The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Speedy sleeve for steering sector shaft

Need some advice about installing a speedy sleeve to help with a leaking pitman seal for the steering sector shaft on my 58. Wondering about clearance of the bushing and the hole through the frame with a sleeve installed. Have any of you had any problems with a new sleeve? Thanks for taking time to help me.

What type of seal are you using for your pitman shaft? The new rubber seals you can get at NAPA are fairly tight and work pretty good. http://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/NOS11055/NOS11055_0439393214

The problem I see with the speedy sleeve is getting it on the shaft while still in the gear box. I suspect your pitman shaft bushings are worn letting the oil past the seal while turning. The bushings are easy enough to get and install.

You will not be able to install the shaft with a speedy sleeve on the end of it, it will not pass through the bushings!

Joe

I have installed speedy sleeve on boxes that have deep pitting in the seal area. It requires making up your own driver to install the seal far enough down the shaft. And yes, the shaft has to be in place in the box.
I am not sure that the ID of the hole in the frame is large enough for the sleeve, but that could be enlarged slightly, although I don't think the sleeve will extend that far.
As Joe said, take the box apart first and make everything right first.
Also, a replacement shaft may be cheaper than the speedy sleeve, PM me if you need one.

Thanks Joe,
Put a new similar style seal from a parts supplier in last week.
Leaking now about the same as before. The shaft didn't appear to have any groves or significant wear that I could see or feel. Since I'll have to remove the box again, (ouch), I'll replace the bushing too. Have read other posts about a speedy sleeve and wondered if the sleeve was positioned over the shaft to just meet the bushing then the seal slid and seated over the sleeve. I question enough clearance with a sleeve to get through the hole in the frame.

Just curious, what type of oil/lube are you using in the box?

Mike B

Mike B, I had gear oil in the box for the past couple of years. Always a triickle and I ran out of rags trying to clean it up. This time I tried some hub oil by Lucas. A little thicker than gear oil and the "stops leaks" on the bottle caught my eye. Similar trickle. Been reading other posts that talk about self leveling grease. Some say this does the trick. Others say theirs still leaks. Would rather take a beating than fish that box and steering shaft out and back in again while trying to keep some paint on it.

00 grade oil/grease was specified by GM

corn head grease is 0 grade (self-levelling grease)

cotton picker spindle grease is 00 grade (self-levelling and the correct specification for the GM steering box).

Many people find that steering-box leaks stop after draining out the gear oil and putting in the "thin" 00 or 0 grease (gear oil will almost always leak). If your pitman-arm shaft seal is bad, changing to grease might not eliminate the leaking.

A lot of times a steering box leak can be traced to oil wicking out the threads of the bolts and through the split in the lock washer.

One trick I did to my steering box was add a second bushing to the pitman shaft. When the housing was bored out, they cut the whole length to the same size. I simply installed the first bushing in the correct location, measured the length of the second bushing, cut it to size and installed it. This gives a lot more support out on the end of the pitman shaft. Before installing the second bushing, I used a dremel tool with ball cutter to cut an oil groove so the shaft wouldn't run dry. I didn't go all the way to the end, figured it would keep the 00 grease from seeping out. So far it's worked real good, I have zero side to side movement of the shaft.

Thanks to all of you. Here's the plan. Going to drain the gear/hub oil best I can. Try some JD cornhead grease. Found some near by. See what happens.
If not improved, I'll go back and replace bushings and seal again. The leaking has been from the pitman seal. No leaking from the housing bolts. The shaft looked and felt pretty good when I replaced the seal last week. I read from another post that by turning the wheel back and forth through center you may be able to detect bad bushings if the pitman arm jumps or clanks. Will try that too. I'll follow-up with results from the grease. Thanks again.