Steering gear box

TX_5.9

TX_5.9

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Dec 12, 2013
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I'm sure its been discussed many times, but I'm in dire need of a gearbox for my 03. Will the boxes from a 10 or possibly newer be a direct fit aside from needing to get the matching intermediate shaft for these older 3rd gens? I've found several from low mileage, late model trucks in salvage yards near me on the interweb.....I just want to be sure it will work before I drop the money for it.
 
Yes the steering gear box will bolt up. You will need a new pitman arm as well. I've seen people saying they need to replace their power steering pump after and others haven't had any issues. As for the old linkage, yes, you can use your old style steering with the upgrade box. It's one of those things, if it ain't broke don't fix it... BUT you do need to keep an eye out during installation to make sure that the pitman TRE isn't binding up. The pitman arm angles are different enough that they can cause a little binding at FULL lock to the driverside. On a stock height truck, it's not really an issue at all but on lifted truck (2-3") the angles do increase and thats where you can start to run into issues.
 
I have the upgraded linkages already so I'm good there. The pitman arm for the new linkages DOES have to be swapped out again??
 
Well its whichever one that needs to fit the larger shaft, so if you still have the factory box on your truck, yes you will need the pitman arm thats currently on the upgraded box. Also if you have a steering box stabilizer, it will need to be modified slightly and will need the new nut that goes onto the larger shaft. Hopefully that makes sense.
 
I appreciate it. I'll start making phone calls for the parts.
 
I'd like to get that one but, dang they're pricey!!!! Found a few at a local salvage yard that are low mile for about $300.
 
Found a 2012 gearbox, pitman arm and intermediate shaft for $350......pretty good deal if ya ask me. I'm going to assume the hoses I have should connect up to it and everything should fall right into place??
 
Finally got it.....complete unit. Going to do a full PS system flush and see what happens. I'm hoping everything goes to together without any snags or hangups.....2012 steering going into my 03.
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Well, I got it in there. Wound up changing out the entire intermediate shaft from steering wheel down. Other than that snafu, everything fits like a champ. I must say though, the difference between the two boxes is night and day....that newer one dwarfed the old one.
 
Hey are you the guy that was having trouble with your truck pulling to the right all the time? If so, did the new steering box fix that problem? I'm still trying to figure mine out.
 
Does anyone know how much it would take to throw this on a second gen. I need to do an upgrade eventually
 
Lair87 said:
Hey are you the guy that was having trouble with your truck pulling to the right all the time? If so, did the new steering box fix that problem? I'm still trying to figure mine out.
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I did post a while back about that. Mine didn't necessarily pull but on a stretch of road where it had a pretty good crown to it, I had to keep the wheel turned quite a bit just to keep it from running off the road. Even on flat highway I had to keep the wheel at about the 9:30-10:00 position.
Newer gearbox did fix my problems, now I have a leak in the hose coming from the resovoir to the cooler that I have to fix.....and damn if it ain't cold AND wet outside today. Anyone know what size ID that hose is.....I'm thinking 1/2"??
 
Just found the hose size....its 5/8" instead of the 1/2" I thought....guess I better go get some and get it fixed before the big rains set in......working in a gravel driveway with no cover or shade really sucks by the way!!
 
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