The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 55.2 Steering box help

Finally got my 55.2 on the road. After 30 miles of cruising I pulled it in the garage and noticed a significant leak coming from the steering box. I've read the manual and looked a the photos of what my truck should have, but the box looks different.

Manual: http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/gmc/5559mm/5559mm525.html

I'm super apprehensive about attempting to pull the steering column out. I can only surmise the leak is a gasket of some sort. Anyone have any idea what the problem is and the best way to fix it?

Here are photos of the part and leak:https://www.flickr.com/photos/71945287@N03/sets/72157647364623512

Your truck has the stock original steering box. It's not unusual for them to leak. It's not likely that a gasket will solve the problem. There are numerous posts regarding what to use in steering boxes. They range from chassis grease to a mixture of gear oil and grease to a product called cornhead grease. Generally if there is some wear, regular gear oil will run out fairly quickly. If the steering box seems tight you can try using one of the aforementioned products. Otherwise the unit will probably need to be rebuilt.
Fred

rfs56trk,
Mine is doing this too. 54, 3100. Mine is leaking from the front most part of the box. Are you saying to squirt some chassis grease in there with the gear lube? This kinda thicken it right?

awk

You don't want to use chassis grease. It will not lubricate properly. You should get some John Deere cornhead grease or Penray makes a steering box lube. The factory service manual calls for a 00 self leveling grease (which john deere cornhead grease is).

It would be way easier to rebuild/check with it out on the bench. If you have a column floor cover that screws in place, the box will come out easily. Steering wheel could stay on. Read manual. Disconnect column harness. Take off pitman arm nut and use puller to remove pitman, take out 3 box mounting bolts, then unbolt column from dash and thread column/box up thru floor. 3 on the tree? more work. If the bearings are still OK, I don't think the sector or pinion are usually bad so if it's just leaking, replace lube with thick lube and re-gasket and adjust. The gaskets are easy to make/copy with thin gasket material.
The rebuild kits are about $65.

I've posted on this before about what the service bulletin says to use.

Is there a specific gear oil to use? I did a quick search and there are a lot of different weights out there. Any specific gear oil that you recommend?

DON'T USE GEAR LUBE. READ ABOVE POSTS!

Where did you search for steering gear/box lubricants.

The grade is mentioned above, 00 NGLI. John Deere Corn Head Grease comes close: NLGI 0 grade.

Truckolet has other posts where he says the gm service bulletin says to use gear oil.

I just did a google search for gear oil to see what was out there. My local JD dealer has the corn head grease in stock.

There are no rev's to speak of, not much load, normal bearings take chassis/brg grease. Mix chassis grease with a little gear oil and pack it in there like peanut butter. It won't leak and it will be lubricated for 50 more years. The bearings are not the issue, the wiping and channeling of grease allegedly will occur. But the sector/balls/worm will relube when cycled. Grease is formulated differently/synthetic than when some of the manuals were written. Various auto companies and restoration "experts" have different opinions on this. It's just standard moving parts meshing and low speed bearing operation. Front wheel bearings get grease, rear wheel bearings get oil, which is best?

Its not the bearings that have an issue with the lubricant in the steering box. Its the sector and worm. The pressure between them when the wheels are turned will push regular grease out and leave the 2 parts metal to metal. It will cause galling. It is well pointed out that gear cases and parts that are under extreme pressures need specialized lubricants. I'm not saying that people haven't got years of service out of using home brewed stuff or just plain chassis grease, but consider that most of these old trucks we have don't get many miles a year put on them. If anyone is interested Google gear case lubricants and read up on the requirements for them.

Many years ago someone posted the GM part number for its steering-gear self-leveling grease. The grade was 00.

That grade of grease will self-level at most ambient temperatures, protecting all surfaces.

If you are putting less that 10,000 miles a year on a vehicle that mostly drives on highways, you could most likely use any grease-oil concoction and never notice a problem.

Too thin a grease-oil concoction might more readily leak out.

The John Deere product is NLGI 0 (thinner than the GM product), but it will work just fine.

The inner bearing races are part of the worm shaft. On some of the steering boxes I have disassembled for repair I have found excessive pitting on those specific locations and no rebuild kits can fix this problem. In many cases the upper bearing has been running dry for years because of lack of lube. Whatever is used it has to serve two purposes: Provide lubrication to the moving parts and not run all over the ground.
Fred

It would be best to almost fill it so that there is little room for the grease and it will be forced to re wipe. I agree with "too thin will leak". It must be thick enough to cling to parts. Thin will settle to bottom and not lubricate upper portions. After filling, cycle the box back and forth for a while, then fill thru hole some more. Tractors have much more turning usage than our trucks and more stress on steering components. They are "off road" all the time and turning at low speeds while pulling loads or dragging dirt. When I see oil higher than your gearbox on inner fender, I am slightly suspicious that oil is leaking down onto box from somewhere. Do I see that? At any rate if it's leaking like that, it's WAY too thin. Someone filled with oil. What I would do first is open fill plug, check for level AND what viscosity. Wipe box super clean, nudge the bolts that hold the covers on to be sure they are not too loose, drive and observe where leak it coming from. With old trucks, PO's can do anything, cardboard gasket, no gasket, thin oil...You don't say that it is hard to steer or wondering? "finally got back on the road" tells me it could be shrunk/degraded/dried out gaskets and thin oil combo.

It is quite common for the bushing where the pitman arm shaft is located to be worn. There is a seal there and it will leak if the bushing is worn. Get someone to rock the steering wheel a bit while you look at that shaft. If it jumps sideways, the bushing is worn and it needs a rebuild. I had mine professionally rebuilt and it has gear oil in it with no leaks.

I can't really comment on if it's "hard" to steer as I had never driven an old vehicle before I got the '55. It's pretty smooth when turning and there is some play in the steering wheel, but I assumed that is common for a 59 yoa vehicle. I have confirmed the leak is from the steering box and not from anywhere else in the engine. I'm going to buy some of the tractor supply 00 grease and use that. Also going to clean the area very well and see if I can isolate where it is coming from.

Thanks to all with the posts so far and the suggestions.

UPDATE

so I got underneath and spent 90 minutes cleaning the steering box and area. Turns out the leak is coming from the pitman area that comes out of the steering box. Not sure what was used for lube, it's got a consistency I've never seen before. Best comparison would be to grease but slightly more solid.

The three bolt mounting flange on the box is against the inside of the frame rail. There is a slight space I think because there are bosses at each mounting hole. So you are saying solid type grease is oozing out of that crack right at the frame? If so, sounds like T-nix is correct. The kit includes that seal I believe. After fixing, fill it with whatever lube suggestion sounds good to you. Cornhead is what many people use. The kit has two bearings sets, two gaskets, two bushings, one seal. Lots of people say Penrite. That's just an oil company from Australia. They have 0,00, no big deal. It's funny that one of the uses listed for it is "leaky gearboxes". Important: get whatever is in there, all out. Self leveling relates to temperature performance. The modern greases have good high temp performance and the term for low temp is now known as the Low Temp Torque value. If I am interpreting what I read on the good old webnet correctly.

I'm just following the thread, GMTK- my steering box looked like a hornet nest of grease before cleaning...


I see the shaft seal listed individually, but where are the bearings & bushings available without buying a kit? I'll make gaskets.

Brad

Here is a photo of the pitman arm and where the leak is coming from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/71945287@N03/15012759949/

*pay no attention to the red grease in the bottom of the photo, I went ahead and hit the zerk on the steering arm while I was down there*

It seems like if you buy all the parts separately, except the cheapest items (gaskets), you would not save any money.
Is that glob on spring from the leak or was forced out of arm joint? I guess the grease is also coming out the inside of frame, getting onto box, softened by the heat of the exhaust pipe heat and then dripping like oil? Next step: determine radial play in pinion shaft as mentioned. Then fix or live with it.

Sorry been away for a little bit.

Mine was just leaking from the front most fitting. Tightened that and all is good. I was wondering if some sealant could be used on that nut like fitting? If I unscrew that will all the grease drain out? Sorry if I'm asking like I don't know, but haven't dealt with this before.

awk

awk, if the lube is the proper stuff [like JD Cornhead grease] it won't "drain", if someone has been adding some type of oil or a light chassis grease, then it might be messy, but should be cleaned out anyway, and replaced with better

Bill