Stovebolt.com Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 1951 COE steering box

What is the correct oil for a 1951 COE steering box?

Some people on here have used John Deere corn head grease in them. Does a good job of lubricating and won't leak out as readily as oil will if your seals are bad.

My 46 2 ton calls for gear lube, I have good seals on it but it leaks through the threads on the large threaded nut for the adjustment. The owners manual states you never have to change the gear oil but gives instructions to add. Maybe no one cared if it leaked back then!!

I rebuilt the manual steering gearbox in my Pontiac, back in the early 1990s. Was told to use CV axle grease because it's kinda liquid yet thick and super EP, being designed to keep Rzeppa constant velocity joints alive. I think I put a pint of it in there, but that was passenger car size versus truck size. It worked, too. Buttery smooth steering for years after, and never leaked a drop.

The service manual makes no differentiation between pickup and big bolt steering gears as far as lubrication. It says that added lubricant should be one that's fluid at low temperatures and will not "channel" and which will provide satisfactory lubricant under extreme summer conditions. it says: Steering gear lubricants are marketed by many oil companies and either "Multi-Purpose" or "Universal" gear lubricants are satisfactory to use.
Clear as mud, right? One of the members here drdoug had a supply of NGLI 00 grease he was offering for steering gears. Supposedly Cornhead grease is NGLI 0 so slightly more liquid thicker than 00.

[on edit] I just read that CV joint grease was typically NGLI 1 grade, so thicker than 0 or 00. General purpose grease that's most commonly available for grease guns is NGLI 2