My steering box on my 2001 Cherokee has been weak with a lot of play. I replaced it twice with an Autozone re-manufactured version, but they seem to be crap. Checking the feedback on Advance Auto and O'Reilly, it seems that nobody can rebuild a steering box correctly, and they charge a huge amount on a brand new one.

Does anyone know a brand that has a good steering box product without having to sell my kidney for it?

 

A lot of people swap in boxes from different vehicles like Dodge Durangos.
I don't know much about it but I hear about it often enough it may be worth looking into.
I'm sure somebody who has actually done it will chime in soon enough.

 

Reman boxes are hit or miss. I had bought an AC Delco reman thinking it would be better, but it was not. I hated the way it felt. But some people get good ones, and give them good reviews. If you are going the reman way, you just have to keep trying until you get a good one. Or get a Red Head gearbox for big bucks.

Or do what I did, and rebuilt your own original. But you may not have it cause you probably returned it for the core charge.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/new...-tight-251976/

But even if you pull your own from another vehicle, you may still want to change the seals, depending on how old it is. The trial and error gets expensive and frustrating. Good luck.

 

Redhead if you want to get one and not worry about how it's rebuilt.

 

^^^^^ That if you want a good "cheaper" box. PSC if you want a great box and have some deep pockets.

 

Red Head box. they are rebuilt. I went down that rabbit hole of remans before I finally said F it...and forked out the cash for one of these and never looked back. do yourself a favour and get one.

 

The box store Cardone rebuilts are garbage. Wish I knew that beforehand. The pump I installed is whines really loud when it's cold. I have less steering power than what I replaced, and within a year, it's now as sloppy as the original.

 

Same here. It sounds like the box keeps whining when turning, and the steering play makes me look like a drunk.

 

not really sure what they do for a"rebuilt" or "reman" steering boxes ?

from working with older ones, you can replace seals, bearings, bushes etc and adjust them up tight

however, once the area where the rack and worm gears touch gets worn out in the centre (where most of the steering action takes place), it can no longer be adjusted up, as it will bind at the extremities

This means those 2 main parts must be new, (at least better than was in there), or whatever has been done means nothing

 

I haven't done it on an XJ yet, but I"m on a Ford forum and the Redhead are considered The Cure for steering box problems.

 

+1 on the Red Head.

 

These are all worm&sector steering boxes with recirculating ***** for gear teeth. What happens is the channels the ***** travel thru get egg-shaped and that cannot be fixed without replacing the parts. There is a good writeup on using the Durango box here on the forum and I'll try to give you the link: Well, that didn't work....

Anyhow, it's in technical write-up/how to section/XJ Cherokee write-ups-Durango steering box upgrade 09/03/2008 by 99xjlove. He used a 99 Durango V8 box without snow plow package.

Actually most of the "re-man" is done to the hydraulic valve and piston section.