Caring for the 93-97 steering box?

[cstarbard]

I noticed in my owners manual under lubricants it mentioned some kind of steering gear lubricant or something to that effect.

Is there something I should be doing to maintain/care about the steering box? Is it filled with some kind of fluid? Is it covered by the ATF in the power steering system (in which case, flushing power steering system covers steering gear as well ?).

I apologize if this is a completely stupid question. I have never seen anyone talk about maintaining the steering box and I have always wondered if it requires maintenance I'm not aware of beyond taking care of the power steering pump and fluid

chris

 

[4x4junkie]

No special lubricant needed, just Type-F ATF ('97 and I think maybe '96 spec'ed Mercon (Dex/Merc) ATF, but nothing about the pump or boxes are different, so either one is likely fine).

Changing (flushing out) the power steering fluid is a PITA just because of the mess it makes (there is no drain plug anywhere). Best way I've found is just disconnect the low-pressure line fitting from the box (blow any dirt off it first), then cycle the steering back & forth a number of times (wheels off the ground) and let the fluid all run out the hose & fitting (pressurizing the reservoir might help blow some more fluid out as well... I need to try this next time).
You'll want to have catch pans and some old cardboard boxes and/or newspapers laid down under the truck, because no matter where you put the pan, not all of the fluid will end up in it lol.

Follow all this with some Gunk Engine Brite Original degreaser and hose everything off (the degreaser will quickly & easily remove fresh liquid oil).

Fortunately this doesn't have to be done very often in the interest of extending the life of the system (maybe every 5 years/50K miles). The maintenance schedule actually makes no mention of it, so Ford probably felt it never needs the fluid changed (yeah right ).

That reminds me, it's been about that long since I've done mine...

 

[cstarbard]

Awesome! Thanks so much. Good to know a normal flush would do.

It really is a pain isn't it.