The past few days I've nticed my steering feeling "gritty" so it obviously needs an overhaul and new grease.

Can I service my recirculating ball bearing steering myself such as replacing the bearings and repacking the grease? I've never done this before so I'm kind of wary. Is it serviceable at all? I can't afford to buy a new unit right now.

Thanks for any help

Hey Boyd,

The steering box is not packed with grease. It's lubricated by the power steering fluid being pumped through it.

It is servicable in that you can replace bearings and seals, but the recirculating balls don't typically wear. And besides, you really shouldn't remove them unless you really know what you're doing. It takes a while to figure out how they go back in.

I'm not sure how things are in the Philippines, but here in the states, just the seal kit is $80 - $100. A junkyard box (found on car-parts.com) cost me a little over half that and has worked well for many years.

--Dan

You can also try flushing the system by
1: disconnect the return line from the resivoir(sp)
2: plug the hole on the resivoir
3: start the engine, and have a buddy, willing spouse or "life partner" turn the steering wheel back and forth
while you add new fluid as the old fluid is pumped out the disconnected return line. Continue until you are satisfied that all old fluid is removed.
4: Shut down engine, remove plug, reconnect return line, check the level now and after a drive, you are done. Sit back and have a <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />
It's a shot at improvement that shouldn't cost more than a quart of Dextron and 30 min.
Grease is an old timers trick for manual(non-power) steering boxes. When they start to leak drain it and fill it up with grease. For the grease to leak out you'd need a hole like this <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" /> in the box.

Sorry guys, I failed to mention that it's not power steering. Does the manual steering box use Dexron or grease?

btt

My chilton's (generally useless) list the manual steering box as being filled with 80-90w,AKA-GL-5 (very common for manual steering boxes), while the rack and pinion is lubricated with chassis grease . However no Trooper I have seen has a rack and pinion set-up, or manual steering for that matter. There is no manual steering in the Haynes manual at all for 1984-91 Troopers. This is a 1986 4X4 Trooper right?

Yup. You must remember, this car was manufactured in a third world country <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" />, so specs may or may not be the same.
Power steering back then was considered a luxury. Based on my research on the 1984-1986 Trooper assembled in Manila, it was actually a 1981 Japan-spec model with lots of modifications and shortcuts such as bits taken from the Gemini, LUV and the P'up.

Anyway, the steering box looks exactly like the one on my old LUV (now retired in my Dad's farm.)

So back to my original query: is it rebuildable or should I buy a new one? If I do get a new one, can I upgrade to power easily? I've been getting unwanted exercise since I upgraded to 31 tires. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drunk.gif" alt="" />

Thanks

*btt* <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />