Power Steering Gear Box 105 Series Sector Shaft/Pitman Arm Upgrade

[96r50]

... I have a spare gear box that I am going to rebuild on my own in the spring just so I can learn about the system and not mess up the one on my own rig.

Is it spring yet?

My gear box is leaking at the input seal so I've been contemplating a rebuild. It looks like at least one person here has done it before, but there isn't much info about the mysterious ball bearings. If you have the time/opportunity/willingness, another beno-powered writeup would surely be appreciated. You could even exercise that camera you bought! I found two threads on here discussing the gear box rebuild and one of them contained the third link which discusses the recirculating ball setup as well as I've found thus far.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/98211-fj80-power-steering-pump-gearbox-rebuild.html
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/9448-steering-box-rebuild.html
http://128.83.80.200/taco/box.html

BTW Onur, is the rebuild kit you used here the same one you were talking about in 2006? If so, that might be a record for longest-owned-but-not-replaced part!

I have my gearbox rebuild kit sitting on the shelf waiting for it to puke out fluid. Till then, it leaks at a manageable rate....

And keeps the frame nice and wet with oil and not rusty.

 

[OGBeno]

Negative. I actually ended up selling that rebuild kit and just bought a new one at a better price.



I'm not sure I am going to tackle this right now--rebuilding the spare. I have too much on my plate in terms of work, getting ready for my Yoshiwara Plant trip, and then my 2 week trip with the NorCal group at the end of April. And you never know--I might need a working spare.



Maybe next winter Adam when I have the truck down and the wheeling season is over. I still have Rubithon, Dusy, Death Valley to go.

 

[96r50]

Makes sense to me! I just wanted to see if you were planning on doing the rebuild before trying to get my hands on a spare box myself.

Have fun at the plant. I've heard it's a really cool experience!

 

[96r50]

The input seal replacement was left out of the rebuild manual. You need to remove the Power head and take all the little balls out to get to the seal.
I found it to be fun to do this, time consuming and was fortunate to have two boxes to work with to do the rebuild.
The seal comes in the kit, but I need to draw on some past experence to work with this. I needed to draw on my youth working on older chevy steering boxes. Some time you fly by the seat of your pants in dueing a rebuild of componets.

So does the rebuild kit come with all the seals necessary to rebuild the box? The EPC diagrams aren't much to go by so I'm looking for some input from someone who has done a rebuild or seen the kit firsthand.

 

[OGBeno]

So does the rebuild kit come with all the seals necessary to rebuild the box? The EPC diagrams aren't much to go by so I'm looking for some input from someone who has done a rebuild or seen the kit firsthand.

Yes, it does.

 

[96r50]

Thanks Onur.

 

[96r50]

Update: I have a spare gearbox on the way (thanks Shawn!) so I checked on the price of a Toyota rebuild kit from my usual parts source up here. Retail in CAD was $333 and some cents! And a new gearbox from Toyota Canada? Nearly $3500! Suffice it to say I'll be getting in touch with Dan/Onur for a rebuild kit

I plan to take lots of pictures of the rebuild process in hopes of doing a write up afterwards.

 

[OGBeno]

Update: I have a spare gearbox on the way (thanks Shawn!) so I checked on the price of a Toyota rebuild kit from my usual parts source up here. Retail in CAD was $333 and some cents! And a new gearbox from Toyota Canada? Nearly $3500! Suffice it to say I'll be getting in touch with Dan/Onur for a rebuild kit

I plan to take lots of pictures of the rebuild process in hopes of doing a write up afterwards.

IIRC, the rebuild kit is about $110 or so from us. The upgraded pitman arm is only about $100 and a new upgraded sector shaft is about $250. Might as well go all the way since you are even going.

Now the question is where will you be wheeling that will require a spare gear box. I've only seen a very few number of twisted splines but they were from the usual 80 characters of Alvaro/Inverness/landtank/mine.

 

[96r50]

Dang-it beno, don't tempt me! The idea has certainly crossed my mind, but I figure that if I want to upgrade it at a later date it would only require some labour (free, cuz I'm cheap!) and possibly a couple seals, all of which are available individually.

I don't wheel anywhere that I "should" require a replacement gearbox at this point (fingers crossed). My input shaft seal is leaking a fair bit, to the point where it's letting air in and keeping the ATF aerated, so I'd like to fix that and I figure doing a full reseal isn't a bad idea at that point since the whole box has to come apart to get to that seal. The second box is to allow me to do the reseal on my own time without disabling the truck. Once I get it resealed I'll swap it in place of my current gearbox and continue on my merry way (assuming I did it right ). Besides that, I like learning how things work and that usually involves me taking them apart

 

[OGBeno]

Dang-it beno, don't tempt me! The idea has certainly crossed my mind, but I figure that if I want to upgrade it at a later date it would only require some labour (free, cuz I'm cheap!) and possibly a couple seals, all of which are available individually.

I don't wheel anywhere that I "should" require a replacement gearbox at this point (fingers crossed). My input shaft seal is leaking a fair bit, to the point where it's letting air in and keeping the ATF aerated, so I'd like to fix that and I figure doing a full reseal isn't a bad idea at that point since the whole box has to come apart to get to that seal. The second box is to allow me to do the reseal on my own time without disabling the truck. Once I get it resealed I'll swap it in place of my current gearbox and continue on my merry way (assuming I did it right ). Besides that, I like learning how things work and that usually involves me taking them apart

Points well taken.

Like I said, we have the upgraded, super-duper-even-Alvaro-can't-break-them sector shaft and pitman arm...

DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[OGBeno]

UPDATE

Well, I'm on a small roadtrip working on cruisers and stuff through the midwest, and first pitstop was in Wichita, KS to hang with IBCRUSN and to get his PS stuff up to par.

We removed his gear box and man, check out the twisting on this sector shaft! Not only were the splines twisted at least one spline off, but the entire sector shaft itseld was bent near the bottom area. It was pretty impressive--and IBCRUSN does indeed enjoy wheeling his junk!

Anyway, Kris and I both agreed that anyone who wheels their rigs reasonably hard and has any tire over a 33" probably has a twisted sector shaft.

Anyway, we'd recommend that people check their sector shafts and replace as needed.

Best.
-onur
Akron, OH

PS: here is also a cool shot of Kris's ported gear box as he gets ready to add some hydro assist to his 80. Considering Kris's wheeling style, I think this is a good upgrade...some other folks have also added some assist--Kirk's 80 comes to mind, as well as Sammi's rig, Christo's old Short Bus, and Christo's Blueberry.... as well....a good upgrade/mod for folks with big tires and hard wheeling style.

 

[Riad]

Damn it! I've been putting this off and planning on re-gearing first but now I gotta take it all apart, replace my sector shaft and port my box for hydro assist.

 

[lndcruz]

Since this is a thread on the ps box I'll ask a question here.

My 80s steering is HORRIBLE. Its all over the road and I can't for the life of me find whats wrong. Tie rods all check out as good. Steering stabilizer is fine. So that leaves me with the ps box? I know my 80 was involved in a very slight front end collision 3 years back. Could the sector shaft be bent causing the dead spot in the wheel? Or is the ps box just worn out? Money is kinda tight so a new or rebuild is probably out of the question.

Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[CharlieS]

Could be lots of things other than the steering box. Have you serviced the front axle and replaced your trashed trunion bearings? Made a huge difference on my first 80...

Since this is a thread on the ps box I'll ask a question here.

My 80s steering is HORRIBLE. Its all over the road and I can't for the life of me find whats wrong. Tie rods all check out as good. Steering stabilizer is fine. So that leaves me with the ps box? I know my 80 was involved in a very slight front end collision 3 years back. Could the sector shaft be bent causing the dead spot in the wheel? Or is the ps box just worn out? Money is kinda tight so a new or rebuild is probably out of the question.

Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[OGBeno]

Could be a lot of things as Charlie mentioned. Checking things like bearings and the sector shaft would be a place to start.

 

[lndcruz]

Serviced front end is a no. It's not leaking the fluid is clean (changed 20k ago with m1) and the bearings are tight. Excuse my ignorance but what are the trunion bearings? How would I go about checking the sector shaft? Take it off and check for bending?

 

[Bigshone]

Excuse my ignorance but what are the trunion bearings?

Trunion bearings = knuckle bearings.

How would I go about checking the sector shaft?

Remove the pitman arm from the steering box to get a good look at the sector shaft.

 

[landtoy80]

Has anyone come up with a seal and directions on how to replace the input shaft seal on the gear box?

 

[IdahoDoug]

lndcruz,

The upper and lower knuckle (trunion) bearings are what the steering tires swivel on. If they were damaged in the accident, or worn from years of lack of maintenance (most are never serviced, btw) then there's lots of slack in the swivel mechanism = vague steering. Tires also make a huge difference in steering, and have you had the truck aligned to try to fix this??

DougM

 

[IBCRUSN]

Has anyone come up with a seal and directions on how to replace the input shaft seal on the gear box?

I can't speak for the Toyota PS box overhaul kit but the Gates Rubber kit includes the correct seal. I didn't replace it as my box's seal was still supple.


As Onur mentioned we pretty much agreed that unless you only drive to the mall and wheel on two track fire roads there is a good chance the sector shaft is twisted.

I remember some years ago when Alvaro posted up something on twisting the sector shaft on his rig. At that point I knew these were going to be an issue until a viable hydro assist setup becomes available.

pic of the bent & twisted sector shaft. It might have been contributing to my stiff and underpowered steering since the Black Hills 2009 event.