The manual says "special heavy steering gear lubricant" for my 31. I'm not sure what that translates to in SAE numbers. Does anyone have better info in this department? The steering box does have a grease zerk, does that mean regular axle greace?
The "street" say that the higher the SAE the better, in that it makes the steering smoother. The book says SAE 90 low Cold test.
Don
Some people will put a zerk fitting in and pump in grease. It is one way around leaking steering boxes, however, you have to keep the box full (which is true no matter what lube you use) I've heard stories about grease drying out and then the gearbox wears out. I would go for the 90 - 140 wt gear oil as first choice and only use grease as a last resort.
Thanks for the information. The puzzling part to me is the zerk, you typically don't put gear oil through a zerk fitting. When I opened things up to remove the steering wheel, a heavy lubricant flowed out which certainly wasn't grease. A heavy gear oil does sound like the way to go.
David
Using chassis lube, (grease) in the steering gears on old cars is an old time trick that I learned when I was a kid working in service stations in the early fifty's. The heavier grades of gear oil, 90/140 or straight 140 used to be very common so they could be used in steering gears, however I think they are pretty difficult to come by now unless one lives in an area that still has a lot of farming.
Several years ago I found that "Motor Honey", a very thick oil additive type product, works very well on steering gears with poor seals. As a rule it is best to set the container out in the sun to warm it up, then put a small funnel into the fill openning into which you can pore the thick oil letting it slowly run into the steering gears. The thick oil will migrate into the bearings, etc, yet it will not leak out, maybe a slight seep but no big pool of oil under your car.....Bill
My local NAPA has 90/140 in their house brand and also Valvoline. I could send u some if u don't have a local source. that "motor honey" sounds good since I have to replace the oil every year-bad seals. would it also work for transmission and differential leaks? Where did u get that?
I read somewhere that chassis grease was bad for the bearings in the steering box.
The "Motor Honey" type products were a very big seller many years ago under the "STP" brand. I have a couple of bottles that I purchased from Pep Boys a few years ago, they called it "Oil Additive" it is a thick honey colored product that is reputed to "improve viscosity" of engine oil to reduce oil consumption. I am quite sure that that most chain type auto parts stores carry a simular product. I am not so sure if chassis lube would be harmful to steering gears, the litium type grease might be better because it is probably not effected much by extreme tempreture changes, however, I would think that chassis lube of any kind would be better than a lubricant that runs out onto the ground as fast as you pore it in...Bill ::)
In many cases I have found that the grease would break down and turn to almost a liquid. That may be what you have or someone mixed the two. Why else would there be a grease zirk, but to put grease in it. My book says 90 weight.
JT