speed manual box" in the drawing to 1977. 73-77's used the manual box with a power assist cylinder as an option. 1977.5 to 1979 models used the PS box. I have 2 F-250 4wd CC's, a 70 with manual steering with a 4speed, and a very late 76 with the power assist.

 

Thanks RichS. Do you know who makes this steering box? Also, does it use grease or oil for lubrication?
I'm guessing it's a 90W oil?

 

According to the drawings on Fordification, Ross made it from where you found your drawing. Look at the Factory Literature section of Fordification for an owner's manual at the very least. A stepup would be to buy the Haynes 73-79 manual as they similar. Or an old Chilton's on Ebay. Or the final step would be a factory shop manual as original in paper, or on disc from many vendors.

 

Thanks RichS,
That's a big help. I have the workshop manual, but it has several different ones in there. Knowing which of the boxes it is was the piece I was missing.
Appreciate the help.
Jeff

 

P/S was not available with F100/250 4WD's until 1973, then it was Power Assist P/S for F100's thru 1975, for F250 4WD's (High Boys) thru February 1977.

With Power Assist, the manual steering gear box is used, because it has nothing to do with the P/S

C7TZ-3504-A .. M/S Gear Box / Obsolete

1967/75 F250 4WD // 1976/77 F250 4WD (High Boys) use a different M/S gear box.

btw: Ford didn't screw up, you posted the wrong parts catalog pic (sigh). It's from the 1964/72 Ford Truck Parts Catalog, Illustration Section 35, page 16.

Here is the correct parts catalog pic from Illustration Section 35, page 9:

 

ND, if the steering box depicted in page 9 is the correct box for an F-250 (the A box), then how come it is the same drawing for an F-100 shown on page 10 (the M box)? Isn't the box shown on page 16 the correct box for F-250's?

 

I believe the original lube was pourable grease.

I used this from Tractor SupplySuper S Cotton Picker Spindle Grease 00

Tractor Supply

 

Basic part numbers shown in pics are for parts guy usage, not for 'hobbyists' to identify parts. These pics are usually "typical" or "generic."

Parts guys wouldn't give a damn if the steering box didn't match, because there's another pic of the correct gearbox by itself.

I posted the correct 4 M/T pic, the OP posted the wrong pic.

 

Hey Oldsch, thank you. That is very helpful. Can't rep you on my phone. I will do that later when I'm home.