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Inspecting reman steering boxes

FatSlobBob

NAXJA Forum User
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So my steering box is shot and I've ordered a Durango box to upgrade to. I went with O'Reily's in-house brand "Pro Master" on the Durango box. Are there ways to inspect it prior to installing it so I know I'm not going to be ripping it out again in a week when it fails?
 
Short answer...no. But there's a couple of things you can do to improve your odds.
Check for number of turns, stop to stop, vs your existing box. If I remember right you should be able to turn the input shaft with Channel Lock pliers. Also take your pitman arm and attach it to the sector shaft to check for any obvious side or lateral play in the sector shaft bearing. Grab the pitman arm and move it back and forth like you're trying to pry it off. This isn't a sure fire way to check for a bad bearing, but it should catch an obvious one. My understanding is sector shaft bearings are usually not replaced in reman'd boxes.
 
Box should not be an issue pump though....You also need to swap in a WJ pump with the Durango box and get the proper spacer for it to fit. Also highly suggest stiffners if you're going to wheel it. It's not a bolt and go mod takes some extra but well worth it. Was one of the better mods I did but killed the unibody.
 
She is mostly a pavement princess. I've never heard of anyone swapping the pump when they do the Durango box. Every video/write-up I've seen is exactly a bolt-and-go deal. I did pick up a steel spacer from JCROffroad so that's covered.
 
It's been done on more than a few occasions. If youre not going to wheel it then why even bother swapping in the Durango box? Should just have swapped ina stock box. Whole purpose is because it has a bigger piston but you need more volume to move it hence swapping the WJ pump.
 
It's running 33s right now so if I have to replace a steering box it may as well be with a beefier one. All I've heard are good things about the Durango box when you have larger than stock tires. For wheeling I'm sure the WJ pump is a needed upgrade. For my purposes I'm thinking the stock pump shall suffice. If it ends up blowing up I'll be the first to admit I was wrong.
 
I noticed an improvement with the WJ pump and a stock box. I believe I was on 31's at the time. I am on 32.5" (metric) now.
 
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