Steering box grease

[Johan]

Hi,

I'm just about to assemble my steering box. I will use a heat resistant Li-based grease, but how much should i put in there; just cover the moving parts, or fill up the entire box??

/Johan

 

[GTR1999]

I use almost a full tube, you have to leave enough for expansion. Did you shim the lash screw to under .002" any other questions before you seal it up?

 

[mvftw]

I agree... Do Not Fill it Up...Leave a little room.

 

[Johan]

Thanks for the replies.
I have not assembled the parts yet, just cleaned everything up, but I will try to get to 0.002".

Everything was in very good condition with no noticeable wear so I guess a rebuild wasn't really necessary, but how are you supposed to know?

 

[GTR1999]

Stock boxes,even with low miles, are sloppy. The lash gap is supposed to be .002 I set them to .001-.002" Most I find are in the .007-.010 range. The stock bushings are in the .010 sideplay range also. These need to be addressed to get the box where it should be. I've rebuilt every model year vette box from 63-82 and they are all like this.

Also you are going to need a 0-30 in/lb dial wrench to properly set it up. Trying any other method is not going to get it where it should be.
3-4 in/lb preload and 11-11.5 on center.

If you set it up like this you will see a big difference in it. On center there should be no lost motion in the box.

 

[pgtr]

Same here - just a bit less than a full tube when I rebuilt mine.

Are those 15" turbines on your red C3? I always like those on a C3 (never encountered any larger than 15" though).

 

[Johan]

Gary,
Thanks for the input! I havent found a "low" dial wrench locally, but I will order one.

pgtr,
Yes those are 15" Western turbines.

 

[GTR1999]

Gary,
Thanks for the input! I havent found a "low" dial wrench locally, but I will order one.

I guess you may have a problem getting one- I just shipped one over with small vette parts & rebuild kits to Sweden. If you can't find one let me know, I can help you too.

 

[Hib Halverson]

GTR1999---sounds like you rebuild C2/C3 steering boxes for a living. Am I right?

 

[GTR1999]

For a living no, but I have been doing them for forum members on several forums for years now, same as differentials, rear bearings,etc. I take them in and do them as I would for my cars, usually putting a lot of time into each one.