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56 half ton, what grease/oil do you use in your manual steering box, corn head grease or ?

56srw,

This topic comes up fairly often. It sometimes gets a variety of points of view an oil/grease concoctions.

John Deere Corn Head Grease is close to the grade of self-leveling grease originally used by GM.

Corn head grease is good. my old box had oil in it and it leaked, with corn head so far, after 6 months, no leaks

I'm going to get that! I was told to use STP. Seems a little extreme to use an oil treatment as the be-all, end all. If this is a vegetable oil as the name implies, I wonder about its longevity in the environment it will be used in.. hot/cold etc.

I got a chuckle out of "If this is a vegetable oil as the name implies,...". A corn head is a gear box on a piece of farm machinery. I can see how you might have been misled.

I can't tell if you are joking or just misunderstanding the Corn Head grease name.

John Deere Corn Head Grease - video

LOL! Everybody knows a corn head is a hippie dude that smokes cornsilk, right?
Jerry

I know right! Next thing ya know, you are wondering around behind the little animals!

CV Joint grease is basically the same stuff. I've read on other forums people using it too.

The steering box in my '55 2nd series 3100 was nearly empty when I checked after buying the truck. I filled it up with gear oil, and it all ran out on my drive way in a couple of days. Then I had the bright idea of using STP. It ran out on my driveway, just took a little longer. And it made the truck steer very hard. Also when driving the truck the steering would take a set and I would have to keep correcting all the time especially in turns. Then I read about JD cornhead grease here on Stovebolts, and got some from our local dealer in Riverside. Fantastic stuff! It does eventually work(very slowly) its way out my worn steering box bushing and seal, but I can live with that for now. The truck steers and drives so much better with the cornhead grease. It is very slick, Great stuff. $4 a tube, use your regular grease gun and pump it in.

Ima go down to JD and ask for Corn Head. I sure hope I don't get something I didn't expect, but sounds like the best solution.

How many tubes do you need to fill the box?

Not sure of tube numbers but here is what full looks like.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/8257846403/in/set-72157632210242370

When I filled my steering box with cornhead grease, it took a few times, filling to the top each time. The grease takes a while to flow down into the nooks and crannies and work its way into the balls and ball nut. I checked it a day or so apart, and I think I added grease 3 times. I have not used up the first tube yet. I think I'll go out and check it again!

finally pumped a whole tube of grease in steering box, feels like power steering now, but bump steer all over the place

My truck had lots of issues with the steering when I got it first driving. Bad bump steer and even death wobble..... Steering box out of adjustment, no grease in steering box, worn loose wheel bearings, worn out tierod ends, excessive toe out, loose steering arm joint, and 10in wide rims on the front, and to top it off a tiny aftermarket steering wheel. What a disaster! When I had fixed all these issues, and then fitted a steering stabilizer, now my truck drives and steers great.

FYI, Bump steer is a suspension / steering geometry problem. If interested Google bump steer and you can see diagrams.