Inliners International Forums General Discussion Drive Train Steering Box Restoration

I'm going to help a friend rebuild a leaking steering box on his 1954 GMC 3/4 ton pickup truck. He's removed the box and column and is buying a rebuild kit. I've looked through the maitenance manual and the work seems pretty straight forward. Do any of you have any suggestions, comments, cautions, etc. you could share before we jump in and get dirty? Do you have any other rebuild instructions you could share?

I'm aware there is a specific GM lubricant for the steering box, do you happen to know what it's name / id number is? Any suggestions on buying parts to replace worn units, will we need to buy replacement bearings?

All help appreciated, Thanks,

Ted

#4730

Haven't done a steering box rebuild. Have seen the steering box lube question many times on stovebolt. The GM lube is no longer available, so an alternative needs to be found, and they range between mix your own to off the shelf. The off the shelf lube usually recommended is John Deere cornhead grease. For additional information do a search on stovebolt.com using the google option.

Larry

Snapper lawn mower differential #00 lubricant works just fine !!!

Though written specifically for Ford boxes, there is a lot of info on the stangerssite.com web site.

I believe there is no difference between the 1/2 and 3/4t boxes. I've rebuilt two 1/2 ton boxes. It's fairly straight forward with the exception of removing a few of the bushings which can be a pain. The Stovebolt website will provide you with a bunch of resources. If the bushings look ok, I'd skip them. It's typically the bearings and gunk buildup that makes them steer hard. Once they are rebuilt, there's no need for power steering. Seriously. Here's a pic of the suburban box tore down

http://gallery.mac.com/patrick.plummer#100287/DSCN1460&bgcolor=black

http://gallery.mac.com/patrick.plummer#100287/DSCN1457&bgcolor=black


And the pooched bearing
http://gallery.mac.com/patrick.plummer#100287/DSCN1462&bgcolor=black


Here is a copy of the 1954 shop manual for procedures here:

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1954truck/54ctsm0901.html


As for replacment parts and a rebuild kit, Patrick's in Arizona seemed to be the cheapest for my latest rebuild if I recall. I think that answered all your questions.

The rebuild went wery well, we spend about 5 hours - cleaning everything as we went and removed the bearings to look at them. It was as if the bearings and shaft were brand new. We chose to leave the bushings in place.

It took a full tube of GM chassis lube to refill the box and it works great.

Thank you all for your help, Ted