Steering Box

N

nate chase

New member
Apr 26, 1999
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Just picked up the special order NAPA steering box (P/N 27-7519) today. Also
went out and got a set of cheapy LARGE impact sockets (for the 1-5/16"
mentioned earlier) so I can get the Pitman Arm nut off.

Anyone got any suggestions, tips, tricks, caveats, gotchas, etc on removal
and replacement of the box? I plan on doing it this weekend along with
replacing the torn steering knuckle rubber boot. Looks simple enough and the
manual doesn't go into much detail on either one so I doubt it's too tough
but if you've done one any gotchas would be appreciated.

Nate '75GB Omaha
 
I was going to put on my new steering box today but my boot for the
steering knuckle didn't show from Golby. I thought I could get the knuckle
off w/o pulling the gear box and if so I would pull the box and replace to
boot later. No luck, not enough room to slip off the knuckle w/o the box
coming off first. Manuals weren't a big help so I decided I wasn't going to
do it twice.
OK, I could at least get the pitman arm loose and be one step closer. Well
to make a long story short I spent 3 hours, 1/2 can of penetrating oil and
bent my good 6" 3 jaw puller all to hell! And the damn arm still didn't come
off.
We in Omaha are blessed with a store called Princess Auto. It's where I
got the set of impact sockets for the 1-5/16" nut on the Pitman Arm. They
have just about anything you can imagine for just about anything (not
usually Sears quality stuff but good enough for most average jobs)! I looked
in their catalog and sure enough PITMAN ARM PULLER P/N 2990068 for $9.99.
Ran over and got one. Neat little unit, fit perfectly. Cranked it down HARD,
couple of sharp raps (on top of the big part of the arm where it contacts
the splines) and "POP", I had it off.
Moral of this story is call 1-888-340-4907 and get their catalog. It's
another one to have on hand like Outwater Plastics (1-800-OUTWATER). You may
only need something there once but I doubt you'll be disappointed if you
have it in your reference library or arsenal of catalogs.

Nate '75GB Omaha
 
The slip shaft may be frozen not allowing the splined shaft enough room to
come off the steer column. This is a common situation. When we find this,
we use a rubber hammer and force the slip shaft down. When the shaft is
out, we seperate the slip shaft and clean it up and make it slide smoothly.

The slip shaft must be free or you will have a binding in the assembly
which will make smooth steering difficult.

Hope this helps, if I can be of further, please call.

Jim Bounds
- ----------------------

>

>
>steering knuckle didn't show from Golby. I thought I could get the knuckle
>off w/o pulling the gear box and if so I would pull the box and replace to
>boot later. No luck, not enough room to slip off the knuckle w/o the box
>coming off first. >>
>
>It is easy to replace. Just take out the bolts holding the coupler together
>and the shaft will pull right out. I did mine about a year ago this way. I
>think that there was a write up in Cinnabar's paper. I can look it up if
you
>need more details.
>
>Emery Stora
>77 Kingsley
>Santa Fe, NM
>
>
Jim Bounds/Co-op Motor Works Orlando www.gmccoop.com
 
Got the NAPA steering box changed out today. Also my torn CV boot is
replaced on the steering shaft and all back together and tested. All seems
to be fine so far. No leaks, no runs, no errors! Did notice my steering
wheel is off a bit now but I can live with that till I get it aligned. I
found out that the blue steering shaft should "float" in it's housing but
mine was stuck tight as h---. Jim Bounds set me straight and after a bit of
infield modification and preventivie maintenance now it's sliding slicker
than snot. I also had to purchase a set of crows feet wrenches so as not to
round off the hose line fittings to the pump. Funny, I've never needed them
after 30 years of working on Harleys!

Man, this sure did tighten up the steering A LOT! Seems the wiggle waggle
is now about minimized and I can proceed to the next item on the list...
working on the dash air or installing the new day/night shades I got a while
back... decisions, decisions!!!

Welp I do believe I deserve a Zima or two right about now... Ahhhh.

Nate '75GB Omaha
 
Just had my steering aligned at Cinnabar, 6 wheel alignment, new steering
knuckle, and a gear box. All that for only $1456.02. My alignment settings
are : Lcamber +1/2 Rcamber +3/8 Caster 2pos both sides Toe out 3/8. LRear
camber both sides +1/8 RRear 0, +1/8 The only problem is there is no caster
stagger (different caster settings left to right) which allows the coach to
follow the wheel with the least positive caster setting. She is still a
little road wild, but nothing as bad as it was. I was told that the steering
gear box was replaced because of "liabilities", rather than a minor
adjustment. This is know as the "5:00 surprize" when your bill is
significantly larger than first quoted verbally. My feelings are that the
knuckle was the major problem, since like yours was frozen on the splines
and caused a binding over center. Being frozen the gear box had to be
removed to replace the shaft, so a new gear box was installed too. Now I'm
gonna go count $3 shims on my rears to make sure they are all there. Since
I've gotten this motorhome, I haven't had as much time for my Harley. Have
you found that to be the case ? So what's up with that ? '73 Needs to be
Painted Desert
- ----- Original Message -----
From: Nate Chase
To: GMC
Sent: Saturday, July 17, 1999 4:33 PM
Subject: GMC: Steering Box

> Got the NAPA steering box changed out today. Also my torn CV boot is
> replaced on the steering shaft and all back together and tested. All seems
> to be fine so far. No leaks, no runs, no errors! Did notice my steering
> wheel is off a bit now but I can live with that till I get it aligned. I
> found out that the blue steering shaft should "float" in it's housing but
> mine was stuck tight as h---. Jim Bounds set me straight and after a bit
of
> infield modification and preventivie maintenance now it's sliding slicker
> than snot. I also had to purchase a set of crows feet wrenches so as not
to
> round off the hose line fittings to the pump. Funny, I've never needed
them
> after 30 years of working on Harleys!
>
> Man, this sure did tighten up the steering A LOT! Seems the wiggle waggle
> is now about minimized and I can proceed to the next item on the list...
> working on the dash air or installing the new day/night shades I got a
while
> back... decisions, decisions!!!
>
> Welp I do believe I deserve a Zima or two right about now... Ahhhh.
>
> Nate '75GB Omaha
>
 
Wow that seems like an awful lot of labor, considering what a knuckle and
steering box cost
?

>Just had my steering aligned at Cinnabar, 6 wheel alignment, new steering
>knuckle, and a gear box. All that for only $1456.02. My alignment settings
>are : Lcamber +1/2 Rcamber +3/8 Caster 2pos both sides Toe out 3/8. LRear
>camber both sides +1/8 RRear 0, +1/8 The only problem is there is no caster
>stagger (different caster settings left to right) which allows the coach to
>follow the wheel with the least positive caster setting. She is still a
>little road wild, but nothing as bad as it was. I was told that the steering
>gear box was replaced because of "liabilities", rather than a minor
>adjustment. This is know as the "5:00 surprize" when your bill is
>significantly larger than first quoted verbally. My feelings are that the
>knuckle was the major problem, since like yours was frozen on the splines
>and caused a binding over center. Being frozen the gear box had to be
>removed to replace the shaft, so a new gear box was installed too. Now I'm
>gonna go count $3 shims on my rears to make sure they are all there. Since
>I've gotten this motorhome, I haven't had as much time for my Harley. Have
>you found that to be the case ? So what's up with that ? '73 Needs to be
>Painted Desert
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Nate Chase
>To: GMC
>Sent: Saturday, July 17, 1999 4:33 PM
>Subject: GMC: Steering Box
>
>
>> Got the NAPA steering box changed out today. Also my torn CV boot is
>> replaced on the steering shaft and all back together and tested. All seems
>> to be fine so far. No leaks, no runs, no errors! Did notice my steering
>> wheel is off a bit now but I can live with that till I get it aligned. I
>> found out that the blue steering shaft should "float" in it's housing but
>> mine was stuck tight as h---. Jim Bounds set me straight and after a bit
>of
>> infield modification and preventivie maintenance now it's sliding slicker
>> than snot. I also had to purchase a set of crows feet wrenches so as not
>to
>> round off the hose line fittings to the pump. Funny, I've never needed
>them
>> after 30 years of working on Harleys!
>>
>> Man, this sure did tighten up the steering A LOT! Seems the wiggle waggle
>> is now about minimized and I can proceed to the next item on the list...
>> working on the dash air or installing the new day/night shades I got a
>while
>> back... decisions, decisions!!!
>>
>> Welp I do believe I deserve a Zima or two right about now... Ahhhh.
>>
>> Nate '75GB Omaha
>>
>
>
>
>
>
 
Nate, glad you got good results from the gearbox like I did. Sorry, I
forgot to mention the line wrench. I too noted some misalignment in
the steering wheel due to the tighter box but enjoy the better
steering.

Bill
'74 Glacier ..... from the digest ...
>>-------------
Quote from Nate Chase:
Got the NAPA steering box changed out today. Also my torn CV boot is
replaced on the steering shaft and all back together and tested. All
seems to be fine so far. No leaks, no runs, no errors! Did notice my
steering
wheel is off a bit now but I can live with that till I get it
aligned....
>>
_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
 
>From: "JLGreen"
>Subject: Re: GMC: Steering Box
>
>Just had my steering aligned at Cinnabar, 6 wheel alignment, new steering
>knuckle, and a gear box. All that for only $1456.02.

Wow! My $175 NAPA gearbox and $10 knuckle boot sounds pretty good now!!!
That reminds me I've gotta go get my $166 core charge back... hmmm, fun
money now.

>She is still a little road wild, but nothing as bad as it was.

Mine is 100% better now with the new steering box and non-sticking steering
shaft. I can drive now with two fingers instead of two hands. My box old was
really bad. The power steering fluid was clear (new) going into the pump but
like coffee coming out of the lines (old) at the box!

>I was told that the steering
>gear box was replaced because of "liabilities", rather than a minor
>adjustment. This is know as the "5:00 surprise" when your bill is
>significantly larger than first quoted verbally. My feelings are that the
>knuckle was the major problem, since like yours was frozen on the splines
>and caused a binding over center. Being frozen the gear box had to be
>removed to replace the shaft, so a new gear box was installed too. Now I'm
>gonna go count $3 shims on my rears to make sure they are all there.

I hate those deals too. Got an axle CV boot replaced on my coach after I
first got it (here in Omaha) and they quoted $120 and the bill was $220 when
I picked it up! Geez!!! I decided right then and there if at all possible
I'll buy the tools and do the work myself!

>Since I've gotten this motorhome, I haven't had as much time for my Harley.
Have
>you found that to be the case ? So what's up with that ? '73 Needs to
be
>Painted Desert.

Same here. I did go for a couple of short rides this weekend (to get tools
no less) so I killed two birds with one stone and had fun doing it! If the
coach gets too much a quick ride is a good way to blow off the cobwebs...
John Nepper says it rattle your brains... but that's only if you fall down!
8-)

Hang in there...

Nate '75GB Omaha
 
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