OLdGreenPaint

So with car on Jack stands I can see that the steering box pitman does not move immediately when the steering wheel is moved. Researching indicates that at minimum I need to remove the power steering gearbox to adjust it. So I bought a rebuilt one, as the seals are old and leaking anyway. And I don’t care to get that deep into a self performed rebuild of the gearbox.

So, those of you that have done this, what tips do you have to share? FSM has a short list to pull the box, but I so far have not found the re install procedure in the FSM. Looks like the pitman will only fit on the shaft one way? But the flex connector splines would appear to be able to be installed in any position?

70sgeek

Not sure I get all of what you're asking but the steering box removal process is pretty simple - you need to remove the pitman arm from the bottom spline shaft once the large nut is removed and the box is loose from its mounting bolts - once you've cleared the box of its hoses and steering shaft connection, undo its frame mounting bolts and you should be able to remove the box. If you remove the front sway bar first, it should be easily dropped (and installed upwards) from the bottom of the car.

Make sure the steering wheel is locked in a straight position to ensure ease of aligning your pitman arm with the new box. When installing the new box, just install the frame mounting bolts lightly snug to hold the box in place until you get your connections back on it (i.e. hoses, pitman arm, etc). Then tighten the frame bolts last once all back together.

For the pitman arm, I've only ever had to remove the big end from the box (via pickle fork), I've never had to also detach it from the center link. You just swing it out of the way once it's loose. What I've done for that is just loosen the box mounting bolts to where you can remove them by hand when you're ready to lift the box off the arm.

Most rag joints I've seen (good ones at least) are splined to match the steering box input shaft, so they can be oriented only 1 correct way - if you're unclear on that, photograph the orientation of your current rag joint (or better yet, try to leave it on the old box that you remove) to match the new one up to your replacement box.

Others will offer additional info I'm sure but the above is generally how I've attacked this project on the occasions needed.