Has anyone actually broken a steering box?

[MRGTX]

I just noticed that Flaming River (and possibly others) advertise their manual steering box as being stronger than the stock one.

That sounds fine...but what the hell kind of gorilla would it take to break a stock one? Or...am I underestimating the strength of some component here?

Have you broken one? How did it happen? Is the upgraded box worth the extra couple hundred bucks over a (reman?) eBay piece?

 

[72bluNblu]

I don't know how you would break one. The Flaming river manual box does have a cast iron case, vs the stock aluminum. I have seen one aluminum box that may have had a crack in the case. I don't know how it got there, and I think it was a casting flaw more than anything. But nonetheless I have welded up a aluminum cased steering box.

I think the bigger deal is the needle bearing set up on the shafts. The flaming river box uses needle bearings. The mopar boxes use bushings, except for some of the B-body V8 boxes which used bearings. I don't think that would improve the strength much if any, but they would wear better. Steering Box Info

What I don't know is if the new OE look boxes that are being sold by PST and others have bearings or bushings. Maybe @PST will chime in

 

[dukeboy440]

I just noticed that Flaming River (and possibly others) advertise their manual steering box as being stronger than the stock one.

That sounds fine...but what the hell kind of gorilla would it take to break a stock one? Or...am I underestimating the strength of some component here?

Have you broken one? How did it happen? Is the upgraded box worth the extra couple hundred bucks over a (reman?) eBay piece?

fatigue is normally a factor. I've not broken an A body one, but I have broken one in a 78 powerwagon. Also keep in mind, reman'ed by who or what? Reman'd means they are re-using 40 plus year old parts and just replacing the wear items such as gasket, bearings, etc.

That said, I'd go get one of those smaller, light Borgeson power steering boxes

 

[72bluNblu]

fatigue is normally a factor. I've not broken an A body one, but I have broken one in a 78 powerwagon. Also keep in mind, reman'ed by who or what? Reman'd means they are re-using 40 plus year old parts and just replacing the wear items such as gasket, bearings, etc.

That said, I'd go get one of those smaller, light Borgeson power steering boxes

Good point about the old parts. There are new OE looking boxes being sold now though.

And, the the borgeson boxes are smaller and lighter than OE power steering boxes. They're not smaller or lighter than the OE manual steering boxes. Here are some weights. I weighed the OE manual, power, and flaming river boxes. The Borgeson number is using math and Peter Bergman's info from his website.

OE manual steering box:..........................12.4 lbs
OE power steering box, large sector:......... 37.5 lbs
Flaming river 16:1 manual box:……………………17.8 lbs
Borgeson power steering box......................22.5 lbs (per Peter Bergman, 15lbs lighter than OE power box)

 

[rustycowll69]

I just noticed that Flaming River (and possibly others) advertise their manual steering box as being stronger than the stock one.

That sounds fine...but what the hell kind of gorilla would it take to break a stock one? Or...am I underestimating the strength of some component here?

Have you broken one? How did it happen? Is the upgraded box worth the extra couple hundred bucks over a (reman?) eBay piece?

I can see a steering box being damaged in a serious front end collision. I have cracked a steering box mount on the k-member on my 66 cuda. Big tires, manual steering, and parallel parking in urban confines can contribute to that. Stg box bolts coming loose can contribute to that too.

 

[dukeboy440]

Good point about the old parts. There are new OE looking boxes being sold now though.

And, the the borgeson boxes are smaller and lighter than OE power steering boxes. They're not smaller or lighter than the OE manual steering boxes. Here are some weights. I weighed the OE manual, power, and flaming river boxes. The Borgeson number is using math and Peter Bergman's info from his website.

OE manual steering box:..........................12.4 lbs
OE power steering box, large sector:......... 37.5 lbs
Flaming river 16:1 manual box:……………………17.8 lbs
Borgeson power steering box......................22.5 lbs (per Peter Bergman, 15lbs lighter than OE power box)

I missed the manual steering part lol. Do you have a list of all the weights you did a while back comparing stock to aftermarket options?

 

[pauly]

I've never seen a MOPAR one break, but had a buddy blow the whole front out of Saginaw box on a mid 70's Blazer. But then, he was running 44" tires on it. It still worked- he drove it home like that

 

[PST]

The new production 16:1 boxes that we (PST) offers uses an aluminum case as for the internals on the worm shaft they are ball bearing on either end and the cross shaft where cap and adjustments are made is a needle bearing. I am in the process of disassembling a sample so I will let know on the bottom portion where the sector shaft protrudes.

Thanks
James

 

[MRGTX]

The new production 16:1 boxes that we (PST) offers uses an aluminum case as for the internals on the worm shaft they are ball bearing on either end and the cross shaft where cap and adjustments are made is a needle bearing. I am in the process of disassembling a sample so I will let know on the bottom portion where the sector shaft protrudes.

Thanks
James

Please let us know any details, James. I may have a line on a box already but I took a look at the one your store is offering and assuming it's a quality piece, this might be a good option as yours is more affordable than Flaming River, etc.

I could be mistaken but the pic looks like a B-Body unit (which is different, I believe). Safe to say that these are A-body compatible?

Also, it sounds like some components may be different than the stock manual box...These are still compatible with stock pitman arms, correct? Also, do you guys offer an adapter for power steering columns?

Thanks!

 

[PST]

Ok, so I had sometime to take a unit apart, the sector shaft is supported with needle bearings. This box will work with A, B, and E bodies. The sector shaft where the pitman arm attaches is 1 1/8" also know as the "small sector shaft" If your car originally had power steering and want to convert you will need to get the adapter from mopar performance as the ps column is shorter.

Thanks
James