Sorry to hear about your luck but bad units happen to all manufactures. There are many, many, many on this forum that have got a quality product. If it truly is a defective box than my guess is they will replace it no problem. At least give them time to make it right before you condemn them. As far as the labor that is for you to work out with your mechanic. That is the pros and cons of not doing it yourself.

 

While that's certainly some crappy luck, I think you're overreacting a bit. If you expect any mechanical component to have a 0% failure rate you had better stick to your own two feet for transportation. No shoes either, as those too can fail.

Even the best parts can break. It's the percentage of failures that can be used to tell if something is a quality part, not whether or not you happen to get one.

 

Guys,
I asked (Redhead steering gears) had they ever had any issues before, and be honest! Cort told me they had never had anything break before :O When I buy something I expect it to work, at least till I get the truck out of the parking lot. My truck is my life, without it and my tools in it, I'm out of work! I work three jobs and two of them rely on me and my truck. I know anything manmade is going to break, but don't lie to me! I gave them the opportunity to send me a replacement, when in doubt I called. (ford garage has bay tied up with my truck sitting in it, broke) Late this afternoon they had not shipped it out. When I asked Cort if they were a member of BBB he said it cost money and they did not see it necessary :O Then he got me off the phone as quick as possible. With in minutes the owner called and said to get this right, send him back his parts and we will call it even, and he would refund all my money (DUH) Who's going to pay for the offset labor? Once they have their core in house, they are going to say its your Ford garage's fault. They charge you $100 dollars core charge for your core return, when you buy theirs. Then they charge me $200.00 for their return core charge, I don't think so! They never intended to make it right. They were going to charge my credit card and never refund my money! I'm going to be better installing a Ford steering gear box and replacing it every four years!

 

Wow, that's certainly not the customer service experience I would have expected from what has always seemed to be a reputable company.

Please update us as to how this turns out. Assuming everything is as you were told from your dealer I think you are owed at the very least an apology and a replacement steering box. This has me second guessing my thoughts on Red Head...

 

Horrible service....proper response would've been an apology and I got a new one on the way please return the defective one as soon as possible so we can inspect it to determine cause of failure as I am stunned since we never have defective units

 

Out of curiosity what broke?

 

Well Harvey (owner) at Redhead Steering Gearbox called me back today! They got steering gearbox back and he looked at it himself, even took it apart himself. He said there was nothing wrong with it :O (I knew this was what he was going to say) He said he refunded all my money (I checked credit card statement and it has not yet showed up) I personally crawled under my truck at Ford dealership. Had mechanic turn steering wheel. Shaft on top of gear box was turning and pitman arm was not moving! Go figure!!! Well she has a Ford gearbox on her and she driving and running like a scalded dog

 

I had read thru the thread due to my needing to replace my box. I am local to Redhead and they are well regarded in Seattle (they were recommended by a ford dealership parts guy and another old mechanic). I went in and bought a box this morning for my E250. I had to ask what their thoughts were on this incident. Cort, a mechanic in the shop, explained his conclusion (this is my summary from memory) was this was a 2000 box and that was a split year with 26 and 32 spline pittman shafts (different diameters). The box ordered was the smaller shaft......Maybe that is how a pittman might not turn if arm nut torque was lower.....
Not to get in the middle of this, but my impression of their shop is that it is clean, efficient and the techs working there take pride in their work. Local guys. So, my box is in, tight and works very nicely.
Don't know if this is the answer to Richards paradox, but there is not much that can disconnect the steering from pitman internally that I can see...
My $0.02...sorry Richard had to experience this, but Redhead appears to be well respected round these parts...

 

[QUOTE=moorefc;12170296] Cort, a mechanic in the shop, explained his conclusion (this is my summary from memory) was this was a 2000 box and that was a split year with 26 and 32 spline pittman shafts (different diameters). The box ordered was the smaller shaft......

The old gear box on my truck was a 32 spline. The one I ordered was a 32 spline. The Ford replacement was a 32 spline! I counted all three of them myself. They had a gear box that just got screwed up. I also took pliers when As before stated, I personally looked at the steering wheel knuckle and shaft on top of the Redhead steering gear box as the mechanic was turning the steering wheel. Both were turning! I personally crawled under the truck to check the pitman arm and it was not moving as he turned the steering wheel! I got home and turned the spline on top of the gearbox (where steering column attaches) to see for myself, power steering fluid squirted out and the spline (for the pitman arm) DID NOT MOVE! These parts are man made! Man made things will break! I just happen to be the lucky ********* that ended up with the broken part! Once again I KNEW HARVEY WOULD SAY THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT WHEN HE GOT IT BACK! Then I did not have a leg to stand on!!!

 

I've had bad parts before and it is irritating but you're getting your money back despite a difference in opinion between you and the manufacturer, you got your truck fixed with a different part and you're happy with it. Not sure what there is to be wound up about.

 

I try to treat others the way I would like to be treated. Don't lie to me! End of story and I will not post anything else on this subject. Have a nice day
Richard D. Hord

 

I am about to order a red head steering box and replace my worn one, and I really hate to see posts like this, I would like to talk to the mechanic about the steering wheel shaft to steering box stub shaft clamp bolts. That would be an interesting conversation. I make mistakes, anyone can make mistakes. What is the ratio of the worm to pitman arm shaft ?

 

Just installed a redhead on my 02 cc 4wd f350. I honestly didn't expect to see that much of a difference since my old box wasn't very loose. I was amazed at the difference. I guess my old box was really worn out. It had no play but wandered bad. It was a struggle to keep it in one lane. I did ball joints and a drag link tie rod end. I then checked the alignment suspecting a lack of caster. I did the box on a gamble primarily and also because it looked like it may have been starting to leak. The difference is huge. I didn't tell my wife about the difference and she still noticed it immediately. She was amazed it drove as well as it did. She said it was hard to drive at first because she was used to fighting it and trying to steer it ahead of time to compensate.
Overall I would say its one of the best upgrades I've done. My only concern I have is the broken sector shafts I've been reading about on the Internet with all boxes. I worry about it breaking on the freeway or similar. It seems like they break with a standard or dropped pitman arm and with or without hydraulic ram assist. Luckily it seems they usually break at low speed while turning when is when the load is at its highest. Maybe I'm just paranoid but I'm the same person who had a fifth wheel hitch break and my trailer come off going down the road. So you can appreciate my anxiety. Haha. So now that I've got that off my chest, I would say that if you're thinking of a redhead, you've got my vote!

 

Glad to hear you are liking it zae954! If anyone is thinking oh purchasing a Red Head there is a thread in the Excursion forum for a group buy.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...g-box-buy.html

 

just noticed my steering box is leaking...but i don't have the spare cash to get one at the moment ...i will def be going with red head when it is time

...on a side note..anyone know what fluid to use to top off the leaking one?