As the worm turns

[halboyles]

As a follow-up to the rebuilt steering box discussion I bought one of the boxes from an eBay vendor.  I used "carsteering" but there are others that appear to sell the exact same box such as "greatautoparts" and "buyautoparts".  The price from the first two vendors is still $114 but for "buyautoparts" it is the usual price on eBay of $314.  I am assuming that there are probably only one or two factories that rebuild these units just like most rebuilt components for automobiles.

 

I really wanted to see what the guts looked like so I took it apart.  I left the steering gear in place but removed the worm gear.  The results are shown below.  

 

The gears, bearings and bearing races all looked unused to my untrained eye.  The worm gear itself showed no galling and, indeed, I couldn't even see any tracks on the gear.  The worm gear was shimmed with three different thickness shims suggesting that it had been measured though the shims appeared to be reused ones.  One of the shims was 0.05mm which is not an OEM spec shim according to the Parts Manual.  The bolts were coated with some kind of thread-lock but it didn't appear as dark red as the Loctite version.  The grease inside looked like Mobile 1 synthetic but it was slightly thinner and the strong odor was that of gear lube like that used in transmissions and differentials.  The action of the unit was very smooth and could be turned by hand without holding the box as seen in the video.  There was no play in the worm or steering gear.

 

I did have to contact the vendor because they hadn't attached a return label to the order confirmation.  I called their 800 number and in less than a minute I was speaking to a real person who promptly emailed me a return label.  I'll be sending out the core today and will let you know how long the $200 core charge refund takes to process.

 

I'm going to install this on our '76 DD and take it out in about a year to check on the gears.  The vendor offers a one-year warranty.

 

I've attached a pic of a seriously galled worm gear for comparison.

 

 

[Highnote1]

Per your post, I bought one of these with the eBay Father’s Day coupon. Could not pass up the 92.00 price. The dirtiest place in my engine compartment is where the box lives...it was old and leaky!

 

It is is very tight at this point compared to what I took off? Is this normal? I have not played with the adjustment yet. Is that for slop or tightness?

 

Also, does it need oil or is the grease in there enough? I saw posts where some said grease was better than oil for leaks. Am I good with what it came with?

['76mintgrün'02]

It may just be the angle of the photo, but it does not look like there is much adjustment left.

How many threads above the nut?

[Highnote1]

On mine, there are a lot of threads up above nut. I have not really messed with it yet. 

[halboyles]

21 minutes ago, '76mintgrun'02 said:

How many threads above the nut?

Oops!  Forgot to include that pic.  It appears there are about 1 1/2 threads left above the top.  Looking at the boxes I have that I think haven't been adjusted they have about 3 threads.  It makes you wonder if the rebuilder didn't somehow machine down the worm gear to make it work.

[halboyles]

1 hour ago, Highnote1 said:

I have not played with the adjustment yet. Is that for slop or tightness?

 

Turning that screw pushes the steering gear roller down into the worm gear so it seems to make the steering effort greater.  It might also reduce some slop but most slop is usually caused by all the other joints attached to the steering box.  

 

1 hour ago, Highnote1 said:

some said grease was better than oil for leaks. Am I good with what it came with?

 

There has been some discussion about this but I don't know if there is a definitive answer as to whether this "gear lube grease" or liquid gear lube is better in the long run.  I'm going to leave the grease in there for now.  

[jp5Touring]

Is that a divot or a weld in the worm gear part ? Would that be a concern? Or is that typical ?

[Highnote1]

That was just showing what wear looks like on a non rebuilt one. The others are the actual one he and I recently purchased. 

[halboyles]

7 minutes ago, jp5Touring said:

Is that a divot or a weld in the worm gear part ?

 

If you are referring to this photo, that is the typical galling that occurs on the worm gear and makes steering the car a very bad experience.  Folks who have this problem tend to tighten the screw on top of the box which only exacerbates the grinding, hastening the demise of the steering box.  Because the worm gear is NLA, the only solutions (so far) are to find a good used box or buy a rebuilt one.

[PaulTWinterton]

17 minutes ago, jp5Touring said:

Is that a divot or a weld in the worm gear part ?

 

If you're referring to the pic after the video, I believe that's Harboyles' dead worm gear for comparison.  

['76mintgrün'02]

It seems like oil would provide better lubrication than grease, which would tend to  get squished out of the places it is needed most.

 

My box was a leaker, but has not dripped a drop, since replacing the seals.

I'd be washing that stinky grease out of there and pouring oil in... if'n it was mine.

 

edit:  unless that'd void the one year warranty.  then I might reconsider.

Tom

Edited June 21, 2018 by '76mintgrun'02

[jp5Touring]

Thanks, at first I thought that was a pic of rebuilt one. Thought wth.

[Dudeland]

I am about to replace my center link and I feel like I will be addressing this shortly as well.    Thanks so much for performing the autopsy on the new box. It answers a lot of questions. 

 

Invariably there will be people that say that you got lucky on this one. Steering boxes along with most suspension parts need to get looked at on a periodic basis so that they can be replaced before failure. 

[tzei]

4 hours ago, halboyles said:

Because the worm gear is NLA, the only solutions (so far) are to find a good used box or buy a rebuilt one.

Old Volvo's (140 series) use ZF steering boxes (short worm axle -type) too. Maybe not a direct bolt on but maybe internals could be used?

[AceAndrew]

9 hours ago, Highnote1 said:

 

Also, does it need oil or is the grease in there enough? I saw posts where some said grease was better than oil for leaks. Am I good with what it came with?

 

I would not do JUST grease.  Grease+a compatible oil would be the best of both worlds.