FJ62 Steering Gearbox - Worth Going Saginaw? (1 Viewer)

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DoubleNickels

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The stock steering gearbox on my 1989 FJ62 is leaking. It's beyond the point of stop-leak (I've tried). I've scoured the forums here, and found a lot of varying opinions on stock replacements, rebuilds, or Saginaw units, though most threads here on MUD talk about Saginaw replacements for the PS pumps, not the gearbox.

My PS pump is just fine and I'm considering options for the gearbox. My question for you all: can I and should I go with a Saginaw for the gearbox, or do you recommend a stock replacement or rebuild? Or do I have to go Saginaw for both the PS pump AND the gearbox, if I change one of them?

Make sense?
 
Just get it rebuilt. Order the kit from Toyota, send kit and box to West Texas Offroad, or the power steering place in Washington (name escapes me), and be happy another 150K miles. It will seem expensive until you price a new Toyota box which if available is about $2500.

I've used West Texas and been very happy with the service.

It's a good time to replace the lines while you're at it. I did new pump, new lines, bigger cooler and bypassed the factory cooling loop.
 
get steering gear to WTO (west tx offroad) for rebuild..... good improvement to swap out Saginaw(GM) ps pump for the OEM Toyota. You'll have to rig up some minor brackets...a number of people have done this exact same process...a few threads document their effort. I swapped engines or I would have swapped out ps pumps back when I had stock I6 engine.
 
Thanks guys!

Cruiserdrew: When you "order the kit from Toyota", do you do this through a local dealer, or can you recommend a vendor? Being somewhat new to the Cruiser scene, I'd appreciate any input

Elbert: I read a thread (I think) that mentioned some issues with pressure miss-match between the Saginaw PS Pump and a Toyota gearbox. I'll try to find it to be sure, but you see no issue there?

Again I really appreciate the help.
 
Cruiser Dan, Beno and Sam Stewart are 3 mud members that work at dealer with nice MUD member discount .. Beno and Sam and in GA and CDan in NM IIRC
 
I just drove on my newly rebuilt steering box (also by west texas off road) for the first time today... freaking AMAZING!
 
Thanks guys!

Cruiserdrew: When you "order the kit from Toyota", do you do this through a local dealer, or can you recommend a vendor? Being somewhat new to the Cruiser scene, I'd appreciate any input

Elbert: I read a thread (I think) that mentioned some issues with pressure miss-match between the Saginaw PS Pump and a Toyota gearbox. I'll try to find it to be sure, but you see no issue there?

Again I really appreciate the help.


I see you have a 62....my comments about the ps pump are related to a 60...

I have a GM 5.7 V8 with an aftermarket GM style ps pump and I'm running a rebuilt yota steering gear. The PSC pump puts out good pressure. I don't recall what I may have said in another thread...but this combination works well for me. Turns 35 tires without issue.

I don't like the Toyota OEM PS pump on the 60's.... and I think its crazy $$. 62 may be a different bred of cat...

Seems to me you just need to remove your steering gear and send it off to WTO...for a rebuild.
 
I don't like the Toyota OEM PS pump on the 60's.... and I think its crazy $$. 62 may be a different bred of cat...

Seems to me you just need to remove your steering gear and send it off to WTO...for a rebuild.


Don't know why you don't like the factory power steering pump. It lasts for 200k miles, turns 35s or 37 just fine and fits like it was meant to. To add a saginaw pump to a 60 means removing the air pump so your smog status goes out the window. It is significantly more expensive, but it fits and will last a long time. And a 60 and 62 pump are almost the same. At least the exact same style of vane pump.

The Saginaw is much cheaper though-rebuilds in the $50 range, but you need to make brackets for it, source pulleys, new belts in odd sizes etc. Just not worth the effort for a rebuilt pump that's going to last 50K.

I do agree that getting the stock steering gear box rebuilt is the cost effective solution here.
 
only crazy people do saginaw box conversions. It's a little more work
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Don't know why you don't like the factory power steering pump. It lasts for 200k miles, turns 35s or 37 just fine and fits like it was meant to. To add a saginaw pump to a 60 means removing the air pump so your smog status goes out the window. It is significantly more expensive, but it fits and will last a long time. And a 60 and 62 pump are almost the same. At least the exact same style of vane pump.

The Saginaw is much cheaper though-rebuilds in the $50 range, but you need to make brackets for it, source pulleys, new belts in odd sizes etc. Just not worth the effort for a rebuilt pump that's going to last 50K.

I do agree that getting the stock steering gear box rebuilt is the cost effective solution here.


The pressure output to me is inadequate... on OEM FJ60 PS pumps. I no longer have the I6 engine...but if I did it would have a GM ps pump on it. I'm lucky....emissions equipment can get lost and no-one looks for it.
 
I did a saginaw conversion on the old I6... it was well worth the effort. night and day compared to old...but the old was leaking like a sieve, so maybe not a fair comparison. ;)
 
I was about to do the same but go lucky and found a wrecked 60 in my local yard when I went to look for the Saginaw pump. I believe there are specific year pumps from a Volvo that you can get that are an almost direct bolt in aside from the bracket to mount them and a different sized belt.
 
It's important to make the distinction between a Saginaw steering box and a Saginaw steering pump. The FJ60/FJ62 steering box is a very stout unit, stronger than the FJ/FZJ80 box, and does not need to be upgraded, just rebuilt. However, a Saginaw steering pump is a good upgrade over the stock unit.
 
Is a 80 box a direct bolt in to a 62?

The late '60 & '62 have the same bolt pattern as the '80, pretty much a bolt on.
 
... The FJ60/FJ62 steering box is a very stout unit, stronger than the FJ/FZJ80 box, and does not need to be upgraded, just rebuilt.

Have never seen anything that would indicate agreement with that? The '80 box is a newer design, tighter, stronger, more powerful and less prone to leakage. https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/the-dsrtrdr-is-getting-some-tlc.749124/page-22#post-8786579

However, a Saginaw steering pump is a good upgrade over the stock unit.

Agree somewhat, not a fan of the early slipper type pump, but the '62 has a nice vane type pump, good durable unit, don't see the "upgrade" having much if any real benefit.
 
Have never seen anything that would indicate agreement with that? The '80 box is a newer design, tighter, stronger, more powerful and less prone to leakage. https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/the-dsrtrdr-is-getting-some-tlc.749124/page-22#post-8786579

Have you ever seen a twisted sector shaft on a FJ60/FJ62 steering box? It's a fairly common problem on the FJ/FZJ80 steering boxes. The common fix is to upgrade to a 105 sector shaft.

Maybe tighter, not sure about more powerful, maybe less prone to leakage, but definitely not stronger.

Agree somewhat, not a fan of the early slipper type pump, but the '62 has a nice vane type pump, good durable unit, don't see the "upgrade" having much if any real benefit.

As for the pump, the FJ60 pump flat out sucks in anything other than the stock application. This is due primarily to the fact that the reservoir is attached directly to the pump and always leaks. In addition, the bronze bushing the main shaft rides on wears out, causing more pump leakage, which makes the pumps unrebuildable if its worn out.

A saginaw pump appears to pump more pressure and/or more volume, as my steering assist greatly improved with nothing other than a saginaw pump addition. No, I'm not aware of the condition of my stock PS pump other than the reservoir always leaked and required fluid.

Don't even start talking about the cost benefit of going with a saginaw!
 
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I installed and ran the Saginaw PS Pump on the OEM FJ60 steering box and appreciated the performance of the Saginaw over OEM PS pump, but ended up removing it and reinstalling the OEM PS Pump because I was not comfortable with the bracket needed to hold the Saginaw PS.

The bracket I purchased and used to hold the Saginaw PS pump allowed you to keep the smog pump installed, but the bracket was held down using the two front driver's side head bolts. I didn't like that, so I removed it and reinstalled the OEM PS pump.
 
Sector shaft is equivalent as far as strength goes 60/80. The reason they die on 80's is that 80's are huge pigs..

I see no huge improvements in the 80 steering box over the 60 steering box.
 

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