Tail_Gunner
CRJ & ERJ A&P Mech.
There have been more than a few of us who have been experiencing an increased sloppiness in the steering wheel lately. Last summer I tried to take some of the slop out by adjusting the screw on top of the steering gear box. It helped some, but some slop still remained.
Last fall, I did the ball joints. There seemed to be a bit of play and they were about 150K old. So it seemed about time. Doing the job myself, I bought a small 12,000 lbs hyd press from Harbor Freight for about $130. It was a lot less than what labor would have cost to have a garage do the job. But I also got a hydraulic press to show for it.
While the wheel slop went away, it was questionable if it helped the steering slop any.
So I decided my next step would be to replace the rusty brown steering gear. I'd heard about a place near Seattle called Red Head steering gears. A friend of mine used to manage a NAPA store in that area for many years before moving to da U.P. I asked him if he'd ever heard of Redhead. "Oh yea, they make some real good stuff!" Looking at their website, they claim to do several things in the rebuilding process to make for a tighter unit.
Well, my new Redhead steering gear arrived at the house today.
View attachment 10743
View attachment 10744
I got the old brown one out this afternoon. Removing the steering gear wasn't that bad. Pulling out all the crap that was in the way, was much more of a PITA than the gear itself was. Once I got it out, I had to get the control arm off the gear. That took me a while on the work bench in the basement. That S.O.B. was on there good. But with a mix of a pitman arm puller. penetrating oil, heat, and some impact shock, it broke loose after several hours of off & on effort. So the control arm is now on the new gear box ready for installation tomorrow. I just have to get a couple of o-rings for the power steering lines. So hopefully by this time tomorrow, we'll see how it drives.
Last fall, I did the ball joints. There seemed to be a bit of play and they were about 150K old. So it seemed about time. Doing the job myself, I bought a small 12,000 lbs hyd press from Harbor Freight for about $130. It was a lot less than what labor would have cost to have a garage do the job. But I also got a hydraulic press to show for it.
While the wheel slop went away, it was questionable if it helped the steering slop any. So I decided my next step would be to replace the rusty brown steering gear. I'd heard about a place near Seattle called Red Head steering gears. A friend of mine used to manage a NAPA store in that area for many years before moving to da U.P. I asked him if he'd ever heard of Redhead. "Oh yea, they make some real good stuff!" Looking at their website, they claim to do several things in the rebuilding process to make for a tighter unit.
Well, my new Redhead steering gear arrived at the house today.
View attachment 10743
View attachment 10744
I got the old brown one out this afternoon. Removing the steering gear wasn't that bad. Pulling out all the crap that was in the way, was much more of a PITA than the gear itself was. Once I got it out, I had to get the control arm off the gear. That took me a while on the work bench in the basement. That S.O.B. was on there good. But with a mix of a pitman arm puller. penetrating oil, heat, and some impact shock, it broke loose after several hours of off & on effort. So the control arm is now on the new gear box ready for installation tomorrow. I just have to get a couple of o-rings for the power steering lines. So hopefully by this time tomorrow, we'll see how it drives.
