Cheap way to fix a steering box!

[Aaron]

Alright. here are the exact steps I took to fix my leaking steering box. Be easy on me as this is my first technical writeup.

1. Go buy a new one, I suggest one from a 98 durango as they are much stronger and are a direct bolt in... About 260 with a core charge.
2. Work on the pitman arm nut until you are blue in the face... IT won't come off.
3. Heat up the nut and throw a breaker bar on it and one hernia later, it is off.
4. Next remove the pitman arm from the steering box (or at least try to) using the following technique...
4a. Rent a pitman arm puller.
4b. Wrench that thing till it you cant get it any tighter
4c. Beat on it with a hammer till you are blue in the face. I mean really whale on that thing like you dont care if this steering box ever works again. HARD
4d. Heat it up. a lot. 10 minutes of heating is probably enough. Maybe. Naw. Longer! HOT.
4e. Repeat from 4b until you have a 2nd hernia.
4f. Now that you have 2 hernias, throw a breaker bar on the pitman arm puller.
4g. Break the pitman arm puller...
4h. Buy a pitman arm puller.
4i. Break that one too.
5. Swear. A lot
6. Give up.

Thats it. The next morning, look under your jeep to find no spot on the ground. 4 days later. Still no leak. Fluid is full and no steering issues...

7. Return the steering box you bought.

Total cost... $24 for 2 pitman arm pullers.

[Smash]

:lol:!!!!

[Aaron]

Oh. Forgot to mention. Put the pitman arm nut back on... Not that it matters. The damn pitman arm isn't coming off!

[scout man]

nice!

[Chris]

The next morning, look under your jeep to find no spot on the ground. 4 days later. Still no leak. Fluid is full and no steering issues...

My kind of fix Aaron! :thunb:

[RockyMtnHigh]

You know you can come get me, I think I got an extra 80 lbs around the mid section then you do in order to assist with the breaker bar!

[Aaron]

Yeah. I should have gotten somebody. But hey. For now it works!

[RockyMtnHigh]

Yeah. I should have gotten somebody.

Well let it be known now since you didn't know then, you need any help with anything give me a call, I am only 5 minutes away. (check your PM for my number)

[Aaron]

Thanks Jock!

[southpaws3]

You need a hug! Great wrk by the way

[Rob]

:lmao:

Does that work for Toyotas, too, or is it a Jeep-specific fix?

[Hypoid]

Sooooooooooooooo, how many pullers do you have to break before you could have bought a new pitman arm??? :D

[southpaws3]

universal just like oil-of-olay for keepin your plug in great shape:lol:

[Brody]

Sweet, Aaron!

In a way it is like going out and buying the tool that you simply can't find , but know you have. You look and look, give up, go to the store, shell out the $$ for the tool, come back, move a rag that you swear you have moved 20 times...and there it is...

Did the same thing with my set of keys...couldn't find them. Looked everywhere, probably 10 times. Went through the trash. Went through the recycling. Went through all the cars. Finally gave up and grabbed LaDawn's keys, spent $20 on duplicate keys (knowing, of course, that NOW I was going to find mine) and went on with business. LaDawn took the Jeep to Castle Rock a week later as she had to carry some signs. She got almost all the way there, but was hearing some weird noise. Stopped, and my keys were on the top of the Jeep...

Sometimes it is best to just not ask any questions....Just assume that if you hadn't done all of that, you would still have the leak...

[JeffX]

How do I fix the pump? :P

[Aaron]

Same procedure

[Volcom]

Maybe the heat from the torch swelled the seal that was leaking? Glad it worked out for you and didn't have to swap PS boxes.

[Brody]

How do I fix the pump? :P

Pump is shot, Jeff? Should be much the same as the Toyota pump and you should be able to get a rebuild kit from the dealer. This mainly consists of new vanes, bearings and seals. The vanes are removable in the Yota pumps and wear at the ends and sides, allowing more fluid to move through the power, lowering the line pressure. It is built like a propeller but the vanes slide in slots. As they spin faster, they close the gap, increasing the pressure.Don't know if it is the same set up, but my guess is that all of them are built along the same lines. I posted some steering pump rebuild and modification links in the Yota section if that helps.

When all is said and done, though, simply replacing the pump with a 'lifetime' replacement from CarQuest may be the best option. I have rebuilt a couple on my rig, which worked fine, but there are a lot of tolerances that can go wrong besides the obvious vanes.

[Aaron]

The new pumps for the jeep were only about $40 so if they are similar for the toy, I'd replace it.

[MelloYello]

That is the funniest post in awhile Aaron - Good work. If you just had a YouTube vid of this. : )