The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop CHASSIS LUBE IN STEERING BOX

When I checked the steering box in my 50 3600, it has noodles of old chassis lube in it I was going to try to drain & pluck what I could, and refill with gear oil. Any thoughts on how to flush it all out?

If you have the steering box off the truck you might try a product like that Gunk that is mixed with kerosene, or even straight kerosene in the box to soften and remove most of the grease.
I don't know that a little grease will hurt the box anyway. Good luck.

People sometimes fill the box with grease when it is leaking. I am not saying that it is correct but it is done.

Chassis grease was a recommended substitute for the gear box lube. I recommend one of the moly types, the lithiums get stiff when cold. If you are going to use gear lube you will need to put a pan under the truck to catch the drips, it's too thin.

i was wondering about this myself. my steering box leaks, so what you guys are saying is i could put grease in it? i was thinking it would work just fine, i guess i just needed someone else to reassure me!

I've been usin a moly grease in all my old steering boxes for 15 years [including my old forklift!] and it works fine, and keeps everything under there cleaner.

Bill

It is important to use a lube in the steering box that stays semi fluid and does not 'channel' .
If you are set on using grease instead of the correct lubricant , then something like , L-MOS 2 , or similar soft moly seems to work .
Many regular wheelbearing greases are too stiff and can cause galling of the worm or sector , with the resultant risk of binding.
I was taught never to use grease in a steering box for this reason , best , I think , to fix the leak and run the factory recomended lube (gear lube).

GM makes a lubricant to use in leaking steering boxes. I don't have it's part # but found it in a dealers book of lubricants under manual steering lubricant. It's thicker than 90 weight and cured my leaking problems. Even my newly rebuilt box leaked until I used this-used two tubes.

The GM part number for that steering lube is
001052182. I paid about 6 bucks for a tube. My steering box took about a tube and a half..Great stuff..

Thanks everyone, GM has dis-continued that lubricant. My local dealer was out, referred me to a Hesser Oldsmobile in Madison WI 608.754.7754. They had 8 yubes left. I bought 2.

I can not remember where I read this, but I used about half hypo gear oil and half moly grease (mixed)and all seems smooth and not much seeping. Has anyone else tried this?

1953 1/2 ton Chevrolet

I could not find the GM lube, at least not for a decent price. I see American Classic has it, but I also noticed they recently raised their price of it by 250%. I know they support this site, but I think a price hike of that magnitude is just plain robbery. So I got some steering box lube made in Australia, company name of Penrite. Really thick stuff, also not cheap. It leaked past my new sector shaft seal, but I got a genuine GM seal and put it in, replacing the cheapo one that came with the rebuild set from Chevy Duty. Now no leak at all.