Aside from actual defects during the rebuilding process, "production-line" rebuilt steering boxes are NOT guaranteed to have the "correct" gear ratio, or torsion-bar size for the advertised application.
They say the box is for a certain application--let's say 454 SS--but they're not guaranteeing it has the correct 454 SS guts. Just that it's going to "fit". We saw that a lot on another forum, where removing a GM "A" body steering gear in favor of a "Jeep Grand Cherokee" box was popular. The rebuilt boxes were a crapshoot (which is why I bought some off of scrapped Jeep Grand Cherokees.)
The same sort of thing holds true for "production-line" rebuilt carburetors, "production-line" rebuilt engines, etc.
Thus the popularity of specialist rebuilders who are either rebuilding exactly to spec, or are rebuilding on a "custom" basis to suit the customer's needs.
They say the box is for a certain application--let's say 454 SS--but they're not guaranteeing it has the correct 454 SS guts. Just that it's going to "fit". We saw that a lot on another forum, where removing a GM "A" body steering gear in favor of a "Jeep Grand Cherokee" box was popular. The rebuilt boxes were a crapshoot (which is why I bought some off of scrapped Jeep Grand Cherokees.)
The same sort of thing holds true for "production-line" rebuilt carburetors, "production-line" rebuilt engines, etc.
Thus the popularity of specialist rebuilders who are either rebuilding exactly to spec, or are rebuilding on a "custom" basis to suit the customer's needs.
