Steering box draining

Can I drain my steering box while still on the van? Maybe loosen the plate where the adjuster is or while I get the Jack in the Box surprise. Did the price of a rebuilt skyrocket?

I just looked at the factory service manual. Did not see anything about draining the fluid. Maybe someone can chime in.

If the Dodge box is like the Ford box they do not use oil, they are filled with grease, I use Corn Head grease from John Deere. I have not done mine yet but done a few Fords.

Thank you!

The factory service manual says "Use SAE 90 multi purpose gear oil defined by MIL-L-2105B. In extremely cold weather use a grade SAE 80 gear oil/ or dilute SAE 90 grade with a small amount of SAE 10W engine oil to ease steering effort."

Okay, stand corrected, gear oil it is.

See this thread for more details:

https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t27307-steering-gear-adjustment-wow

From ChevyVanMan1:

"Also, please don't flame me because I've been doing this for years on old worm and ball boxes on old vans from VW to Ford and Chevy. I clean them out real well with brake clean (don't breath that stuff) and put in about a half ounce of syn 90 weight gear oil. Turn it around enough that everything inside is wet. Then I close to fill with synthetic bearing grease like Mobile1. Eventually, some will come out the top bearing but it really doesn't get messy.

Unless you are in a super cold environment like Alaska or Canada this will get you smooth operation (synthetic really stays fluid when cold), less wobble and pretty much a one-time solution.

And, it works out to be just viscous enough to turn well, fill some gaps in worn parts and not leak out. Really one of the best solutions I've ever done in years of keeping old ones on the road."

Well Dirtbag69 I do pretty close to what you do, Take apart, clean the box, those that originally came with grease get packed again with Corn Head, those that came with 90 get packed with grease, all get the final squirt via grease gun with needle. Have not done my Dodge box yet but on the Fords and all the VW bus boxes (34 years ACVW) I installed a zerk fitting, works great in packing a box. Trust me I was flamed for doing that to VW's.

Thanks everyone for your posts. I did take the plate off on the box where the adjuster is,cleaned it out and packed it with grease. Readjusted it and it seems to be tighter.Yes,it was still on the van.Now I'm taking a close look at the drag link.

George Panzoff wrote:Thanks everyone for your posts. I did take the plate off on the box where the adjuster is,cleaned it out and packed it with grease. Readjusted it and it seems to be tighter.Yes,it was still on the van.Now I'm taking a close look at the drag link.

So how did things look inside the box when you pulled off the plate ? Was the grease/lube hard or thick from age? Any broken bearing races ? Looking for info , to decide if I should look at mine.

The drained lube had a metallic look to it. Believe to be 90 weight. It was not solidified.Had some sediment on the bottom.I cleaned it out with a couple of cans of WD40.  Kept spraying and brushing until it was clean.Actually looked pretty good,at least everything I could see being the box was still on the van. Best way would be to pull the box. Hand packed with grease then once closed up finish it off with the grease gun or maybe a little Lucas.They want $750 for a rebuild on Ebay.

You can get one rebuilt for 190$, just look around on here (do a search and you'll find a list of places that rebuild). I think it's ProStearing near Portland, OR.

I have an old gear box I'm replacing tomorrow. Got one from a vanner in the south, said there was no play in the steering.I looked at the grease that is in there. It looks good to me, like it's been serviced and maintained in its former life on the donar van. I'm thinking I'm gonna just leave it as is. I see no need to mess with what appears to be a good thing, though I have a tube of corn head grease, anyway. It's nice to know the on the van replacement method works. thanks for sharing that knowledge.