The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk JD corn head grease?

In the steering box on AD's??? has any one tried this,and did or does it work well. Thanks Jimmy

There have been some posts on it in the past. I use a shell low temp grease that does not get hard with the lower temperatures and does not run out when hot. You just have to be careful at the amount you pump in. So far it has worked great.

I have it in my box....no more leaks and no difference in effort.

I've never used it on stearing boxes but used it in gear boxes on circle sprinkler systems, shreader gear boxes etc. and it worked better than gear oil as I could run longer before having to top off. No I could tell no difference over oil other than less consumption
Alton

It has worked great for my 46 1/2 ton steering box on my 37 1/2 ton pick up! So far, no leaks. The price is right, too! One thing I did do is not fill the box too full. I have it about half to 2/3's full.

I have in the past used STP oil treatment. It works great for gear boxes with oil seals with leaking problems. STP takes forever the drip and lots more time to run past a worn oil seal.

Corn head grease is described as a self-leveling grease. That is what you want. You do not want something too thin (that pours and might leak out) and you do not want something too thick (that will not level out into the bearing retainers).

Penrite makes a steering lube but it is hard to find and is relatively expensive.

Funny you should mention that Tim, I was just doing some posting in my album and ran across the slump test that I did with a bunch of the greases that are being brought up in this thread.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/3604_suspension__steering&page=2
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny,

What is your conclusion? Looks like the corn head matches up pretty well to the Penrite?

Thanks,

If looking at the picture is any indication the Penrite and JD Cornhead are the only two for the job. It appears the Penrite is a bit thinner.

Yes Tiny-Tim, the Cornhead grease does look like it would flow ok. The Penrite is about four times the price but your probably only going to fill it once as long as you own the car unless the seal is leaking real bad.
I would definitely stay away from all the others.
Denny Graham.

I've had good success with the cornhead grease. The only downside is getting it out of the tube and into the steering box. I take it out of the tube and put it in a zip lock bag, then cut the corner off the bag and put it into the box. Almost like doing cake decorating.....enough said.

Sounds like as good an idea as any chef Don (aka The Ace of Cakes).
The Penrite comes in a squeeze bottle and spout so that's not a problem and it flows a little better.
DG

Is the corn head and penrite tallow or moly based? jimmy

As stated earlier, I love the JD Cornhead grease and I used it to replace the Penrite in my steering box, or what was left of it. The Penrite, at about seven times the cost, ran right out of the box.

I don't remember for sure--is there a drain plug on the bottom of a steering box? If there is a drain plug on the bottom, adapt a grease zerk to fit the drain hole and (using a grease gun filled with corn head grease) fill the gearbox from the bottom up. Take out the fill plug on the top so you can see the grease oozing it's way to the top as you fill the steering box.

This is how we fill the row unit gearboxes on corn heads and it is the ONLY correct way to fill these gearboxes.

If there is no drain plug, get piece of small diameter hose, like 3/16" or 1/8" and get the proper fittings to adapt a zerk to the hose. Work the hose around and get it down inside the steering gearbox as far toward the bottom as you can. Pump the grease inside the gearbox until it comes out of the fill plug.

Carl if I were going to use the AN102562 Corn Head Grease in my steering box that sounds like a great way to get it in. As stated earlier, the Penrite is a little more ($10 for a 16oz bottle vs. $3 for 14oz. of AN102562) but it still flows a little easier than the Corn Head Grease. And there is no drain in the bottom of an AD steering gear, if properly maintained there is no need to ever drain or change the lubricant. Here’s a bottom view of the gear out of a ’50. http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/121279662

Joe, I’m not tryin’ to be a smart ars or nothin’, I hope from our virtual world here that you know me better than that. But I gotta’ voice my opinion about how I feel about this here steering lube thing. If you’ve got Penrite Steering Box Lube running right out of your steering box then you gotta have one or more of these four things that need repair or service. Either the seal is shot, a groove is worn in the sector shaft where the seal rides and needs to be replaced or a Speedy Sleeve added, or the bearings are shot or out of adjustment. You’ve got one of the nicest looking trucks that I’ve seen on the Bolt, I envy you and wish mine would turn out half as pretty. That old gal of yours is to durn nice to be running around with the drip.

Me Pop was an old school mechanic and my brother and I we were taught to work on cars as soon as we could walk. When I was old enough to leave the house alone I started hanging around in gas stations and then worked in them from about thirteen on. Later when I got a license I went to work for Chevrolet starting out on the grease rack and cleaning parts for the mechanics, and I worked as a counter man for a while at the local auto parts. But most of my teen years and into my 20’s I was a parts man in a Chevrolet dealership. I never saw anything other than rear axle hypoid grease used in steering gears. As you’re Shop Manual recommends, “refill with General Purpose or Universal gear lubricant.” It was a regular part of any lube job back then to check the steering box. If one got to leaking so bad that it couldn’t keep lubrication in then a new seal was generally in order, a heavier grease was akin to putting rags under the valve cover to quiet down worn out engine parts, (right before you sold it).
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

One of the problems I do have with my truck, Denny, is that one of my exhaust pipes runs right under the steering box and that, I think, is my problem. Gotta get that fixed.

That's right, I forgot you got them thar Fenton's on there and that frame is a bit skinnier than the AD's are. That doesn't leave much room to rearange the plumbing. I'll bet that steering box does get pretty hot. Normally of course the steering box would never see much heat at all. But hey, if the JD Corn Head Grease is working for you then by all means stick with it. I'm sure that it's gonna flow out better when its hot than it does when its cold.
DG

Denny, appreciate your insight on that.

Thanks for your comments, Denny. I'm happy we have found a couple of types of lubricant that will work for these steering boxes.

I have 85w-140 in my box and it does not leak. Of course I did replace the seal, bushings and end cover(with it's non-removable bushing).

Where does one get the JD cornhead grease? I can order a case online, but I'd never need more than a partial tube. I can't seem to find it locally.

any John Deere dealer can get it for you Tom, even the lawn and garden franchise types

Bill

I just did a quick Google search Tom, looks like there are a couple within a few miles of Waterford and a couple more if you want to take a little drive.
Or, you could just order some Penrite Steering Box Lube online for ten bucks and have UPS deliver it to your doorstep.
DG

Any Deere Ag dealer should have an abundance of it. (not sure about the Lawn And Garden only dealerships.
List Price of $3/tube. If a dealer doesn't carry it they more than likely won't order it due to minimum order quanities. If you were closer to me I'd hook you up with how ever much you wanted. (I can see a couple hundred tubes of it from my desk right now.

Tom R,

There's a TSC near me in Schodack. I can check it tomorrow. or try calling them, (518) 477-6293.

A few oldGMCtrucks.com members, both of whom I think are also members of Stovebolt.com, posted some helpful information about steering gear lubricants. Here are links to the GM recommended steering gear lubricant and to another satisfactory product. Still, John Deere's Corn head grease is most likely the easiest-to-obtain and least expensive lubricant with appropriate flow-characteristics.

http://www.timberlinemgt.com/gmchassisgrease.aspx

http://www.hendrickson-intl.com/pdfs/trailer_PDFs/b85.pdf

Both of those link us to chassis greases products Tim. Like we've said a bunch of times, you just don't want to use chassis grease in the steering boxes. Those are meant for something like a wheel brg, where some heat is generated allowing it to flow.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny, at least one of those semi-fluid "chassis greases" at the links I gave flows "smoothly from -50F to 375F" ( NLGI grade 00): Mobolith SHC 007. The GM grease is probably not self-leveling/free-flowing (NLGI 2).

Penrite: "Use where either NLGI 00 or 000 grades are required."

Corn head: NLGI 0 (-30 to 330F) ?

As I posted above, most likely the Corn head grease by John Deere (even at NLGI 0) is the best bet for an appropriate self-leveling grease, based on price and availability.

I went to my local Tractor Supply, and they never heard of cornhead grease.

You need to go to a Deere dealer.

Abele Tractor & Equipment Co.
72 Everett Road
Albany, NY 12205-1499

Phone:518-438-4444
Fax:518-438-5751
Parts Fax:518-459-5861
Email:[email protected]

Also: http://jddealer.deere.com/hudsonrivertractor/Store_Locations_4.html?currState=1

...any of you guys have a tube you need to get rid of (penrite or JD) shoot me a PM, I'll take it.

Thanks, Tim. There's a Deere dealership up here in Clifton Park. I'll check with them.

Got it!!! The John Deere dealer on Route 9 had it. I never knew the place was there - and it was only $3.21, tax included.