Where's the best place to get a steering gear box rebuilt? (west coast)

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Doug The Dog

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1973 Convertible, 351CJ, 5 Speed. Currently being restored. Projected finish date is some day.....
I've got a variable ratio gear box that I would like to have rebuilt. It doesn't have any play in it, but it's 40 years old and I would like to freshen it up. Any suggestions???? Thanks!

 
if it doesn't have any play then do not send it to anyone! If it aint broke...then dont fix it. you send it out, you will not get the same one back. I only say this from experience. If you are dying to mess with the steering then do something that is a good maint. practice; try replacing the power steering hoses, and possibly the pump seals. Also you can put a filter in one of the hoses. That is plenty of work and could prevent a mess somewhere down the road. fresh clean fluid helps keep all our old parts working (Kentucky for me personally) and you can add a factory style cooler...and replace the rag joint with the readily available stiffer synthetic joint, and check your pitman arm for solid installation...same for the idler arm. maybe some new bushings there?...and when all of that is done if you still want to mess with the steering box you can loosen the nut, turn it to tight and then back it odd 1/4 turn and then tighten the nut again. which is probably exactly where it is now. But the in-line cooler is awesome. do that!

 
Those are some great options. Thanks! Gonna send it out tomorrow!

 
NO if you send in a 4 , you hope to get a 3 back :)
If that were so, my Lincoln Continentals (which use the same exact box) wouldn't begin their turn 10 blocks ahead of where I spun the steering wheel.

-Kurt

 
I have had several steering gears rebuilt by Redhead steering gears. They do a terrific job.

Go to their website and check out their re-manufacture process. Here is a quote from their site "Probably the most unique and important thing we do is custom fit every single worm and piston assembly with new precision fit steel balls. This is a process not matched by any other company in the industry. This process is very important. The machining tolerances of the original manufacturing leave a small and varying amount of play that can be corrected in no other way."

They had great turnaround time, and were a pleasure to deal with.

http://www.redheadsteeringgears.com/

 
That's good to hear you had a good experience with redhead. I've heard of them, and they're local. Probably where I will send mine.
That is where I will send any of mine in the future. It made all the difference in the world on my 75 F100 4x4. My brother in law also got one rebuild for his 97 F250, and my dad had one rebuilt for his Kenworth. Great group of guys and quality work.

 
If you want something better then stock, faster, more feel and built to your spec. Lee Power Steering

http://lee-powersteering.com/

I had a 12:1 box built for me by them years ago. I got a lead to them when there wasn't any sort of option for rack and pinion on my street and track car. Basically you get a stock box that is rebuilt with Saginaw Corvette or aftermarket guts so you get a much tighter feeling box with more feedback and less overboosting. Not the zero feel 1 finger 70's Ford vague steering.

 
If you want something better then stock, faster, more feel and built to your spec. Lee Power Steering

http://lee-powersteering.com/

I had a 12:1 box built for me by them years ago. I got a lead to them when there wasn't any sort of option for rack and pinion on my street and track car. Basically you get a stock box that is rebuilt with Saginaw Corvette or aftermarket guts so you get a much tighter feeling box with more feedback and less overboosting. Not the zero feel 1 finger 70's Ford vague steering.
I wound up sending mine to Lee's. I was very impressed with their customer service.

 
If you want something better then stock, faster, more feel and built to your spec.  Lee Power Steering

http://lee-powersteering.com/

I had a 12:1 box built for me by them years ago.  I got a lead to them when there wasn't any sort of option for rack and pinion on my street and track car.  Basically you get a stock box that is rebuilt with Saginaw Corvette or aftermarket guts so you get a much tighter feeling box with more feedback and less overboosting.  Not the zero feel 1 finger 70's Ford vague steering.
I wound up sending mine to Lee's. I was very impressed with their customer service.
They have a new website.  

https://leepowersteering.com/

 
I didnt know Lee was back in business. They had disappear for a while. My experience with them was not that good. Good job on the box so far, but the pump statarted leaking after a few months. It just happens that the cover was distorted so i had to replace the cover. They should have noted that and let me know. I kept the pump mechanism because it has been revalved and only replaced the cover. After a year or so of working fine the pump started making noises and spitting fluid. I tried many things to no avail. I ended up replacing it with a Saginaw.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 
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