Had a nice run in this weekend, Power steering died. I had to replace the pump and the pulley, and of course, find the reason it lost all its fluid. Underneath, On the Gear box, at the bottom where the pitman arm faces the ground, fluid is everywhere. I am hoping the seal here is bad. I bought a seal kit, but anyone know any manuals or DIY for replacing this seal? I hear you can do it without removing the gear box... This is on a 2000 Ram 1500 1/2ton 4x4 with a 5.9l 360 v8..

 

It is actually pretty easy. Did you download the service manual form the FAQ/DIY section? That should help. Don't know if anyone has posted a thread about just the gb seals - I haven't seen it.

 

Have now, I will check it out. Thanks a bunch. This truck has 209,000 so It may be time to just replace the whole gear box, but at the moment I need to stop the leak, maybe tighten the adjustment, the steering is kinda delayed.. Was pretty bad delayed before I changed out the pump.. 'Almost' there..

 

I did a complete rebuild on mine about a month ago. Also replace all tie rods, pitman arm and idler arm, as well as replaced pump. Made a world of difference. My gearbox and pump had so mcuh crap in it - along with water, causing the fluid to carry rust throughout.

 

you can do it on the truck, I took mine out just to have the extra room, its pretty damn simple though, if your just replacing the bottom seals.

1. Unbolt pitman arm
2. Unbolt sideplate(4 bolts)
3. pull up on side plate, arm will come up with it.
4. The first seal should come right out with a pick, then you have a snap ring
5. pop snap ring out
6. then the oil seal, usually the part that goes bad, use that pick again.
7. use a socket and put seals and snap ring back in then put it back together

 

Does seem pretty easy.. Thanks a bunch for the instructions! Makes me feel a little more confident. GdStock, I saw your post about that. I'd imagine it is cheaper to rebuild, I wonder if I could pull it off. Where did you buy your bearings at.? Never hurts to try the rebuild before going on and buying a new one, either way, it probably needs to be done. Like I said, its way up there on the miles, but the suspension and transmission have all been recently replaced, So piece by piece Im replacing the rest.

 

RedHeadHunter, Do I need to mark the position of the pitman arm before I remove it? I heard someone else say all I need to do is make sure the wheels are straight before I do this, No idea though.

 

Hardest part is getting the pitman arm to separate from the shaft.... they tend to hang on pretty tight.

 

The pitman arm has a notch and will only go on one of two ways. One of them being totally wrong(as in obvious). Just use a bungie or some string to hold the steering wheel from turning.


And here is a DIY to rebuild it. http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech-article-34.html

 

Didnt mark it took it out with the sideplate connected, like stated above you wont put it back in wrong