Steering gearbox

OP said that he was "looking for an upgrade". I'm not sure that there is one at least without major work. These boxes are under sized for this job and now all are old and many are worn out. My 1st box was leaking and AGR showed up as the be all. Those boxes all failed 2 of them lost the lock ring and dropped all of the fluid suddenly. The 3rd went in as a core to Redhead. Even Redhead can have issues but at least they are honest.

I talked to one person at Redhead who said that the boxes continue to wear once you start adjusting them. It "seems" like adjust to remove slop and another adjustment is needed soon after the 1st. Redhead bought some remans at one time to use as cores and rebuild. Some of those boxes were so bad out of the box that Redhead wouldn't build them.

My next go round will be either Blue Top because I haven't tried them or a rebuild myself. Some have bought from NAPA, Pep Boys etc and been fine. It seems like a crap shoot. Everything else needs to be good for steering to work. Steering column bearings can be tight as can ball joints or the box itself. You have to disconnect sections to make sure that things aren't locked up. Remove the pitman arm from the steering box and you can make sure that the steering box, intermediate shaft and steering wheel move freely. move the wheels and test the ball joint and everything between the steering knuckles for tightness.

I note that the factory specified rotational force required to turn the steering is nearly the same between my old Mercedes and the Ram. Mercedes says to adjust the box with it installed. Dodge says to adjust the box with it on the bench. Regardless of how you do it, go thru the entire process even on a new box before it is installed.

Got my truck out of the shop..... i was only able to drive for 5 miles at highway speeds and around parking lot a little (i work early as hell) .... im very impressed so far. The slow reaction was not a problem at all and i expected a big difference. only way i can explain it is, if u need to jerk where u really feel the difference, than you were going to flip your truck and wreck anyways. I tried to jerk it around and get a slow reaction and couldnt really.. in parking lot i thought it would be a little more cadillac style but seems same as stock or maybe a notch stiffer. I opted out of the extra reservoir psc recommended, so maybe that would made a difference. She flies straight, pulls a little left but mechanic says he can make the adjustments when i bring it back . I didnt feel any wondering at all ... almost feels like i have to relearn to drive a normal steering truck again. . hopes this helps some of you i can post back as i drive a little more in next few weeks if you all need some more info. Oh another thing for u offroaders, the ram sits a bit lower than the axle taking away some clearance.... im a wannabe offroader so i will be ok..