The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop steering gear oil

Members,I just checked my steering gear fluid level.....not much in there,just some kinda tan sludge/grease stuff....Don't know what the PO put in there.
Anyway, what type of steering gear oil?
Brand and wt. please......
Thanks

I used Alemite #2, but I don't beleive it's avaialble anymore. Most on here use either Penrite Steering Gear Lube or John Deere Cornhead grease. The Cornhead grease will probably be easier to find, any John Deere dealer should have it.

Its a self leveling grease.

I'll check into it...How does it come packaged? is it a thicker kind of gear oil? The stuff in there now does not look like oil,it looks like some kind of grease...tan in color.
Thanks

john deere cornhead grease comes in a tube that you put in a grease gun.

Best bet at this point is too clean out whats there now before introducing a new grease to the mess.

If you really don't have the time or know how to clean and adjust the box, and its working good with little or no slop, you can just add to it. Add a mixture of 50/50 axle grease and gear oil pre-mixed in a cup. It will end up being about as close to steering box lube as you can get. The Corn head grease is a #00 grease which is self leveling. All that means is that it will return to level as it sets, normal axle grease will stay where its pushed out of the way, the #00 grease will return to where it started from. My 1940 steering box holds one whole grease gun tube of grease. I would bet yours holds about as much or slightly more.

Gear oil in itself is to thin, and if your gear box is like about 90% out there, it will leak out. By adding some grease to it, the old seals can retain more of it.

We do it yourselfer's like to rebuild and clean stuff and steering boxes are kinda fun to work on. A off the truck cleaning and adjusting will make a tremendous different in how the truck drives.

Joe

Jimmi, that tan goop is GM steering gear lube GM part number 1051052. The last of it remaining in dealer stock was sold in 2006. Shell Oil has an exactly equivalent product called "Shell Alvania EP 1 Grease 2041SIPA".

I use the Shell product in the Vega steering box in my street rod roadster. It has the consistency of mustard, just like the GM stuff, unlike chassis grease that is more like peanut butter.

In my '36 Chevy pickup steering box I machined the sector housing for an oil seal and use gear oil as a lubricant. Because of the seal the oil stays in no problem. In fact I haven't had to add any since I made the oil seal conversion and filled it in 1974.

Thanks for the info...Any Idea where to get the Shell Product?
Thanks

Some time ago I read that CV joint grease will also work well as steering box lube.

There are over 2500 John Deere distributors/dealers in the U.S. and Canada and any one of them can get in a few tubes of the Corn Head grease with a couple day's notice. At $2.99 a tube the price is right and my AD box needed about one and a half. The easy way to fill the box is by using a cake decorating bag.

See here:

https://jdparts.deere.com/partsmkt/document/english/featbene/flashdata/JESCOCornHeadGreaseVideo.wmv

My JD dealer here said he would not order it-must purchase by the case & he won't sit on the other 11 tubes...I don't want a case of it.

I contacted my local dealer..They have 7 tubes,I'm going to pick up 2...64 if you need acouple I can get them and send them to you. Let me know ASAP, I'm going later today.

Jimmi, I got the Shell product directly from Shell. Most manufacturer's sales reps will be glad to give you a small amount of stuff as a sample if you make it clear that you are trying to find a place to buy it. If the manufacturer has no dealers who carry a product in consumer sizes they will often offer to send some out as a sample.

I have had that experience time and again in my 50 year interest in the car hobby.

The Corn Head product from John Deere does seem popular and I was unaware of it when I called Shell. Today I would simply use that.

Just reviving this thread cause it was all on topic and about locating a suitable product.

Recently rebuilt mine and came to the Fill stage.
Manual says:

My research said it was originally (1959 GMC maintenance manual specs) a 0 grade sulfur based grease.
Fine.
Whatever.
Unobtanium.
Check threads on the bolt.
I would have to order the Penwright and wait and well... my name infers I'm not gonna go that route on principle.
I looked for Corn head grease but I'm in one of the 999K locals in america without a JD dealer within 60 miles.
My local Not a JD dealer tractor repair shop said "Huh?"
"I'd have to order a case".
Somewhere I saw a chart that compared 0 and 00 grease as brown mustard and apple sauce. I figure anything but cooking oil or peanut butter will do so I started looking for 0 grade grease.
I started calling all the local FLAPS and even the CRAPS (cranky remote auto parts store) asking for "single or double ought grease" and even when I called back weeks later... they still didn't know or couldn't get what I was asking about, even when I said "steering box grease", they asked "Deltron?"(I exaggerate... a little)
So, Back on googoo I found a reference to Snapper something or other using a 00 grease so I called the LLMG (local lawn mower guy) and He said to come on down.
I went with a selection of Stens OO grease in the qt bottle.

Caso, back in the day, bout 55 years ago I was working in a
Chevrolet dealer ship. Started out as the greaser and we topped
of the steering gears with the same thing we used in the manual
transmissions and rear ends, hypoid grease.
Today I've been using the Penrite even though it's a bit pricy.
I've done slump testing on a bunch of lubricants including the
JD corn head grease, which is about the same consistency as the
Penrite.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/115320139

And as per the link that Tiny posted, it's available on line.
Lots of choices, just don't make the mistake of shooting chassis
grease in there.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL


And the sites screwed up so I can't edit my replies
anymore or post hyper links!!!!!!!!!

The other thing to look for if you can't get the JD cornhead grease is, "self leveling" grease.

How bout CV joint grease? Anyone try that?

The CV joint grease is basically the same stuff.

For information purposes (I know know nothing but specs regarding CV joint grease): what is the NLGI rating (and brand/name) for the CV grease you are referring to?

I find CV grease as being NLGI 1 or 2 (on a quick search). The Deere product is NLG 0 and the Penrite product is made to replace/service NLGI 00 and 000.

NLGI 1 is thicker than NLGI 00

Grade 0 and Grade 00 are considered to be self-levelling grease (which is required for steering boxes). Grade 1 is the consistency of tomato paste, and Grade 2 is the consistence of peanut butter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NLGI_consistency_number

I simply made my own steering box lubricant by mixing 120 weight gear oil with chassis grease. Mixed to the consistency I thought was right (self leveling). I am sure it will perform fine. Steering gear sat upright for over a year and now in the truck for 6 mos or so and no leaks (yes, I rebuilt the steering gear), so I am happy.

Don't see why that wouldn't work just as good as any as long
as you have a consistency that will flow and not cavatate.
DG

Cat (Caterpillar) has an EP5 Moly "arctic grease" that is a Moly blend that is considered a NLGI 0 grade. Might be worth looking into.

A tech tip I saw somewhere years ago said to just stuff STP in there. I am not advocating that at all.. just sayin. Jim Carter used to sell the original stuff until their stock ran out. Now I can see Daves solution would work fine.

I tried STP in the steering box in my '55 2nd series 3100. It made the steering very stiff. It's "sticky", and it eventually ran out on my driveway. John Deere Cornhead grease is the stuff to use. Its "slippery" and stays put well.

It depends on what you are looking for. The STP will not leak out. If that is your "hot button", STP is the right stuff for you!

The gear oil is what the bulletins say to use. If it leaks out you have a sealing problem. I was told by a steering gear rebuild place to use gear oil, as it has to flow good enough to lube the recirculating balls. Grease will not flow into small areas unless its very hot. Also why is this thread in the engine section?

Could you steer us to that bulletin? Is it the service bulletins
that you're referring to? I've got all of the service bulletins
and don't remember seeing that, but that's no surprise with a
memory like mine. Since this subject comes up every other week
I'd like to add that to my reference files.
Thanks,
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

If anyone is interested in seeing some of the available NLGI 0 and/or NLGI 00 self-leveling greases, just search on:

NLGI 0

NLGI 00

Or, just get John Deere Corn Head Grease "fill for life grease"

If you can pour it, it will more easily leak.

Well, since its made from good ole American Corn, I'm gonna do that! As an ex-farmer, not sure what a corn head is, but I am not going to let that get in the way of what I expect will make my steering box turn the stuff it needs to. I'm laughing my A$$ off here.. but really.. I want to party with the engineer at JD that came up with the name.

My 65 GMC was steering hard and a good friend told me he uses Justin Brothers Friction modifier in his and it really helped. So I tried it, just a little to top it off and after a week you could palm the wheel, really smooth and easy. You don't more than a couple of ounces because it is thin. We pull Mini Hot Rod Tractors and the rear end was getting to hot and the gear set only lasted about 4 outings. After a new set of gears I used about 1 pint in the rear and it dropped the temp by 25 degrees and the gears lasted the rest of the year and all of last year. Lucas oil probally has the same product, it gets used in a lot of auto trans.

Did you look at the link in my last post, Deve.

That will give an idea of what a corn head is.

Here is the most impressive corn head ever built (supposedly). Do not ask me where the grease is used in a corn head.

An ex-farmer huh!

The Corn Head

Corn head grease:
High-quality all-season grease for light- to medium-duty applications.
:Thins to gear oil when working; thickens to grease when resting.
:Factory fill for all John Deere corn heads.

Denny Graham
Deep in corn country, in Sandwich, IL

Denny, "STEER us to that bulletin." Now that is "corny". Nice work my man, nice work.

Well, I am not from Nebraska! We do Wheat in these here parts! And I never said I was good at it. lol

PENRITE lubricants sells a steering box lube, it is a 600w "oil" more like a grease. I have it all my old trucks.

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/pis_pdfs/PI_Steering%20Box%20Lube.pdf

John G

And, on this webpage, Penrite lists it as a 1200W self-levelling grease rated at NLGI 00.

Looks like we've come full circle on this one guys,
we're back to page 2 with the Pendrite.
DG

Well this pot has been thoroughly stirred again

But it sounds like the Stens 00 I found at the lawnmower shop is no different than the Penrite or JD Cornhead when the gear turns...
And from looking at the list of equipment makers who use it for what seems a variety similar gearbox situations it will work just fine.

But for those who may be concerned about small detail things... it is green.

Model # 770-123
Stens Replacement "00" Grease / Snapper 7061017
"00" Grease / Snapper 7061017 Pack Size:1 SNAPPER 1-1050, SNAPPER 61017, SNAPPER 7061017 DEALER CHOICE 12100, ESF 159-021, FOLEY/BELSAW 5978509, FOLEY/PLP 159-021, GREEN LINE 10600, GREEN MEADOW 00GR12B, J. THOMAS 12100, LASER L6316, LASER 97526, MOW MORE MMOG32, OREGON 49-010, OREGON 54-029, PRIME LINE 7-06612, ROTARY 9089, SUNBELT SB-19088, SUNBELT SB-9089, SUNBELT B1SB19088, SUNBELT B1SB9089 Used in transmissions, gear boxes, and disc drives that specifically call for a grease of this consistency ,