Leaking Steering Box
#1
Leaking Steering Box
This is for those of you that have changed the steering gearbox on a 97-03 F-150. My steering box is leaking and definitely needs replacement, and I have purchased a remanufactured one and would like to install it myself. The new one I purchased comes with the pitman arm already attached. My question is can I remove the old box without taking the pitman arm off. I would imagine if the pinch bolt on the steering collumn is loosened and the center link disconnected from the pitman arm, and after removing the 3 bolts holding the box to the frame and the lines it should just come out with the pitman arm still attached. Although I would like to double check with someone that has done this before. The reason I am asking is that I do not have a pitman arm puller, nor do I have the 36mm wrench that is needed to remove the nut holding the pitman arm onto the box. Also I am wondering what the difficulty of this job is, I have heard the box is rather heavy... Is it something that can be accomplised using jackstands and a creeper without too much trouble? Thanks for all the help.