Throwback Thursday: Rebuild Or Replace Your Steering Box

The week is almost over, and once again, Thursday has landed on our doorsteps. I don’t know about you, but my weekend plans are already made. If your plans for advancing your project include working on the steering system in your classic, we can help with that. If you’re on the fence trying to decide whether to rebuild or replace that steering box, you need to check out: Borgeson Makes Choosing To Rebuild Or Replace Your Steering Box Easy before you begin. The pros and cons of each are discussed. Once again, we celebrate another editorial look-back, and jump into the way back machine to open the Power Automedia vault that houses our vast collection of articles and revisit another great informational piece.

Borgeson Steering

When the box is disassembled, it doesn’t appear that rebuilding it would be too difficult. Several items you do not see in this image are the dozens of small ball bearings that support the ball nut, and if you lose one of them, the rest of the box is garbage. Proper assembly also requires specialized tools and adhering to tolerance specifications.

In this Throwback Thursday, we’re taking a small jump back to October 2016. That’s when we teamed up with Jeff Grantmeyer of Borgeson Universal Company to get a little more information when contemplating to rebuild or purchase a new steering box.

For starters, if your thinking about rebuilding the box, Jeff asks that you keep this in mind, “The problem with rebuilding a steering box from the ’60s and ’70s, is that when you’re done, you still have an old steering box.” Jeff went on to say, “Experienced, detail-orientated people can of course complete a rebuild – pending availability of components and a thorough inspection of the steering gear to insure all critical surfaces and components are serviceable.”

If you’re like me, you want to tear things apart and fix them yourself. But, if you think about it, is that really an option for something like rebuilding a steering box? To some it might seem like a simple task. In reality, there are dozens of small pieces that need to be properly placed, and tolerances that must be adhered to in order to have a box that, not only works properly, but will last longer than a gallon of fuel. The original article gets into those details.

If you’re not sure about rebuilding the box yourself, for a minimal uptick in investment, you can get an all-new Borgeson steering gear box. We asked Jeff what makes the Borgeson box a good upgrade, and we were actually surprised with his answer, “The Borgeson steering box is the OE. In 2014, Borgeson purchased all of the original tooling, equipment, and manufacturing rights for the entire Saginaw manual-steering gear line.” What better way to get a new steering box than by buying a new, original unit?

Borgeson steering

The Borgeson gear box is a direct replacement, because it is manufactured directly from the original Saginaw plans.

The job of changing out the steering gear box is relatively easy, and anyone can do it at home in their driveway. Most of the task can be accomplished with simple hand tools, but a couple specialty tools like a pitman arm puller and tie-rod separator will also be needed. If you don’t have these tools, a friend might. If they don’t, some auto parts stores will rent them to you.

The information in the original article is good to know, and if you are planning to tackle a steering-box issue, I suggest you check out: Borgeson Makes Choosing To Rebuild Or Replace Your Steering Box Easy.

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About the author

Randy Bolig

Randy Bolig has been working on cars and has been involved in the hobby ever since he bought his first car when he was only 14 years old. His passion for performance got him noticed by many locals, and he began helping them modify their vehicles.
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