Cardone steering gearbox replacement opinions ???

don't want my original weeper box making a mess under the hood with the fresh paint. doing research on replacements. looks like oriely's has a cardone box....32 spline but it doesn't list the amount of turns, assume 4.  27-6541

Cardone/A-1 parts can be hit or miss. Check it for obvious defects before you install it. Keep an eye on it, if it's got a problem it usually shows up shortly after installing. I got a distributor and noticed there was no roll pin installed in the drive gear. I'm glad I saw that before installation.

I second the Lares box from Advance.  I just received mine.  It's not installed yet but I read on this forum it's a definite improvement.   You never know what you're going to get with a Cardone steering box.  I'm speaking from my past experience with a Cardone box as well as a Lares box.

Lares box is 3.5, that HAS to be an improvement on the box in my 76 Elite!

I'm in the middle of a front suspension rebuild, so I'm going to tackle this while I'm there.  I'm kinda new to this.  I've never replaced one before.

Used the 841 in my 72. Good box with descent characteristics. Big improvement over what I pulled out.

One other thing.  I was looking at RockAuto's website.  It's telling me this:

I'm not sure.  It's still in the car.  Was trying to get my parts lined up before diving into it this weekend.  Will I be able to tell while it's still in the car?

I was doing some reading.  I'm "green" to all of this.  I've got a lot of play in my steering.  So much so, that my wife is scared to drive the wagon.  Could the rag joint be all that I need, in order to fix this?  Why would one need to replace the box?

Mine bolted to the factory setup...just like it was made for it 

That is a scary thought.

Rockatansky wrote: Todd is the wear/damage you found because the clamp bolt became loose at some point & didn't hold the coupler securely?

Rock,
On the last one I removed the nut/bolt on the coupler that indexes the steering box input shaft was tight, tight enough in fact I used my 18V Dewalt impact driver to remove the nut and had to tap the index bolt out with a hammer. I was surprised to see the spline condition once back to my warehouse after cleaning up the intermediate shaft(didn't notice the damaged splines until at my warehouse, after purchase of course ). I have pulled the splined couplers from a mid 70's Jeep and a mid 70's GM car(both had Saginaw boxes) and both showed sings of deteriorated or compromised splines inside the coupler. It almost looked like corrosion due to dissimilar metals, like when aluminum is attached to steel. The steering box input shaft almost never showed damage but the coupler was another story, to tell the truth it really surprised me. I would hate to find out if and/or when the coupler would totally lose all the splines while driving . I think I can get some decent pics of what I found if they would be helpful. Todd   

Here is a pic of the damaged/missing splines I found in one of the couplers. This coupler was attached to the steering box I removed from a '79 Ranchero and rebuilt with Jeep Grand Cherokee internals to make it a quick ratio steering box, so I know the input shaft was in good to excellent shape.

Over half of the splines were missing, scary in deed.

This is a pic of what the splines should look like, even though this coupler is for a different steering box.

I hope this helps someone before an accident occurs. Todd

Edited by aquartlow - 26-March-2014 at 8:34AM

I do not think that there is any real danger as the bolt fits into a notch in the shaft , both top and bottom.

Wow. With the steering issues I'm having with my wagon, it is a very real possibility that the splines are gone on mine. Especially with it sitting so many years. Thanks for making us aware of this.

unlovedford wrote: Wow. With the steering issues I'm having with my wagon, it is a very real possibility that the splines are gone on mine. Especially with it sitting so many years. Thanks for making us aware of this.

Believe me when I say it was a serious "AH-HA" moment when I saw the condition of the splines on both couplers. I definitely hope this helps someone. Todd