Steering Box recommendations
Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 332
Likes: 42
Steering Box recommendations
I am currently doing an oil cooler swap along with adding a coolant filter. While I have the truck apart I would like to replace the original steering box. I have been thinking about using the redhead unit, but from what i am reading it seems like their quality is slipping. I know the aftermarket, autozone, units have a better warranty then most, but I don't want to have to replace it once a year and really want something that I can install and not have to worry about. Any recommendations?
Logistics Pro
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,673
Likes: 6
Autozone warranty is great. If you want to do the job every 6 months. I haven’t really heard anything bad about the redtop or blue top.
what’s wrong with yours now?
on my 03 I thought i needed a new steering box as well. I “tightened” it up and it made a world of difference.
what’s wrong with yours now?
on my 03 I thought i needed a new steering box as well. I “tightened” it up and it made a world of difference.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 27,307
Likes: 549
From: Spanaway
I did the one in the truck I am now driving and went with the Ford reman unit.
I am quite happy with it.
One heads up. You will need a place to mount the box to so you can torque the
pitman arm nut down as there is not enough room to do it in the truck if you have 4WD.
Also be sure to flush the cooler and clean the reservoir. The hydroboost will hold some
fluid so you need to stick a hose on the return and step on the brakes to bleed out the
accumulator.You can also leave the hose on and once you have the engine running
step on the brakes again and it will dump anything left in it and once you see the fresh
fluid plus a few more peddle cycles you will have that flushed. That way you can start
out with a clean system.
Also get a new pitman arm nut as that is a use once and toss item.
I am quite happy with it.
One heads up. You will need a place to mount the box to so you can torque the
pitman arm nut down as there is not enough room to do it in the truck if you have 4WD.
Also be sure to flush the cooler and clean the reservoir. The hydroboost will hold some
fluid so you need to stick a hose on the return and step on the brakes to bleed out the
accumulator.You can also leave the hose on and once you have the engine running
step on the brakes again and it will dump anything left in it and once you see the fresh
fluid plus a few more peddle cycles you will have that flushed. That way you can start
out with a clean system.
Also get a new pitman arm nut as that is a use once and toss item.
Thread Starter
|
Tuned
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 332
Likes: 42
Autozone warranty is great. If you want to do the job every 6 months. I haven’t really heard anything bad about the redtop or blue top.
what’s wrong with yours now?
on my 03 I thought i needed a new steering box as well. I “tightened” it up and it made a world of difference.
what’s wrong with yours now?
on my 03 I thought i needed a new steering box as well. I “tightened” it up and it made a world of difference.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 27,307
Likes: 549
From: Spanaway
One thing to keep in mind with Ford when they do a reman they put in new parts.
Look up broken sector shaft with the search tool. Red head reuses old shafts.
I am not sure about other vendors. The big reason I went with Ford was that
I had broken teeth on the shaft or the piston. I did not dig into it to find out.
Ford gave me full core charge back for it.
Look up broken sector shaft with the search tool. Red head reuses old shafts.
I am not sure about other vendors. The big reason I went with Ford was that
I had broken teeth on the shaft or the piston. I did not dig into it to find out.
Ford gave me full core charge back for it.
Hotshot
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 17,823
Likes: 3,103
From: Jersey Shore
I agree with Sean, for me, it would be Ford reman, BlueTop, or salvage a newer stronger box and adapt, not necessarily in that order.
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Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 332
Likes: 42
One thing to keep in mind with Ford when they do a reman they put in new parts.
Look up broken sector shaft with the search tool. Red head reuses old shafts.
I am not sure about other vendors. The big reason I went with Ford was that
I had broken teeth on the shaft or the piston. I did not dig into it to find out.
Ford gave me full core charge back for it.
Look up broken sector shaft with the search tool. Red head reuses old shafts.
I am not sure about other vendors. The big reason I went with Ford was that
I had broken teeth on the shaft or the piston. I did not dig into it to find out.
Ford gave me full core charge back for it.
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Fleet Owner
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 27,307
Likes: 549
From: Spanaway
I think I did the steering gear about 2 1/2 years ago. Still nice and tight. I had looked into the swap
of the newer gear and I just did not want to do all the work to modify the truck to support the new gear.
I did do a heavy flush and cleaned the reservoir as it was nasty looking. I also put a filter into the system.
of the newer gear and I just did not want to do all the work to modify the truck to support the new gear.
I did do a heavy flush and cleaned the reservoir as it was nasty looking. I also put a filter into the system.
Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 332
Likes: 42
Am I reading this correctly the sector shaft arm nut needs to be torqued to 23 LB FT? I would have thought it would have been much more than that.
Thread Starter
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Tuned
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 332
Likes: 42
i see, that looks closer to what i was thinking. Thanks for the clarification.