I have a 98 Cherokee that I used for wheeling and camping trips as well as occasionally daily driving. In the summer of 24 I put in Redhead steering gear box due to the original one leaking and having a ton of play. I’ve been to windrock and Uwharrie multiple times since the install and done some fairly difficult rock crawling for being on 31s. The redhead one pretty quickly got play as well, which I learned to deal with, but I just upgraded to 33s and now I am really noticing it. It’s not leaking, but I have at least 1/8 turn of slop before the tires start to react to my inputs. I’d like to get a gearbox that can handle the 33s off road without failing every year and a half.
I’m looking at a couple different options. Blue top boxes seem to get mixed reviews and I’m worried that they will be just another redhead. I’ve seen stuff about the Durango box being an upgrade but then other stuff saying it’s not. I’ve even seen some people recommend an S-10 gearbox. I’d like to get one that is new because the remans seem to be garbage. Does anyone have the PSC gearbox? It claims to use better components but it’s by far the most expensive one
Any recommendations for a decent gearbox that will hold up off road with 33 inch tires?

 

Dex showed that the Durango box builds more steering torque in exchange for having less rotational range. Supposedly it uses bronze bushings in some locations instead of bearings. I think its a variable ratio box.

The S-10 gearbox has the same lock-to-lock turns as stock, but is variable ratio. Not sure if its actually any stronger.

Bluetop says they use larger bearings. Not sure if that fixes the issue with pushing these boxes.

BleepinJeep offers a seal rebuild service. You might try chatting with them.

There is a guy on this forum or NAXJA that says he is doing high quality rebuilds.

There is hydro.

 

Thanks for the input.
Would bad seals cause the sloppy steering issues?

 

I've been running autozone durango boxes for a few years now. I've got 3 in a rotation, they all have the spacer delete done to them and I typically get about 3 years before I have to do a reseal. 39" stickies on locked axles to boot, ive also been to windrock and primarily stick to the technical obstacles wherever im going.

Do you have any kind of steering box support? Are your track bar and steering link similar length? Are you running a drop pitman arm? For 31s/33s im surprised your having such a bad time with play and leaks, perhaps you have some excessive force/stress at play

 

I have an iron man fab steering box brace. I need to check the length of the track bar vs steering. The pitman arm is stock as well.
Thanks for the input on the Durango box, especially considering the trails you have done. What is the spacer delete you mentioned?

 

The reduced steering angle on the durango box can be remedied by removing a physical spacer behind the piston and also grinding down the "nubs" on the inside of the front cap. Pretty well documented mod for the durango box. I have the steering gear guy at my work (rebuild shop for semi trucks, trans, steering gears, diff and driveshafts) go through and modify each box i get and then re-adjust/tune them afterwards.

He hasnt had any issues with any of my boxes even when new. 2 of them have been resealed twice now and this third (current box) was again an immediate mod, reseal and readjust. No issues with quality of parts, maybe the original builders are a little forgiving on how they setup the box adjustments? Idk i see a fair amount of comments on how the box store units are garbage and id have to disagree based on my experience. It prolly has more to do with my guys experience and tolerance for his rebuild and adjustments thats resulted in a longer lasting product.

 

Do think there is significant value in bringing the steering range back to stock?

Also, since your mechanic has seen the inside of these, can he comment on whether there are any bronze bushings in it?

 

Good thread. I've been battling steering box issues. I rebuilt my box, blew the seal out during bleeding, rebuilt it again, and now am fighting it again.

On rebuild, the replacement bearing used on the sector shaft has more rollers than the factory bearing. This is likely the reference to the "larger bearing", and I also think that's where the Durango boxes use a bushing.

The thing with these boxes is the sector shaft bore can get ovaled out. There's nothing you can do to fix that. The housing is junk.

@That Jeep Guy XJMJ , do you have a part number or a good thread to link on the Durango boxes that you use? Its been a long time since I've looked into any of that and the only thing I really remember is a ton of conflicting info and misinformation.

 

Sector shaft bearing

sector shaft cap - idk if theres a bearing or bushing in there?

machined cap with the nubs removed

This is the spacer at the back of the box behind the piston

Edelman re-seal kit we use with every unit


Autozone Trugrade 7561


I should remind you though, all of my units have been modified and re-tuned straight out of the box. I cant speak for its out of the box setup as is. @XJlimitedx99