Hey All,

In a tale as old as time, the original steering box in my '76 F250 was very worn out and loose. I took the plunge and picked up a new box from Redhead steering last Friday, and on Saturday morning I found that it had leaked oil out. I was a bit confused since 00 grease isn't really that liquid, so I held off on installing the box and then emailed RH on Monday morning and they said that it should be fine, and that the oil I saw leaking out was just form the grease separating from sitting on the shelf for a while and that it should re-mix. And it turns out there's a breather hole on top, and I must have rotated it so the breather was point down. No problem

I get the box installed yesterday, and after getting the mid shaft slipped on the box, I noticed that the input worm is.... loose. It's not nearly as bad as the old one, but there's still noticeable slop on the input shaft. When I wiggle the worm back and forth, I don't feel any movement in the pitman arm, which leads me to believe that the worm is worn.

Has anyone else had this problem with RH boxes, particularly their manual steering boxes? I wanted to check here before calling them because I don't want to be "that guy" but I honestly was expecting a tighter box for how much I spent, and they have a really good reputation on this forum.


Thanks!

 

They sell top notch products and they have top notch customer service. call them.

 

I have seen other discussions on the forum and some FB Dentside groups which have said Redhead quality has been eroding. Many people are now using and recommending Bluetop. Take it for what it is worth.

 

I have a P/S box on my 79 2x4. Going on two yrs. still good. Call they will fix you up.

 

I've got Redhead steering boxes, and love them. The few people I let drive my vehicles, immediately comment on how my rigs steer like modern vehicles. I've only had to contact them once, and was very pleased with the response. One of their tech guys squared me away.

 

Yup RedHeads quality has steadily slipped for the past 7 or 8 years or so, they are not what they once were. I have had more than a few bad boxes from them in the past few years and can not really recommend them any longer, they are almost at the avoid point now, as far as I'm concerned.
Blue Top, on the other hand, seems to have the quality Redhead once had (plus better customer support in my opinion)

 

Redhead boxes are still as good as they ever were because they're rebuilt the same as they always were. I'm sure there are other places that do as good of job as they do but I dare anyone to prove there is a better source.

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same. I've bought two Redhead's in the last three years. I've helped install three others for friends. I've heard nothing but praise about the boxes and customer service.

 

440 is right. RH machines the lower case and uses an in house lower bearing that takes the slop out that is found in the Ford Factory 2x4 PW box. Cardone does not do this. You send them your box and wait till they get it done, and it will be just as sloppy as the day Ford made it in the Indy Shadeland ave plant long ago. I don't know anything about the Blue tops. When I spoke to RH, I submitted photos showing the truck was under construction and they extended the warranty by six months. These guys are great to work with. You can't go wrong buying from them.

 

I heard the guy running Bluetop worked for Redhead and started his own shop. They are also rebuilt the same way, machined for a bearing.


That was the same I heard when looking for a PS box for my 81 F100 so I went with Bluetop and am vary happy with it.
IIRC the Bluetop was also cheaper than the Redhead when I got mine.
Dave ----

 

I did look into Bluetop, but from what I can tell from their website they don't do the manual steering box I have. They have the power assist ram for that application, but not the box itself.

I'm in the process of following up with Redhead, we'll see what happens

 

I took my box down to their shop yesterday after work, and we got it set up on the bench and readjusted the lash in the box. There wasn't any slop in the box on the bench, so I'm now looking at either the pitman arm or the drag link being loose. I'm leaning towards the pitman arm, because it legit just slid off by hand once I got the clamp bolt removed, and also I couldn't feel any movement in the arm when rotating the steering wheel (which is why I thought it was something in the box at first). I already had plans to replace the drag link and tie rods, but the pitman arm throws a wrench on those plans...

Thanks everyone