+1 on letting us know how you like it. I plow (only my driveway), but would like to know how it feels and if the steering wander is gone. TIA

 

Thanks for the link gdstock. My original plan was to do a rebuild on the box like you did, using the pavementsucks DIY, and replace the pump with a reman. from Autozone (lifetime warranty). I just wasn't sure if I was going to get the results that I wanted, and I'm pretty much out of time now. Considering I started this whole project on Labor Day weekend, I really need to get the truck done in the next few weeks.

 

I hear you on the time thing. The only reason I decided to rebuild mine was this truck is a project truck and not my daily driver, so time was not an issue. Also, I sometimes want to try to do things I haven't done before to try it. Working with my hands is more like therapy to me. A tough day at the office can be eased by working in the garage. Redhead was my fall back plan if I could not get this done to my satisfaction.

I also went with a rebuilt pump. I looked over VW's DIY on rebuilding the pump, but I have so many projects to get done and incrurred a pulled hamstring while rebuilding tranny (don't ask - seems silly, I know).

Also, don't forget to check out the rosck solid thing. Several of us did this as well and it works quite well. I never knew anything about it until I saw it posted here.

 

I’ve driven the truck about 100 miles with my new gearbox, so I thought I would update this thread in case anyone was interested.

The install of the new box and pump was easy enough. It was just a matter of unbolting the old worn out stuff, and bolting in the new shiny stuff. I secured the steering wheel to the brake pedal after the front end was off the ground, and went to town. The hardest part was removing the nut on the pitman arm, and then the arm itself. I had to use a 4’ piece of black iron pipe on the end of my breaker bar to get the nut off. Not fun. I filled the box with fluid before I attached the new lines to the new pump. After filling the pump, I worked the wheels back and forth to get any trapped air out. Piece of cake.

The truck drives like it’s new. The new box is nice and smooth, with no wandering at all. I never had the “steering clunk” like some have had, so I decided to forgo the Rock Solid fix suggested by gdstock. So far, I’m completely happy with the new steering gear from Redhead.

And before Zman asks, it was $28.00 (UPS Ground) to ship the old unit back to Redhead from Colorado.

 

Thanks for the update. Glad it went well and resolved your steering issues. I thought about painting the head of mine green (since thay already have red) just for giggles, but paionted the eniter box black instead! If mine ever goes bad, I will slap a red head in it.