Thanks for the replies Joe. I'm thinking of removing the steering assembly and take off the side cover gasket and replace it with the gear oil resistant sealer that I used on the U-joint cover ball threaded collar. A little while back I posted on this forum the use of it and I'll add the picture here. Since I keep my truck as close to original I'll keep the splash pans in place but the heat wrap sounds like an idea that would work and I could remove it for AACA shows. Good information on the wheel bearing grease as to why it shouldn't be used; somewhere in a post someone mentioned a grease available from Tractor Supply that is similar to JD cornhead grease.
