Steering box lubricant: CV joint lubricant
Several shops and parts people have recommended that I use constant velocity lubricant grease (comes in sealed plastic pouches) as lubricant for my 71 steering box. Lubricates well, tolerates extreme pressures and doesnt leak. What do the experts here say?
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Re: Steering box lubricant: CV joint lubricant
I don't know what this grease is, and I doubt any of the guys you're talking to know, either. Like most automotive lubricants, grease products are usually generic - formulated to an industry standard, but the packaging doesn't always say what it is.
I recommend a full synthetic NGLI #2 EP (extreme pressure) general purpose grease. The reason why I recommend a full synthetic oil base is that the steering gear is "lubed for life", and given its proximity to the exhaust manifold, it gets hot, and a full synthetic base will be most resistant to vaporization and oxidation over the life of the gear. You also want a high drop point - at least 400F - the temperature at which the oil separates from the solids, which is a quality function of both the base oil and solids that make up the grease.
A grease that meets the above requirements is suitable for wheel bearings, chassis lubrication points, and the steering gear.
Duke -
Re: Steering box lubricant: CV joint lubricant
There is something special about CV joint grease, but I would have to look it up in my text books to find out. I just can't remember. Seems to me it is Extreme Pressure grease, and usually green. I do remember from school that it is important to use the right grease in CV Joints. Like Duke I suspect it may not be the most suitable for gear boxes.TerryComment
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Re: Steering box lubricant: CV joint lubricant
Terry,
it's for the steering, not the gear, box.
Also, I gather that it's ok to take the (triangular) lid off without disturbing the adjusting screw to fill with the proper lubricant.Comment
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Re: Steering box lubricant: CV joint lubricant
I knew, and was thinking of, the steering gear box. I still wouldn't do it. Use the recommended lube. I don't know about dissassembly. Wait for more edumacated people.TerryComment
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Re: Steering box lubricant: CV joint lubricant
Any quality wheel bearing grease is all you need. I use coastal found in any parts store, nothing special but it works very good. I used to use Mobil 1 but that separates well below the rating and with these boxes they will have some expansion and the Mobil 1 found its way out of the seals and threads at times.
The best way to lube the box is to remove it and the cover - but you will change the lash setting so you will have to correctly set it back up afterwards. You will need a new cover gasket and a 0-30 in/lb torque wrench.
There is also the method of removing 2 of the cover bolts and pumping it in but I don't like that method much. Many boxes I rebuild I find where the new grease did nothing but sit on top of the old hard packed original grease.
My recommendation if you do remove it would be to take it apart and check the parts and fitment then either assemble it or rebuild it. These boxes do get a lot of abuse over time and sometime they are incorrectly rebuilt and setup causing more problems then before they were touched. Unlike many car parts mileage isn't always a factor in the condition of a box. I have found boxes with under 40k miles with worn out gears caused by wrong setup to boxes with over 100k miles with good gears that were able to be rebuilt better then new.
Good luck. You can alway read my thread on boxes over on Digitalcorvettes.com it has a lot of pictures to help you out.Comment
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