Steering gear refers to the actual steering gear box itself, not the gear on the steering pump. Now my head hurts.
Is This Thing a Death Trap? (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter SaturnAscends
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- #62
Ok yea that's the part I was hesitant to tackle myself. Anyway thanks for the help and sorry for beating a dead horse.I didn't take any pictures worth looking at, but I'm pretty sure that I just followed the steps in this thread:
Steering gear box rebuild
This is the second time I’ve seen the inside of an 80 series gearbox. I bought a used box this summer and rebuilt it with the help of a good friend and Lexus mechanic. Then we swapped it onto the truck in place of the original box, which was leaking from the input seal. Unfortunately, I managed...forum.ih8mud.com
Like I said before, *by far* the most difficult part is getting those damn recirculating ball bearings back inside. Putting some wheel bearing grease on them helped put an end to the Sisyphean task.
No worries, it's confusing and intimidating if you've never tackled it before. I would start with replacing the hoses and the "paper clip", then tackle the power steering pump rebuild, and see where that gets you. The steering gear really isn't that much harder, it's just intimidating at first because it seems huge and complicated.
FWIW, I just rebuilt my PS pump over the weekend with an OEM kit from Wit's End. Found out the unit I had was a reman from who knows where but it looks similar enough to OEM. It took me about 6 hours to rebuild it using this thread. Most of the time was removing and replacing the snap ring for the new nachi bearing and placing in the large snap ring for the rear cover. Maybe I don't have the right tools (a press would have helped tons for the rear cover snap ring) but if I had to do it again I'd rather just spend the extra $250 for a new pump and not have to think about whether or not I rebuilt the pump correctly (no leaks so far). I consider myself a 3 
mechanic as I am a parts replacer and the most difficult thing I've done was a timing belt/WP replacement on a 2UZ (100 series).
mechanic as I am a parts replacer and the most difficult thing I've done was a timing belt/WP replacement on a 2UZ (100 series).I have a press and it made the work fairly easy. I will be happy to rebuild a pump over a timing belt job any day! Ive done many timing belt jobs and two of them have been on 2uz engines. That being said a press or a very large c clamp would have made your life a lot easier.
- Thread starter
- #67
Yeah I looked at a few threads but I still didn't really have the confidence to open that can of worms in my current situation, especially when it's easy enough to keep topping off the fluid (almost like Toyota's patented self-flushing system).
I think the failing brake booster is a much more pressing issue.
I think the failing brake booster is a much more pressing issue.
Or you could spring for some Lucas power steering stop leak and see if it works.
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- #69
Worth a shot, I guess. No risk of damaging any components by doing this?
While you're at it, pour some Seafoam in the tank, crankcase, windshield washer tank, and radiator.
All those products are made to improve every aspect of your vehicle.
I think some of those products that swell seals can be useful as long as they are temporary. Ultimately i would just feed the leak until i can replace the seal/gasket. In your case you haven't replaced the cap or hoses which i think would be the most likely locations of a leak. I don't think that swelling stuff is great on the hoses so i personally would only do it for a temp fix.
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- #72
Yeah I've never used any "liquid mechanics" before, heard they can do more harm than good.
Harm what? I don't see how they can harm hoses, seals and other parts you'd be otherwise replacing in the power steering system. Won't work on a major leak though, and probably should be considered as only a temporary "fix".
Just finished rebuilding my PS pump using the FSM and the above-mentioned thread as a guide and the Wits' End rebuild kit. No special tools required. I was able to remove the gear using a pitman arm puller braced against the metal arm of a lawn chair (I live an hour from town and need to get creative from time to time). Not a tough job to tackle.
Try pulling your ABS fuse and see if your brakes still pull you to one side. Fixed my issue.
Try pulling your ABS fuse and see if your brakes still pull you to one side. Fixed my issue.
I'm going to try this at some point. Mine has always pulled to the right with and without brakes applied. Everything has been replaced except for the ABS pump and hard lines. Still there after multiple alignments, all steering components replaced and the lift/new tires. Oddly it seems like when I'm accelerating hard (as much as it can lol) it goes pretty straight.
