First post here. I bought a 2000 ram 2500 off of my grandparents a month ago. it's an old farm truck and when i got it they told me that it had a power steering fluid leak in it for awhile that they fixed with some stop leak. It's been good for me until today when I found a large puddle underneath the truck. After looking at it for awhile it seems to be leaking from where the pitman arm connects to the steering box, when the steering wheel is turned it pisses out fluid pretty good. So i guess my question is that how do I o about doing repairs? My pitman arm has a lot of play so I'm already changing that out, but tryin to decide on buying a steering box seal kit and fixing what I assume is a blown seal or should I look into getting a whole new steering box? Are the seals hard to replace? I've seen a video on removing the box and it doesn't look to hard, I am also on a tight budget right now, Thanks!

 

I would replace the box. There is a bushing above that seal, that is not supposed to be sloppy..... when it gets to that point, you can change the seal, but, it won't last. It'll blow out again in short order. Skip the parts store boxes though.... those fellers, you are just as likely to get one that is worse than what you have, than one that is better..... Redhead used to make 'em, Borgeson may still, Blue top also still might, but, I don't know.

 

would i get by rebuilding my box? rock auto has steering box rebuild kits for $25 before shipping vs reman boxes at $350-$400 before shipping

 

Depends on how worn it is. Does the kit come with all the bushings/bearings and such as well??

Biggest problem is, a fair bit of the wear is where the 'rack' meets the pitman shaft. There is nothing you can do about that with the typical rebuild kit, or wear on any other non-replaceable parts.... You can try it. It's a relatively cheap experiment. Worst that happens is it doesn't work.

 

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...1o5wyTAQ%3D%3D heres the rebuild kit i was looking at

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...1o5wyTAQ%3D%3D
heres the pitman seals

I think Ill give it a try going into it knowing it will just be a temporary fix to last awhile. thing is that i live in Canada and just moved to a different province and need to get my insurance moved over right away, except that I need to pass a safety inspection first and in order to pass this leaks needs to be corrected. Dont have a lot of spare money for a $400 steering box it would take some weeks to save up. Im hoping the seals and some new stop leak and a new pitman arm will hold me over to pass the safety and then I can look into replacing the box proper

 

I've repaired sloppy leaking steering gear boxes by gingerly adjusting the steering box with the screw and nut on top and replacing the output shaft seal. The output shaft seal is pretty easy to replace, once you remove the snap ring. That should stop the leak and get you through inspection, although some of the steering slop will likely still be there. If you plan to keep the truck for awhile, plan to replace the steering box, as these are known to go bad over time.

 

My '96 had a pretty nasty leak and I thought it was the steering gear assembly but it was a failing pressure hose. Is your fluid only dripping or is it spraying on the drivers side inner fender? I replaced my gear assembly later and it still has a little slop, but nothing like before I replaced it. My steering pressure hose eventually split. Replacing it stopped most of my leaks.I drove another year or so before replacing the gear assembly.

 

I don't see any bushings in the rebuild kit..... Not sure how effective that will be.

 

Judging from the wet marks when I I took a look it seems to be spraying all over the place. My pressure hose is also filthy with fluid and there are spray marks all over the bottom. However when I was under the truck watching as someone was turning the wheel I didn’t see any spray just drips from the pitman shaft area

 

Sector shaft (also called pitman shaft) seals are easy to change, no need to remove the box from the frame.

However, if you decide to rebuild the box, pay real close attention to those small ***** inside the box. I was taking apart my box, just to change the input shaft and related seals. I pulled the input shaft, and somehow manage to pull the worm shaft out with all the ***** dropping to the table and floor (at the moment didn't know how the box was built). Also, at the moment I didn't find any good instructions, which lead the box to be fubar.