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?

 

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.

 

You reverse the removal procedure to install. Remove the nut on the pitman shaft before unbolting the box from the frame. Take the new box and turn it lock-to-lock, then come back exactly half way. This ensures the box is centered. Now install the pitman shaft (the wide splines are 90 deg apart, so it can go on one of four ways). Note the required torque for the pitman shaft nut.

 

I just finished the job today. Your advice was good advice, and I thank you for it! I think that I had overthought it and made it more complicated than need be. Once I got into it, I could see that GM made it pretty idiot proof. As you said, there is only one way to assemble the flex connector. Both on the input shaft of the box, and also to the steering shaft piece of the connector. There are actually different sized bolts that make it impossible to get the flex connector 180 out of phase. The part that mounts on gearbox input shaft has a flat machined on the shaft that matches up with a flat on the flex connector. I was able to do the remove and replace without messing with sway bar. Other cars, maybe you would have to remove for access. Some pics for others to better understand it.

Pitman pulled off with a puller rented from Oriley. Swung out of the way


Flex connector that mates with gearbox input shaft. The machined flat clocks the rotational position perfectly.



The flat area on the input shaft.



The bolt that clamps flex connector to input shaft has a 7/16” 12 point head on it. So you have to have available a 12 point socket to remove it.





Thanks Joe. Good advice on making sure the box is centered. To do this I was able to use the box end of a 3/4” wrench. My box had 4 1/4 turns, lock to lock. So I went to one extreme and backed it off 2 1/8 turns. Then, as you said, with wheels pointing straight ahead the Pitman would only fit one of the four ways.

Verifying that the box is centered.




Pics shows the spline wide area. There is one of these wider areas every 90 degrees.


The nut on the Pitman is a 1 5/16” nut. So a strange size. I cranked it down with a Crescent wrench for now, and will buy the socket soon to finish the job. Installed new hoses, and the pump and res took a full quart to fill it.

 

I finished up this work by doing a temporary Bubba type front end toe in adjustment. Four heavy concrete blocks and parallel string lines. Found center of car, front and back. Snapped a chalk line on the floor. Careful measurements from centerline to string lines to verify everything is parallel to centerline. I found left front wheel was badly toed in. Tie rod had obviously had someone messin with it recently as it was easily moved once the clamp bolts were loosened. Turned the tie rod one full turn outward. That centered the steering wheel, and the car now drives quite a bit better. That will work for now. New wheels and tires next year, and a full alignment at that time.