454cid
Sooper Pooper
I stumbled across https://leepowersteering.com/ while looking for something else today. Anyone use them? Apparently they're even magnafluxing parts to look for cracks.
Another power steering rebuilding company
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Supercharged111
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I've used Turn One and they're in MI. Might give them a peek, they did some fancy stuff to my LT1 PS pump and rebuilt the rack forever ago.
454cid
Sooper Pooper
Yeah, I've seen Turn One mentioned before, maybe from you. There's also another one in MI that I thought I might try, called https://www.unitedpowersteering.com They also do steering racks, driveshafts, and steering shafts.
Supercharged111
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It probably was me, I couldn't remember if I'd plugged them before here or not as I have plugged them elsewhere. I have all of 2 experiences with them, both positive, and my stuff lives on a race car.
Jeepwalker
I'm Awesome
The intermediate shaft has a few opportunities for sloppiness that may spoof a worn steering box: worn flexible coupler, worn metal joint (top of shaft), and where the shaft itself telescopes in/out. An also the lower column bearing/bushing. A little free-play at any of these joints can add up to a lot of 'play' at the steering wheel.
A real quick and easy way to check the intermediate shaft is (with wheels straight), slide the plastic shield 'up' which covers the intermediate steering shaft down by the base of the steering box. Attach a vice grip to the steering box input shaft below the flexible coupler (aka rag joint). Not too tight ...just snug ..you don't want to put marks on the shaft. Tie with some string, the vise grips solid to the frame ...exhaust manifold ...or something nearby. Use a block of wood if you need to. The point is, tie the vice grips against the frame or something solid so the vise grips won't move. Then go inside the truck and (with key on/vehicle off) ...gently wiggle the steering wheel back/fourth. If you feel any movement, it's in the intermediate shaft ...then track down the worn segment. Replace as necessary.
These saginaw steering boxes are pretty durable and can go a couple hundred thousand miles of typical driving without appreciable wear ....usually. Of course oversized tires or rough service can shorten the life. But the intermediate shafts can wear much quicker.
Good luck!
A real quick and easy way to check the intermediate shaft is (with wheels straight), slide the plastic shield 'up' which covers the intermediate steering shaft down by the base of the steering box. Attach a vice grip to the steering box input shaft below the flexible coupler (aka rag joint). Not too tight ...just snug ..you don't want to put marks on the shaft. Tie with some string, the vise grips solid to the frame ...exhaust manifold ...or something nearby. Use a block of wood if you need to. The point is, tie the vice grips against the frame or something solid so the vise grips won't move. Then go inside the truck and (with key on/vehicle off) ...gently wiggle the steering wheel back/fourth. If you feel any movement, it's in the intermediate shaft ...then track down the worn segment. Replace as necessary.
These saginaw steering boxes are pretty durable and can go a couple hundred thousand miles of typical driving without appreciable wear ....usually. Of course oversized tires or rough service can shorten the life. But the intermediate shafts can wear much quicker.
Good luck!
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Lee Power Steering used to go by the name of Lee Manufacturing. Tom Lee, the owner of Lee Manufacturing, started rebuilding steering equipment years ago. In recent years Lee sold out, and what's left today is known as Lee Power Steering. So, YMMV with them.
Tom Lee / Lee Manufacturing rebuilt the gear in Dad's 1995 K1500 5.7 RCLB pickup back around... 2009?
Since Tom Lee sold out, we turned to Turn One in Saginaw to rebuild a box for my Suburban. The two "main guys" who work there used to work for GM Steering Gear in Saginaw. In fact, Turn One is literally right across the street from the former Steering Gear plant on the east side of Saginaw (now Nexteer) just off I-75.
Turn One - Performance Power Steering
Turn One manufactures high performance power steering components for street and race vehicles. Drive confidently with performance products!
turnonesteering.com
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Excellent advice ^^^
Also, crawl under the vehicle while it's on the ground, stationary, and have a friend turn the steering wheel side-to-side just enough to put some "twist" in the front tires' sidewalls, while the engine's running (PS operating).
Wrap a hand around each of the ball joints one by one and feel for relative motion between the pieces (play) as the steering is "worked" as described above. Or, watch the joints with a very keen eye (the hand works better IMHO).
Ditto for the rubber bushings on the control arms.
Also watch for play in the knuckle-to-hub interface... make sure the wheel (bolted to the hub) starts to move as the knuckle moves. Elsewhere on GMT400 I've read a story about how the alignment would be "off" if the 2WD hub bearings weren't adjusted properly, see this post (and maybe other posts in the same thread) https://www.gmt400.com/threads/can-...without-hub-97-chevy-c1500.56410/post-1217151
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