Brain fart?

Threw a new steering box on the Dodge yesterday. Redhead Steering Gears of Seattle. After 250,000 miles, the original was getting a bit sloppy, and Kate didn't like driving it. I guess I was used to it... At any rate, got ti bolted up and all the lines back on, and fired her up.... turns hard as hell. Figured I just needed to turn it lock to lock a few times and it'd start working...so far about 3 cycles and nothing improves.... then it was time to feed nags, so that's as far as it got last night. I'm thinking I need to bleed it???? Total brain fart today...must be sinus stuff. Any suggestions?

Sounds like it needs to be bled.

been over 10 years since i put one on the travelall--the first one turned out to be reverse steering--when i turned the steering wheel left the tires went right--ooopppsss

hope bleeding is all it needs John

Admin wrote:--when i turned the steering wheel left the tires went right--ooopppsss

hope bleeding is all it needs John

Holybatcrap!! That'd be a nice suprise when ya went for a test drive!!! I have seen the results of that done on an airplane more than once...with not so great results on one... but the others were found without too bad of a mishap.
I finally got it....what a turd to bleed! I've got oil all over me, the floor, the pickup, and even some in the pump! It's not perfect, but getting there. Got some bubbles to work out, but we're on the road!
It's finally starting to cool off...so need this done so I can get the other ten thousand things done that I want to do today.....haha
Thanks guys!!
JH

John, usually if you just turn it all the way to the lock and shut the engine off for several minutes, then start it up and turn it to the other lock and shut it off for a few minutes, that will get the air out.
JD, my bil had that happen on a Dodge

Yah, I had to throw it up on stands, then go from lock to lock a bunch of times after bleeding the lines, to get it to work. I haven't done a p/s swap for ever! The last one was on my Pete in about 1980.
Now I have to learn to drive all over again! That Redhead steering gear is sooo smooth!! They machine the case out and replace all the bushings with roller bearings and it is smmmmmooooooothhhhhh!!!!!!
Thanks for the help, guys!

Even when those Dodges are tight you have to set up and drive all the time, and when they get a little loose or the tow gets off, it is a chore to keep one between the ditches. Too bad you have to buy a Dodge to get a Cummins, but it's worth it. The local Ford/Dodge dealer has an 85-86 Ford F-350 4x4 4 door with a 12 valve/5 speed. Ideal truck, except it needs a 6 speed. I think he spent $10,000 converting it, shop labor and all.

Yah, paying someone to do a conversion would kill ya! This one drives nice... but I've done a bunch to it to get it there. The original steering was a "Y" setup, and everytime the front end went up or down, the toe changed...not much fun! I converted it to a "T" and that helped alot! I've also put a brace below the steering box, that supports the end of the shaft, and that made a difference! The thing I hate the worst is the stupid "unit" bearings on the front end... $450 to change a wheel bearing :evil: . There are a few guys that have converted to a Ford spindle and "real" bearings, as well as manual hubs, and that seems to be working pretty well. I'd be pretty tempted to do that one next time I have problems.
That 12 valve Cummins is a good enough engine that it outweighs the bad parts, so they're still very valuable! We've been keeping an eye out for our oldest girl... she wants one just like we have, but they're pretty much staying with the owners, or they want $12grand or something.... we just lucked into this one. The guy we bought it from was sort of hinting that he'd messed up on his price when we bought it...but he stood by what he'd advertised it at, which sort of suprised me in this day and age.

John you aren't kidding about valuable. I just priced a ReCon 12 valve for a Kawasaki loader thru the local Cummins distributor. $7650 + $2400 core charge and $275 freight. On top of that there's a 45 to 60 day lead time to get one built.