Alright guys, i noticed today while i was at advance lookin to see why shape track bar i have (yes to fix death wobble) that my steering gear box is leaking at the pitman arm seal; now i understand i have one of two choices, either buy a gear box or replace the seal. Everything on my 96 XJ has 255XXX miles (it's a daily) and i'm exceptin things to break. What are the odds of successfully replacing the gear to pitman are seal should i just go ahead and replace the steering gear box. If i go the replacing route out of what year make and model vehicles can i pull a gear box out of and have no problem throwin it in my XJ?

Thanks in advance,
Redwolf

 

Only a fair chance the replacement seal wont leak. The output shaft ends up getting a groove worn in where the seal rides. If you have a pitman arm puller its only a few bucks for the seal and a couple of hours work.

 

Advanced has the seal. Its 8717 IIRC. Pull the pitman arm. Take the snap run out. Turn the steering wheel left and right a few times and the old seal should shoot out. Replace new seal and close up. Make sure pitman arm foes back same way as out. And check pitman arm TRE one time for excessive movement since it'll be free, somewhat.

 

i'm sure there's someone at my shop that has one i could borrow
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/p...17&showTitle=# i'm assuming i have to pull the whole pitman arm off currect? Above is the link to the part number ya gave me, just wanna make sure that's the right thing before i go buyin it, and what do you mean by TRE when i'm checkin the pitman arm for excessive movement,

Redwolf

 

Phone didn't want to open your link so I re linked the 8717 lower pitman arm seal.

http://m.advanceautoparts.com/mt/sho...n_jtt_redirect

As for the TRE. That's the tie rod end that connects the drag link to the pitman arm. Check to see if it has any slop in it when you remove the pitman arm from the box. TRE shouldn't look like a floppy rubber toy. And yes pitman needs to come off all together from the box

 

well i replaced my seal before i left work tonight and i'm now in need of a box. my steering gear still leaks the same as it did, what year make and models can i pull a steering gear box out of?

Redwolf

 

Here's the A1 Cardone page for their rebuilt part:

http://www.cardone.com/Products/Prod...=277560&p=rock

Click on "See all vehicles this part fits." (Looks like it's a GM/Saginaw box, fits a lot of GM stuff as well as Jeep.)

 

i've got the part numbers for the cardone and a lares steering gear box, both show the same chevy, gmc, and jeep vehicles but the lares gear box shows a couple years durangos and dakotas, right now i aint got the money to buy a reman one from the parts stores, so i'm junkyard pickin. I know i can use a steering gear box out of a 1996-1998 cherokee or grand cherokee and 1995 chevy s10s or 1995 gmc sonomas; but for the lares box it tells me 1997-1999 dakota and 1998-1999 durango. does it matter weather it's a lares or cardone gear box?

Redwolf

 

Since those companies (A1 Cardone and Lares) are rebuilders, it really should not matter from the standpoint of fitment. There may be differences in things like steering ratio but the box should fit. (I think there are 3-bolt and 4-bolt mounting models so that would be something to watch for.) Lares actually shows their application going back to 1980 AMC models.

If the Cherokee does use a bog-standard Saginaw box it should even be possible to grab one from a later-model TransAm for quicker and more positive steering. (I put a TransAm steering box into an old AMC car years ago and it did make quite a difference, however the stops were more restrictive making for a larger turning radius.)

Not sure what junkyards are getting for these, but Rockauto shows a Lares box for about $58. Shipping would probably be a killer, though, especially since you'd need to send the core back to them.

 

i had gotten a gear box out of another 96 cherokee country 4 wheel drive today, no signs of leakin, with the core charge and 1 year warrenty on it it came to $65.39 but i found out as i'm one bolt away from gettin the box out from a guy that just replaced his i can go with 96-98 durangos,

Redwolf