2002 Supercrew, 5.4, 4x4, 256,000 miles.

I just replaced all of my front end parts besides the passenger drive shaft and wheel bearings. They seemed ok.

but I noticed that now the steering wheel has almost two inches of play in it, suggesting my steering gear is clapped out. I feel it while turning the steering wheel itself, and I also got underneath the truck, grabbed the shaft, and turned it resulting in the same amount of play. so I could be wrong, but I don’t think it’s the actual steering wheel itself. It’s funny Nevis I don’t remember it having this much slop before I changed all of the front end parts.

I hear a couple of clunking noises and I’ve triple checked all of the work so I don’t think it’s coming from any of the new parts.

so a couple of questions. I’m looking at steering gears and rock auto gives me these options:

Motorcraft
BBB industries
Lares
Cardone

I typically use Motorcraft for replacement parts but man it’s getting expensive. What’s the scoop on the BBB, or Lares? They are $100 cheaper. Are they ok? Garbage?

Second question. If I buy that gear assembly, do I need to replace any seals or anything related like that?

Third. While I’m doing this, I’d there anything else I should replace or at least inspect while I have it all apart?

Thank you!

 

Before you drop money on a new box, there should be an adjustment screw to take some of the play out

 

I agree undo the nut and tighten the screw a turn and see if it gets better or worse.

 

I tightened mine up a bit and it helped. They say to be careful though, and check that the box doesn't bind at ends of travel, left or right. The gears tend to wear in the middle of the range where the steering spends most of its time. If it's worn and you get it tight in the middle of the range, it can get stuck out at the edges.

You'll probably never replace it again, so if you do the pennies per mile calculation, the high Motorcraft price might not seem so bad. They're all remans though. They might even all come from the same place.

Did you replace the idler arm? That had a big affect on mine. I had an accumulation of looseness, from wheel bearings + idler arm + steering box. I think the PO drove through rocky stream beds (that's what I heard and the tire treads are kind of chewed up) and put some work on the steering parts.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...ring+gear,7416