[mattds]

My 2" lifted AWD 2004 continues to make noise...is there an updated write up on an awd steering box change?

- I have changed the fluid )took the lines out of the box and even cranked the engine for a moment so i woudl say i got 75% or more of the old fluid out - it certainly helped with the noise and the steering feel...but i know i'll have to replace the whole thing...

These vans are pretty cramped....looks like i have have to do it from above...

 

[WoodButcher]

Most likely it is the pump making noise, if the steering box itself made any noise I expect it would be a very short lived grinding until the gears disintegrated.

 

[RECox286]

X2 on the pump as the culprit. Steering boxes only make noise for

a short time, and usually only when turning.

Uncle Bob

 

[astroman97]

Agree it is a pita but doable. But even though my mind thinks it is a teenager my body disagrees I had to get help starting the bolts that go threw the frame, my arm was losing to much blood trying to hold it up with one hand and reaching around to try and start the bolts.

 

[redfury]

Hardest part for me has been getting the steering wheel aligned again. It's not exactly the easiest thing to do...stab that thing with the box installed. I had redone it, only to have it in the exact same position as before, but now I can't get the shaft back off of the steering box to try it again...sigh.

 

[BustedKnuckles]

This posting send chills up my spine....I HAVE to do all of our automotive repairs....we simply can't afford to pay a shop or independent mechanic, and I grew up watching and learning from Dad. Not sure yet exactly what the source of my problem is because I haven't had time to look into it, but my steering wheel has about 3 inches of free play in both directions before the tires respond to a turn. After reading this post, am hoping it has something to do with a piece OTHER THAN the gear box! lol (nervously laughing)
I'm currently rebuilding my Suburban transmission and have put all Safari tasks aside until that is completed, but already thinking about the road ahead with it. Can anyone possibly put my mind at ease and tell me whether or not the gear box could be the problem?
oke:

 

[Lumpy]

OK what's the problem here, you bunch of wussies. I've replaced my steering gear box, my PS pump, my intermediate shaft, my complete front end rods/links/bars/coils/joints/bushings. No PITA, no grief, no loss of limbs.

I sometimes think some of you guys just make this stuff up to scare the new guys.

Lump

 

[RECox286]

Ghosts must live under the front end of my truck...Every time I get under there I feel like

somebody is watching me ! Ooooooooooh, Boo, ha, ah, ha !

UB

 

[WoodButcher]

This posting send chills up my spine....I HAVE to do all of our automotive repairs....we simply can't afford to pay a shop or independent mechanic, and I grew up watching and learning from Dad. Not sure yet exactly what the source of my problem is because I haven't had time to look into it, but my steering wheel has about 3 inches of free play in both directions before the tires respond to a turn. After reading this post, am hoping it has something to do with a piece OTHER THAN the gear box! lol (nervously laughing)
I'm currently rebuilding my Suburban transmission and have put all Safari tasks aside until that is completed, but already thinking about the road ahead with it. Can anyone possibly put my mind at ease and tell me whether or not the gear box could be the problem?
oke:

LOL.
Join the club. Not having the funds for a garage is why I learned what little I know.
Don't sweat it, if I can do it so can you.
what you need to do diagnose the problem is to have someone turn the wheel back and forth while you nose around. Looking from the top down you can see the steering wheel move and the shaft to the box and maybe the pitman arm out the back of the box at the same time. (separate the boot, as I recall it was 2 pieces) Seeing all this at once will give you perspective, crawl underneath and watch the linkages, again, perspective. Keep in mind the center link should not be moving up and down easily, if it does that points to idler arms IIRC.
To replace every part of your steering is a pretty straight forward task, the things like removal of the pitman arm being the worst but that can be as easy as driving the part to a local machine shop.

 

[WoodButcher]

Hey Fury, seems to me that was keyed not just a splined shaft. I know I did this a while ago but is my memory that bad?

I know the pitman arm was keyed but I can't for the life of me swear that the upper was one or the other.

 

[Lumpy]

Hey Fury, seems to me that was keyed not just a splined shaft. I know I did this a while ago but is my memory that bad?

I know the pitman arm was keyed but I can't for the life of me swear that the upper was one or the other.

The upper is D shaped. Both Pitman and intermediate shaft only go on one way.

Simple to center the steering wheel. Give the tie rod adjusters a quarter turn, both moving the same direction, either R or L. Roll it a bit. Check. Repeat till steering wheel is centered. Toe in won't change as long as you move the adjusters the same amount in the same direction (one forward, one rearward - DIRECTION refers to the wheel direction, not the sleeve direction). Thanks Cargo Crawler for that handy technique.

Lump

 

[WoodButcher]

I think the intermediate shafts differ between generations
The '93 intermediate shaft had a smooth "D" on top and it looks to be similar on the box end as well, this allows for no mistake. I don't remember my '97 being smooth. IIRC it was round and splined, had a groove cut round the splines where the clamping bolt passed. I had to remove the clamping bolt completely to get that shaft to slide out, not so for the '93.
Fury, did you take that bolt completely out?

 

[redfury]

yeah, I took it out completely. There is some play available in the connection of the intermediate shaft to the box, otherwise there wouldn't be much of a point in saying to mark their correlation when removing them. Problem is, I didn't do that, and I couldn't put the steering box in or out of the van without pulling it in the van...of course, the box is installed, so I got to figure out how to line it up right. Dumb thing is, the wheels were straight, the steering was straight, it seemed like everything was in alignment, and I go fire it up and it is crooked again...and stuck onto the steering box...not much leverage to be had down there to pull it off again either. I'm hoping that a little bit of time driving and maybe this cold weather will give me the opportunity to take another stab at it.

 

[Lumpy]

All the shafts will interchange between years. Only difference in some is length. No matter what the connection, the intermediate shaft will only go in one way. Any "play" is removed once the bolt is tightened.

I've never seen instructions to mark the alignment of the intermediate shaft. If there are I don't know why there would be since it can't be put back any other way.

If you've got a steering wheel that's not centered, there's no way it's because of a steering arm or pitman arm that was put back some other way. It's simply a tie rod adjustment.

Lump

 

[WoodButcher]

From Rock Auto my '93. I checked, my '97 and your '89 show the same box so they would be interchangeable. The top of the steering box is a splined shaft not "D" like the top of the intermediate. I won't swear to it Lump but I don't recall that being keyed, hence the instruction to mark the box and the shaft. I did copy the majority of that instruction from the Haynes manual but some of their instruction was redundant or irrelevant so was edited.

 

[Lumpy]

That's really odd. I had mine off just a couple weeks ago when I built my intermediate shaft extension. The stub sticking up from the gearbox is D shaped.

Here's a pic of what mine looks like. Not mine, but a RockAuto image. Mine is a Cardone.

But I see the other images, with a round/splined shaft.

Perhaps the difference is that part that sits between the gear box and the lower end of the intermediate shaft. Maybe that part isn't part of either assembly. But my reman Cardone mated up just fine with my OEM parts above it.

In any case, the fix is still a simple twist of the connecting rod sleeves.

Lump

 

[WoodButcher]

Interesting,,,
I'll have to look again carefully at the numbers but the cardone you pictured does look like a D shaft.
I wonder now if the photo I grabbed was not a copy and paste job at their end or I misread,,,,
It wouldn't be the first time I goofed.

 

[1lowcab]

Sorry to bring this back from the dead.

I just wanted to post up that I just did my steering box on my 03 awd today.
I followed a combination of woodbutchers and hexafamilys posts and had zero problems.
It took the better part of a day taking my time with an hour lunch, easy peasy and MAN what a difference!

Thanks guys!! :banana:

 

[WoodButcher]

Thank you!
for saying so.
Glad it helped, all I had at the time was that stinking Haynes manual but I learned some so I put it up here. With feedback from others I learned a bunch more.

 

[gengomepyle]

my gear box is leaking on my 03. can the mid shaft come off the gear box before its removed from van or is it easier to remove it once its out?