The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop steering gear box lube-what?

my 1950 manuel sez to use #something gmc - a guy packed it full of chassis grease and the steering was really hard so i flushed it out with solvent and a second generation mechanic told my to put marine grease in there and in the end it just froze up on me and now i'm down and buying a rebuild but wonder what to use in my other on the road 50 ce - i don't want to ruin that box too - thanks kids

The original stuff was real thick, but is no longer available I have heard. But you can check - it is GM part # 001152182, and you will need two tubes.

Some people use 90 wt gear lube, but when I did, the thing leaked. So I used Penrite steering box lube. Expensive, but no leaks. It is made in Australia I believe. But sold here over the internet.

It was the solvent that you used that probably ruined your gear box, not the grease. Some solvents leave a residue that grease won't stick to unless properly rinsed off. Just a thought for the next one,
Scott

barnabus,

If you do a search in this forum using "steering box lube" you will get more info than you ever thought possible.

Stuart

Use a moly grease, it's better in cold temps. The GM lube was discontinued a few years ago. Standard gear lube is too thin for a box with any wear in it. I have heard of guys that use STP, never tried it myself.

I'm with Brian. The Penrite lube works well. Mind you I may be biased. If you have any problems getting hold of it let me know and I'll track some down for you.

All the best

Bob

I ordered steering box lube from penrite from WWW.Classicautolubes.com. I put it in the steering box, and haven't driven the truck yet. It seems to be working. I am getting a little leakage, but I think that might be a little oil that was left from earlier. The fellow that has this site seems to be extremely honest. I e mailed him, he sent a message back telling me what he thought I needed, I sent him a return message, and he sent the lube before I mailed him a check. They also have other oils expecially for older vehicles. Expensive, but seem to be qualilty products. Allen

auto parts,90 WT gear oil.for your steering gear box.Same as for tranny&rearend.An the boat lub was fine its 90wt

dan-pa is right, 90W is the origionally spec'ed lube to use. Chevrolet issued a manual addendum to use a heavier grease (chassis lube) to prevent leaks that can occur when using the lighter 90w.

I use 90w in my 54 and it's nice and smooth with no leaks. I'd try 90w first.

What ever you use it has to flow to get into the bushings. I would use 90W also. If it leaks fix the leak or you may be fixing the whole box later.

The most common leak is from the pitman seal which can be replaced without pulling the box.

This is semi-related to the topic. My cousin was filling the steering box on his '54 Chevy car. He was using a hand operated gear lube dispenser filled with 90w. The goose neck filler fit snugly into the fill hole in the steering box.

He pumped and pumped...gee! this thing sure takes a lot of stuff!! Pump, pump, pump, pump..sumpins wrong! He glanced into the car and saw lube pouring out between the steering wheel and the column, right onto his new carpets. That stuff is very smelly too!


Stuart

Somebody on this site recommended John Deer Corn Head grease when this came up before. It comes in a tube for a grease gun, about 3 bucks a tube and wis thicker than 90wt. JD dealers have this stuff on the shelf. It worked for me.

I just relubed my steering box, using a combination of 90W gear lube with a generous helping of chassis grease.
You can mix your own thickness desired which works for your particular gears and adjustment best.
Works great in freezing or warm temps alike.

I had grease in my steering box. I added 90 weight and now my garage floor is well lubed. I'd say if you can mix grease and oil into a paste like on the road said, that would be the best bet. MikeE, is the Corn Head liquid or solid at room temp?

what I've been using for a long time is the moly grease w/ a squirt of moly-slip gear box additive to make sure the grease spreads around and doesn't thicken up - works fine, no leaks where 90wt did

Bill

As Pre '68 Dave said, the leaks are usually from the pitman seal. On the old boxes the "seal" was just a packing that was designed to hold the thicker grease in, but not something as thin as gear oil. If you replace that packing with a modern lip type seal you should be good to go with the 90 weight gear oil.

Tlorber;

The corn head grease is more solid than liquid as I remember. 90wt just runs through and this stuff was solid enough to not leak but still work its' way through the worm and balls. It is now oozing out of my bad pitman seal but doesn't leak like 90 wt.

I was the one recommending John Deere Corn Head Grease way back when. It is closer to a solid at room temp. If you slopped some on a wall, it would eventually run down the wall. It becomes more liquid at higher temperatures and with motion.

I may have come across a product that may even work better than corn head grease. It is called Sprinkler Lube and is exclusively marketed through Reinke Irrigation dealers. It is described as a thixioplastic lubricant, which is a fancy way to say it is a near solid in absence of motion, but becomes a liquid in the prescence of motion. We use this product in the wheel gear boxes on irrigation sprinklers. These gear boxes are a 50:1 (or 52:1, depending on manufacturer) and are responsible for carrying a span full of water (up to 9,000 lbs) through a muddy field. The demo that sold me compared two identical gearboxes that had all input and output seals removed and were reassembled. One box used 85w-140 oil and the other used Sprinkler Lube. The 85W-140 box had oil running out of every shaft area, while the Sprinker Lube was only just slightly damp around the shafts.

I think I'll give this a try after I get my 9" uder the 51. I am also considering using the Sprinker Lube in the rear end on my 42, since the seal surface is grooved and I cannot get a speedy-sleeve to fix it.

I was told 140wt oil. Not mentioned here though, nor have I used it yet (or bought it for that matter). -shrug-

On the road again is right. I mixed 90 wt gear lube with chassis grease in my 37 1 1/2 ton after I rebuilt the box. That was 2+ years ago and it works fine with no leaks.