Identifying which type of steering box

[ekfinn]

Does anyone know how to ID what kind of steering box is in our trucks? When I look it up on rockauto, there seems to be a 2-bolt and 4-bolt cover steering gear for trucks 8500lbs and up. What exactly does one look for on the steering box?

[BigFuel]

Not sure where you see that as when I look on RockAuto I only see the one unit (from different re-builders and not counting the Manual steering).

[ekfinn]

Look up a 97. My 97 is rated on the door tag for 8800 lbs gvwr. On rockauto there is a split for 8500+ trucks with either a 2 or 4 bolt cover.

[BigFuel]

Ah, I see now. I generally don't trust any site that lists stuff for the '97 F xxx. I almost always go by the '96 ford stuff. My '97 Cali truck has the 2 bolt cap.

[BigFuel]

Lying on the ground you can feel if you have the 2 bolt or four bolt by reaching up and feeling around the adjustment screw. If your tires are small enough then you can peek at it from between the frame and inner plastic wheel well.

[Diesel_brad]

97 was the bastard only year. You would have to see if you have a 2 or 4 bolt cap. If you have any other year, you have no worries they are all the same

[ekfinn]

Originally Posted by Diesel_brad

97 was the bastard only year. You would have to see if you have a 2 or 4 bolt cap. If you have any other year, you have no worries they are all the same

Hehe... Ford must have had a few extra stearing boxes kicking around and said "f**k it... use 'em up."

[ekfinn]

Originally Posted by BigFuel

Lying on the ground you can feel if you have the 2 bolt or four bolt by reaching up and feeling around the adjustment screw. If your tires are small enough then you can peek at it from between the frame and inner plastic wheel well.

Thanks. I'll go look at it today before I order one up.

I wouldn't be going through all this trouble if I had just decided to blast into the deer and scrub the guts off the front. I moved as far to the right of the road as I could, and my front tire caught the roughly 6" lip of the pavement (country road)... and it pulled me right into the ditch. Pretty good sized rock in there, and that force had to go somewhere... right into the steering gear.

[BigFuel]

To keep from having to buy another one in the future spend the money on a big steel bumper. Lets see that deer hurt you then.