Hello All, I’ve got an 86’ XLT Lariat standard cab,LWB, auto w/AOD, 302 that has the original steering gearbox in it. I’ve had around 3” to 4”+ of play in the steering wheel for a while now. I’ve adjusted the set screw on top of the gearbox to its maximum setting & it helped, but it’s still has too much play for my liking. From everything I’ve read hear on the subject, I suspect the box is shot. Has anyone here bought a Redtop or Bluetop steering gearbox & were you pleased with the new one? How exactly does the purchase process work? Do I send my OG box to be remanufactured? If so, how expensive is the shipping to & from? Is it worth it? Will it outlive a remanufactured one? I know this is a lot of questions. It just seems like a ton of extra work/cost & time spent when I can get a remanufactured one locally for way less. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

You know what that say right?
You get what you pay for.
I have not replaced my box but from what I have seen posted I would not even think about a reman. Box unless I needed the truck like yesterday and the red or blue could not come thru in the time frame I needed.
Dave - - - -

 

anxious to hear, as I have rebuilt my entire front end, and new shocks, yet my steering box has too much wear and I want to know all these details as well!

 

I have never had one personally. My buddy put a Red-head (I think that might be the brand you're talking about) on a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 along with all new everything else on the steering (and engine, transmission, etc etc). He was very happy with the Red-head. He's trying to tell me to get one for my 83 F-100 (I am in the same boat as you with slop). I have a really hard time spending that $$$ on a gear box.

Otoh my cousin that does all manner of automotive work told me to pick up a Napa and not bother with the O'Reilly, AutoZone, Advance, etc. brands.

I'm probably going to do the Napa. This truck needs too much other stuff for me to want to drop twice the cost of a Napa gear box on a Red-Head.

 

I suspect any reman being from same place (Cardone), which are the ones people say do not have the bushings or bearings or whatever it is machine and pressed in that make the more expensive boxes "slop" free? I think??

 

I've only heard good things about Redtop steering gears. If you're going to order one you should consider rebuilding your steering components as well, if you haven't already. Check it out!

Truck Parts and Truck Accessories

 

The Ford/Saginaw P/S gearbox has a flaw, there are no bearings on the sector shaft, it rides directly on the housing. So, before too long fluid begins leaking from the sector shaft seal.

Red Head takes the housing, machines it to install the needle bearings that FoMoCo omitted...on purpose, so they could sell a gazillion sector shaft seal kits.

Auto parts store so called "rebuilt" steering gears are nothing more than resealed gearboxes.

redheadsteeringgears.com

 

Interesting. Sounds like a Napa Gear box is no different than the others then...if it hasn't been rebored and bearings/bushings added, I can't see it being any better. So are you saying we should definitely be spending the extra $100 on the Redhead unit?

 

I used a reman box from the local store and had a good experience, I am still using it years later. I have gotten bad parts from the local stores, I think we all have at one time or another. Like everything else you buy there, it can be hit or miss, so you can roll the dice like I did, and come out of there with a good box for about $150.

 

Regarding local bought models, check the availability before committing to doing it one way or the other. Usually there is a hefty core charge, and if the rebuilt box is in stock and ready to go, you're good. But if it will take a few weeks, the temptation is to turn in your old one right away so you don't have to pay the hefty core charge up front. I would recommend against getting rid of the old one until you're sure the new one is of good quality and working.
For many of the Ford boxes, this could mean several hundred dollars out of pocket for awhile.
Our old EB boxes were like gold. The rebuilt one cost $150 but the core charge was $750 bucks! They sure wanted those things back!

I realize that the highly regarded houses like Redhead mentioned and a few others will take awhile to get your box back too, but with a parts store rebuilder you don't really have control over where it goes and who gets it. Could take several weeks then, if you're not lucky.

Paul

 

I just installed a new RedHead Steering Gear last weekend (1984 F150 2wd), and I'm pretty happy with it. I actually bought it late last year when they had a sale on...either Thanksgiving or at Christmas, I can't remember. I had installed TWO Napa reman boxes in a row and they were both really awful. The guy at Napa made a funny comment...he said "sometimes it takes a couple tries to get a good one". As NumberDummy mentioned above...since the housing actually wears in them, it can make a difference whether the reman box you buy has 100k miles on it or 300k miles on it.

I had done everything else beforehand. All new ball joints, tie rods and tie-rod ends, radius arms, radius arm bushings, axle beam bushings, rebuilt steering column, alignment, etc, etc. The front end was tight as a drum and the slop was visibly IN the steering boxes.

The steering is pretty tight now and is noticeably better. I was initially expecting it to be even better than it was...but I think that's because in my mind I was expecting it to steer like a new truck....and not a "new" 1984 truck...lol. Point is...with a new RedHead box expect it to steer like a new 1980's truck and not a new 2019 truck.

In any case, I'm really happy with it now, and I'm very happy I installed it. The truck is much nicer to drive now. I too had a hard time spending that much money, but I think it was worth it.

Just to note, it was my original intention to try a BlueTop box...(they have good reviews too), but in 2018 the couple times they had sales on, they didn't have any of the Ford boxes in-stock. RedHead seems to always have them on the shelf ready to go.

As for the core charge...make sure you send back an original Ford box. I believe there is some wording there that if you previously installed a reman box (Some are Chinese apparently), they will not rebuild them, so you will be wasting your shipping money.

 

Here are some links:

https://redheadsteeringgears.com/

https://www.bluetopsteeringgears.com/

I didn't realize these were from separate vendors.

BTW, what about the manual steering gears? Do those gear boxes lack the bearings? Was manual steering only offered on the 1/2 ton from 1980-1986? I had considered changing my truck to Armstrong steering but...

 

You can actually still buy new aftermarket manual boxes...but I thought they were only available in 1980-1981? I think power steering became standard after that. Maybe NumberDummy can confirm if they were available until '86 or not.

 

Inquiring minds need to know!

 

Maybe the manual steering and manual brakes ended with the end of the F100, but I thought it was before that.