Alright so far dealing with BlueTop has been awesome. Ordered online on the 30th and arrived today. Email confirmation with UPS tracking number. Normal ground shipping. Cheapest.

Thanks to Sous for helping me determine I needed a 36 spline. Plus links for orings and pullers.
Have everything we should need ready to go.

Sous was generous to offer a hand and

will be helping me swap my original 272,000 mile slop box tomorrow.

Looking forward to meeting him in person and hanging out.

Truck front end is up off the ground and awaiting surgery around lunchtime tomorrow.

Safe travels Sous.

 

Good times!

I’m still happy with my Blue Top.

 

Keep us posted.
Would like details as you go as this is very soon on my to do list.

 

Glad to help sir.

I have been the recipient of help and advice many, many times. I am grateful to pay it back every chance I am able to. Be it here, on the phone or in person.

Tools and cheater bar are packed. I'll shoot you a text when I am about 30 minutes out from your place.

A bit of a steering gear background story...

Paul ( @AllaboutMPG ) was kind enough to travel 3 hours one way to a campground where the steering gear on our truck had exploded. This was just about 4 years ago and on the first day of our retirement celebration trip. Needless to say, if Paul had not been there to help, our trip may have been very different.

Thanks again Paul!

 

Well the Bluetop is installed. Swap went well with the Sous supervisor who got his hand dirty too.

Thanks alot for driving over to help Sous. Was great to meet ya in person. Fun to wrench with you on Brown Truck

We decided to remove 6637, Battery and tray. Intercooler tube to gain easy access.

Everything went together like should. One thing that delayed up a few mins was lining up the gear spline to the steering shaft. Bluetop had blue paint pen marks that should line up for the splines to match.

We where trying and wouldn't go together but where 90 degrees off.
​​off.Only did a test drive so far but noticed an improvem





ent just burping the air out with the wheels off the ground.

Glad to have help today. Especially while holding the box up and Sous started the bolts. Not sure I could of done that by myself.

Here is a few pics

 

Y'all I am sorry about the broke up text.
Geez ya wood think it's my first post.
Dadgum mobile posting is tough for me I reckon.
Only took two time to get this post done. LOL

 

Few questions....
How much fluid did it take to get it back to normal and about how much time start to washing hands?

 

See what Sous adds but less than 2 qts to too off.
Lost very little fluid taking apart. Just get those open lines up in the air quickly. Most was to purge and fill gear box.

We got it all done with two test drives after aligning steering in about 4 hours. Took a wash hand break in the middle and the end.

 

Brad, it was a great day to complete the job and it was a pleasure to help you out in person. Both Kate and I look forward to seeing you guys at the north GA GTG on the 23rd of October at the SSJ ranch.

Everything went very well and he appeared to be happy with the improvement in steering.

Brad, below are the instructions for sending the gear back UPS Simple Rate. By using this method of shipping, you can cut $30 off the price and still have tracking and 3 day shipping.

Quote source: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post19828219

@Jimmy's Pilot Service , Brad had it about right. I would say 1.5 quarts is what it took to bring the ATF level up to full and maintain it. My gear/system took more than that as I accidently let the ATF drain out of the gear before installing it.

As Brad said, start to finish, it took us ~3.5 hours, but we were not in a hurry by any means. Several breaks to chat about this or that and once to go inside to chat with the family for a few minutes. It does help to have two people for at least the gear installation portion. The gear is rather heavy and getting the bolts started solo can be a bit tricky.

If you are looking for more feedback or opinions on the BT steering gear, check out the recent thread by MiamiPSD here: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-gear-box.html

Again, it was great to meet you and your family Brad and I hope the gear treats you well for a couple of decades.

A couple of pictures I took today are below.




Brad was nice enough to get things started prior to my arrival.



A quick shot of him using his "old man mat" to get the track bar loosened.



Here is Brad "givin the beans" to the pitman arm on the old steering gear. Good thing I brought my cordless impact gun. The pneumatic gun got it loose, then cordless popped it off while the pneumatic took a break.

 

Eric (ArmyLifer) came to visit us at our home in Hartwell a couple of months back. He was kind enough to offer a hand while working on the suspension for our 5th wheel. He offered to have me drive his Excursion with a BlueTop steering gear, just to see what I was missing out on.

It was within a week of that drive that I ordered the BT gear and I thank him and credit him for pushing me over the edge to make the purchase.

 

Awesome

 

Sous thanks for the detailed instructions. I gots to ship that old antique beast back to Bluetop.
Mo Money Mo Money back to me.

Dadgum Man I should of wore my too pay. That old bald guy on the old man pad is shined up bad. LOL
I will report back once I get a few road trips in the next week.

 

Your welcome. I'm a cheap SOB sometimes and if I can save $30 on shipping, I will.

I think everything went very well considering those parts hadn't moved in 21 years. I hope you enjoy the gear as much as I and many others have.

Safe travels Brad.

 

I prefer the term frugal over cheap.

 

Only one hand got dirty? I bet the other one had a Sweetwater IPA in it the whole time.