how hard is it to replace the steering gear box? is this something i can do in a couple of hours, or is this goin to be all day job?

 

It's not hard if you know what you're doing under the hood of a car. You need a pickle fork to pop the Pitman arm off the center link, and also a general purpose puller to get the pitman arm off the steering gear. You should be able to do it in a couple hours your first time.

1. Get the front of the car up on ramps or jack stands (I strongly prefer ramps, they just seem safer).

2. Remove the bolt that clamps the steering shaft around the input shaft then slide the shaft upwards and off the splines of the steering box (steering column is collapsible).

3. Disconnect power steering lines (fluid will come out, use a catch can)

4. Loosen the 3 large bolts that hold the steering box to the frame.

5. Remove the pitman arm to center link nut, then use a pick fork to pop the arm off the tapered shaft.

6. Remove the 3 bolts that you already loosened.

7. Carefully extract the steering box out from under the car. Be careful you don't drop it on your face, it's very heavy.

8. Remove the pitman arm nut off the steering output shaft and pop the pitman arm off the shaft with a puller. This was VERY hard for me, I had to park another car right on top of the steering box and use a puller w/ 6 foot cheater bar to get it off and when it broke loose, the puller and arm shot about 15 feet into my neighbors yard. That thing is ON THERE. For this reason some people like to take this arm off with the steering box still bolted to the car but I don't like torquing on a car that's been raised up like that. The choice is yours. You can also leave the pitman arm attached to the center link so you wouldn't need a pickle fork, but this would require that you take the pitman arm off the steering box output shaft with the box still bolted to the car (don't loosen the 3 bolts before you do this).

Reinstall is the reverse. You will have to bleed the system which involve hanging the front wheels and moving the wheel lock-to-lock about 20 times with the engine off (refilling the reservoir as needed) then again with the engine on (you'll need a helper to sit in the car).

 

And go to AZ (or one of the others) and pick up an in-line filter for the fluid return line. Cost about $3 and is CHEAP insurance for your new box.

Soak the pitman shaft nut in pb blaster for a while before tackling it. You may have to purchase a proper size wrench or socket to fit it. 1-5/16" for mine. You can 'rent' the pitman arm puller from AZ while you're there.

 

While the box is off, you might want to consider reinforcing the subframe rail where the box mounts. Don't be too surprised to see torn metal there when you get the old box off.

 

cool thanks, doesnt sound 2 bad of a job. should i mark the steering column before i take it off, or will it only go on one way.

 

Its pretty straight forward, but it can take a lot of force to seperate the pitman arm from the box after its been on there for 20+ years. I remember having to use a heavy duty puller for a truck and a breaker bar with a pipe for extra leverage to get it off. You might be able to get away with the cheap one from AZ or advance. Just remember to wear safety glasses in case it breaks.

You might also be able to save time by just unbolting the idler arm from the sub-frame instead of seperating the pitman arm from the center link. Once this is done, the entire assembly will just fall away from the steering box once you seperate the pitman arm.

 

I don't see the advantage here over just popping the pitman arm off the center link.

 

I've never done either. Once the pitman arm's loose from the box and the box is unbolted, you can just lift it (the box) and swing the pitman arm out of the way.

 

If i get a reman box, how do i know which angle to mount the pitman (i dont believe its made to only go on one way)?

install box, then install pitman and this should be correctly aligned?