Reproduction Parts for 1916-1964 Chevrolet Passenger Cars & 1918-1987 Chevrolet & GMC Trucks
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Have a coupe steering box mounted in the car that a previous owner used a grease gun on since the fitting was the same as the spring shackles and steering linkage.
I want to clean it out and replace with the proper gear oil ( 600W or equivalent)
Can this be accomplished in place, or does the steering box need to be removed?
All the info I can find refers to 1931 gear boxes which are a different design from 1930.
From the VCCA Chat archive this is all I can find:
removed link :_Steering_box_with_too_much#Post291820
It shows a one piece steering shaft and worm gear requiring steering wheel removal. I can get a drawing of the 1931 shaft in the Master Parts Price List from the time period, but not for the 1930 part to see its design. From parts descriptions only it may be a two part item. I just don’t want to blindly take things apart then find out I messed up adjustments or bearings come loose.
Hello Ernest Lee,
Not familiar with 1930 steering box assembly. Maybe a 1930 repair manual might guide you. There is a question: Is your steering box giving you problems? If so, dismantling is probably the way to go for repair, adjustment, new seals and removing old grease inside. But, if you're not having issues, you might think about just removing the grease fitting for a plug and try adding 600w or equivalent to the grease that's inside. I don't believe it would hurt anything. You might look at youtube video: How to grease your classic chevy gear box. by Ovi Duran (not 1930 but still useful information.) I believe that the thought was to try chassis grease in the steering box to stop leaking problems.
It has information that could be of interest to you in learning about the different NGLI Grades of grease and what might be appropriate for you. I believe that 600w = 00 (semi-fluid grease) and John Deere Corn Head grease = 0 (very soft grease). There are greases called EP available in the different NGLI grades also. Maybe this will be of some help.
A 600W is actually an oil, not a grease, using a viscosity rating from the days of steam cylinder oil, and I believe it actually sits somewhere between an SAE 140 and SAE 250 on the more modern SAE scale.
An SAE 160 is close enough for our purposes.
An example of an NLGI 00 grease is John Deere cotton picker spindle grease.
And as you said, corn head grease is an NLGI 0.
Although Chevrolet recommended oil in it's earlier steering gears, they recommended "steering gear lubricant" later on, which is/was an NLGI 00,
NLGI 00 can be used in the earlier gears to reduce leakage while maintaining proper lubrication at the same time.
Ole S Olson
Saskatoon, Sask, Canada
1946 DR 3/4 ton stake
1139 old site posts
From what i can tell it has the red high pressure grease, which has no flow characteristics. And over time could leave the gear surfaces dry. And the case is full so no room to add any oil. Want to get something more fluid in the case so the bearing surfaces stay lubed.
The previous owner of my old 38 put bearing grease in it's steering box as well. I added Lucas Oil Stabilizer to the box to thin it out and make if flowable. It worked well for me.
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1938 Master Business Coupe-Sold, now living in New Jersey
1953 210 Sedan
Hello Ernest Lee,
Stovblt says it better than I (thank you) with SAE 160 or the NLGI 00 grade and Tiny's 38 greased box diluted with Lucas oil stabilizer appears to work OK. Outside of a complete disassembly on the bench, the challenge is how to service the steering box while still in the car. There may be voids within the box that red grease didn't fill or maybe not. Could it be possible to remove some grease by using a tube, straw or syringe at different angles so as to create room for the Lucas oil stabilizer to dilute/mix/soften the grease? Or, trying to force Lucas oil stabilizer in with a syringe and tube deep enough so as to push red grease out. With the front end up on jack stands, turning the steering wheel left and right could mix and dilute the grease. I don't know if that could work, (easier said than done) but maybe worth a try.
Looks like 29 and 30 are the same, Hope this helps.
Dave
So heres what I found. The old alemite fitting had red grease under the cover cap. Unscrewed the fitting and was some red grease in the opening. Started to dig it out with a dentist pick and found it only went about 1/4” deep. Then under that found a softer gray green grease. So what I thought was full was thankfully not.
Added 6 cc of the Lucas oil stabilizer and plugged with a brass pipe plug. Will see about adding another 6 to 12 cc after some driving. Now to see how it goes.
Also changed out all old grease fittings today to newer Zerks with extensions where required. A few probably have been missed for years, especially the lower kingpin ones. Pumped in new grease, drove it around the neighborhood, added more grease, a second drive, and a third round with the grease gun. So went from old and black to mostly fresh coming out of the joints.
I thank everyone for guidance on the gearbox issue.