blown seal on gear box

[The Dooger]

I blew the seal out on my power steering gear box and bought a rebuild kit, how hard is this job? removing and replacing the seals? also what size is the nut on the pitman arm? metric or standard?

Thanks,
Kyle.

 

[Explorin94]

I'll get back on tomorrow and let you know what size the nut is. But once you get the nut off the seal is no big dael to replace. All you have to do is get the pitman arm off. Put a screw in the sael and pry it out. Put the new seal in straight and you're done.

 

[MAKG]

Umm, Brett, isn't there a snap ring in there?

 

[The Dooger]

Well got it all apart and on the left is what i pulled from the steering gear box in order from top to bottom and on the right is what came in the rebuild kit.

Here are the notes on the instructions

here are both pictures from the instructions

So since there were no spacers in the box should i just install then same parts that were in it? because i know once those seals are in they aren't coming out since the out ones came out pretty hard. It seems like the recess that the snap ring fits in is about 1/4" back in the housing. Plus the snap ring wasnt even in the recess when i took it apart so i dunno how far back in there the seals go cause they were out pretty far after pulling the pitman arm.

 

[Explorin94]

Umm, Brett, isn't there a snap ring in there?

You're right.....as always Mike. It has been so long since I have done one, you forget what you need. Just wing it

 

[TireIron]

yea you dont put the spacers in, just replace what came out and you are all set. Oh and trick for getting the seals out once you pull the snap ring out, start the truck with a large pan under the box and slightly turn the wheel back and forth and the pressure will pop the seals right out the bottom along with almost all of the fluid in a great big spray (hence the need for the large pan under it)

 

[ZMan]

yea you dont put the spacers in, just replace what came out and you are all set. Oh and trick for getting the seals out once you pull the snap ring out, start the truck with a large pan under the box and slightly turn the wheel back and forth and the pressure will pop the seals right out the bottom along with almost all of the fluid in a great big spray (hence the need for the large pan under it)

damn that sucks, I already pulled my steering box out..

 

[88rangr]

I had my seal leaking, so I tried to replace the seal, but the shaft was loose, so I bought a rebuilt unit, so no leaks and no slop in the steering wheel. Merles Auto in Tucson had mine in stock!

 

[lantz84]

its probably easier with it out..i just rebuilt mine and took it out and did it. the kit i got came with all the seals to rebuild every thing but i just replaced the all the seals around the secter shaft....thats what your pitman are is bolted to..not bad just pay attention to how it comes apart!!

 

[MA Ranger]

Thanks for the posts. I'm going to have to replace my seals too - my '94 XLT 2WD (all stock front end) is leaking fluid where the pitman arm connects to the steering box. From what I'm reading in your posts, you can replace the seals without taking the box off the truck (in fact, it sounds easier - you can use TireIron's trick to get the seals to come out.) I have two questions:

1) What's the best way to get the pitman arm off - is there one puller that's easier to use?

2) Auto Zone sells two seal kits for my truck: "Pitman Shaft Seal Kit" (Part #8778) and "Lower pitman shaft shaft seal kit" (Part #8779). On their web site, the Pitman Shaft Seal Kit is a little cheaper and looks about the same as the Lower pitman shaft seal kit, but it has one more larger seal. Which one should I use?