ctgene

thanks all, very nice tip, going to check my '79 this morning...

Red 71

Just checked mine and it is low. Thanks for the tip Paul67.

Carl Granquist

Checked mine last evening and there's a little more than an inch in there and it looks like thick used motor oil. Since I'm in there now I might as well empty it and replace with new lube.

There have been several suggestions on what to use, including STP which sounds quick and easy. Does anyone know off hand what Chevy recommends? And what's the total volume? Maybe just a few ounces?

khubert035

Put turkey baster on the wifes shopping list. Thanks for the great tip.

Peterbuilt

Good reminder, thanks paul67.
Book calls for 13 oz of GM 4673M, I just put in about 2 ozs of 85-140 gear oil. PG.

GTR1999

Hi Guys
Not to offend anyone here,but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the best way to grease the box is to remove it.

I know that is more labor intensive but the method of filling through the cover bolts is not accurate. Depending on the condition of the box and if it's in a BB or a car with headers the potential for overfilling and leaking is there.

If you go to the pictures I have up on the boxes without the cover you'll see there isn't much room for expansion. The 63-68 boxes have a flat surface under the cover which will limit exp room as well. The 69-82 aluminum covers have a cast in well that will add some room.

Depending on the type of grease used the oil in it will separate and weep out. Now, Pauls mixture may be better in the fact the oil percentage is different then factory or brand name greases.

Again this is not an attack on Pauls post just a little info, if you start to see weeping after installing the grease. Keep in mind where the box is too, if centered then the worm nut is under the center hole.
Good luck maybe you'll be able to extend the life of some of those old boxes out there.

turtlevette

i acutally tried to do the same thing a few years back. Mixing exra synthetic oil with the grease is a good idea. The extra oil will tend to re-hydrate the dried out grease in the box.

I couldn't get the grease/oil mixture to go in with only one bolt out. I was hesitant to take 2 bolts out not knowing how much residual force is applied to that cover. If the cover pivots around the single remaining bolt i could be screwed.

Pulling the box out to adjust/grease is way overkill in my opinion. At that point you might as well rebuild the thing. I don't see any problem with maintaining the box right where it is at. Make small adjustments to the lash and test drive. If the wheel is slow to return to center you know you've gone too far and just back off. One could drill a hole through one of the cover bolts as a vent then just fill the thing to the top. The excess grease would just **** out when it gets hot. Niot much different than a vent on a diff. Same principle.

I think these boxes can last forever. My car has between 400 and 500K miles and the box still seems real tight.

The worse thing that can happen if i mess it up is that i'd take it off and rebuild it. I'd rather risk an overfill than keep running a dry box. Why take a box off that i'm happy with?

Paul L

Gary,
I can't compete with your expertise and my info is anecdotal. As I mentioned earlier I used my described procedure years ago (many moons) with my 1979. The steering box was dry as a bone. My younger Brother has had that car since 2003 and to this day it is performing fine. There was some minor weeping for ~200 miles but that went away.

My 1967 coupe was just a wee bit down ( 3oz ) and it has been fine since 2003.

The 1974 (my "new") last week was again bone dry. I added about 8oz of my slurry as a result. I again expect some minor weeping but I am not concerned. Mixing the oil/EP grease to get a thick but flowable slurry/gel is an art rather than science. It has to flow into the $0.99 turkey baster and be thereupon squeezed into the box through the small bolt hole. (I suppose a grease gun with an appropriate fitting could force straight grease in there but that was not my choice. And with the solidity of grease a check on the level cannot be conducted.) If one errs on the side of too much oil there can be seepage. The "goop", if I may call it that, seems to be self-correcting: with too much oil, heat will dilute viscosity and some will weep out to the point where the "right" internal consistency/viscosity results. Then the weeping stops.

I do think that my approach is a reasonable and inexpensive alternative to a dry box (and potential for gear damage as per the other thread) and removing the box entirely for lubrication. Given my prior experience, I do NOT believe that I have posted a potential safety hazard. Believe me that is the last thing I would do.

Some of us are tool-, equipment-, lift-, and physically-challenged and this old trick seemed like a reasonable post for an inexpensive maintenance fix.

I have a ~120 mile trip planned for tomorrow and will report back on how things go.

Paul L

Turtle,
Nothing happens if you take the upper and lower bolts off. But I did have to use an 18" breaker bar to snap them loose after 34 years of inattention.

GTR1999

Paul,
I agree that it is certainly worth a shot, and with your mixture, that may be the trick. Removing the cover screws will not change any settings so there in no safety issue there.
The concerns I have are:
1- The box is not over filled, that is hard to tell with that method.
2- No one starts to play with the lash screw in the cover, then undue wear could result with little effort.

Again this was not any type of flame of your thread just another opinion for all to consider.

I do agree with Turtle in the fact if you're going to remove it then it certainly would be time to remove the old grease and set the preload and lash again. I know that was not the intent of your post.

If you ever do remove it I would be interested to see just how much grease was in there. If I ever get a free minute maybe I'll get a core box out and see how this works with the worm nut in various positions..

Have a nice trip with the car. It will be a good test to see if there is any weepage from the seals or through the adjusting nut threads.

Paul L

Thanks Gary,
I will post a report late tomorrow afternoon. Our Club is doing a road tour and it should be enjoyable. We had 22 days of rain in June so the sunshine is a blessing. I bought a convertible to enjoy the sun so finally here we go!

Paul L

Following on from yesterday....Our Club did a 120-mile road tour today to a historic village and had lunch at an Olde English Pub. Some 24 cars participated. Ambient temp was ~85*F. So my car (1974) got a good work-out both on twistie country roads going out and the highway coming back.

The steering was excellent: the car tracking true with a minimum of play (<1"). But it was about the same before so the added lube really did not make a noticeable difference in performance and I did not expect any. I would imagine over the long term, wear will be reduced, however. But I can report that there are no leaks. Nothing. So I am pleased.

Going outside the context of this thread, here are a few pics. Corvetting at its best.

My 1974 and my former 1979 L-82 that I bought in 1986, restored, and drove for 17 years. Sold it to my younger Brother when I bought my 1967 coupe in 2003.



General shots.

marshrat99

Thank ya'll. Checked mine early this AM and found nothing in there. Easy fix IMO and again thanks Forum Bros and Sisters.

jrl77

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, a thousand X's. I almost did That would have cost me extra.

JRL77

jwp75v

This is the oem steering box grease I got this from the Chevy dealer 16 yrs. ago it was real hard to find then. I have 3 left I had to buy a case of 6 that is what was in a case. Not for sale

IrishJoker

Maybe it's just me - but I see 3 bolts in that picture

Paul L

Sometimes reading the entire thread can prove useful.

kwtree

Great info, Thanks!

shmoky

This is weird. MY steering box (68) actually says right on it to check the level at the bottom bolt hole.


Upon removing the bolt it looks pretty dry in there. Sticking a small screw driver in it only goes in about 1/2 an inch. I think I will put this bolt back in and remove the other two in order to add some grease. Unless the 1/2 inch depth mark in the lower center hole is the full spot??

shmoky

GTR1999

Those were the covers used from 63-68, then they went to aluminum. Originally they were filled with gear oil and that changed after they were leaking all over the place.