TRW steering box - reman versus new

Are the remans just as good as new? They're $500 cheaper.

 

They must do it differently with one truck guys than fleets. Everyone is just flat charge with swapping the old box in. Winner was Fleetpride Murfreesboro. A TRW box that when I asked he told me was reman'd by TRW in Lebanon, TN. $634.04 swapping my old core and includes state sales tax. Dealers were all over the place on price the closest two were $100 higher than Fleetpride. That's much cheaper than I was expecting at least $850 or so. New pitman arm is $120 and I'm all set everything will be here by Tuesday. Thanks for that link Grape the info on bleeding air and setting poppets. As far as dealers go sick and tired of $105+ rates for half assed jobs I doubt they would check half the stuff they need to. I know there are good mechanics at these shops but I don't have a relationship with any of them (except local CAT house who I do trust but still not paying to do this). and not rich enough to fish for one. I'm putting new oil, filter, and lines on. The pump should be fine my steering never made noises or anything. The box is most definitely shot. Gears inside you can just tell when you get out there and twist the steer shaft. Lot's of slop the pitman arm even moves sideways!! at the bottom linkage as well as back and forth been battling to hold it in the road for several weeks now. Probably an out of service issue and most certainly unsafe it's definitely no fun to drive. If anything doesn't seem right when I'm done I'll take it up to TAFA in Nashville and let them have a look see. They won't rake me over the coals they're a first rate axle/aligment shop.

 

Yeah I thought about adjusting that. That's the trouble with asking these sorts of questions here and elsewhere you always get answers all over the place, contradictory, etc, etc. It's what several of my friends said ought to be done adjust that. Asked in a post how in the heck you can get a flatscrewdriver in there? You #### sure ain't gonna do it with one that's got the flat turned on a 90* cause I tried - you can but you won't ever break it loose while holding a wrench on the jam nut - I couldn't. Anyways, here's what another experienced dealer mechanic had to say about adjusting that: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...1752-after-1-228-197-miles-3.html#post4078617

Really this box needs replacing even if there is adjustment in that screw. Several years ago when I first started driving I had some sloppy play and finally figured out the bolt in the pitman arm needed tightening up. It would work loose ever so often and had to be tightened again, and again, and again. I carry a 1" and 1-1/8" wrench in my sidebox for this reason. Over time I had torqued it so much so many times it was squeezed together at the gap in the top of the pitman so I picked one up from a salvage yard for about $60 and let TAFA replace it. The mechanic told me at the time if it ever started working loose again or I ended up tightening it back up to the point of it being squeezed together like the old one again... ...that I need to just put another box on because the splines on the shaft were worn down some. I asked about having it rebuilt he said most people just replace with reman no shops bother with rebuilding them anymore. I've had to re-torque this one now several times over the past couple of years or so that it's been on there to the point it's pinched together at the top like the old one was, no more tightening left in it. And I don't know anyone who ever has to torque that bolt besides me. Bet you $100 right now when I take the bolt out I can pull the pitman arm off the shaft with my hand not even break a sweat. Now admittedly I have been guilty at throwing parts at problems in past but in this case I have no doubt this box needs to go.

 

Hey guys. Been searching and not really able to find much of anything. What type of ATF to use in the gearbox? There's several different types ATF+4, Dextron, Mercon, etc. Only thing I saw somewhere whatever you do don't mix different types, just pick one and go with it. So any ATF will do?

Service bulletin #RM-017A that came with the reman box showed a total of $880 possible deductions. What they did was give me a flat credit of $800 even though there was nothing to cause a deduction on the core I gave them.