Steering Box Issue

[Christian B]

I have a badly leaking steering box on my 69 charger that needs replacement or the seals redoing .My car has Headers and aftermarket exhaust system
The garage said that they may need to pull the engine to get the steering box out
Is there a way it can be done without pulling the engine as im conscious of how much that will cost in labour

 

[RemCharger]

No. Pull the header and torsion bar. May have to remove the one motor mount bolt and jack the DS. ( drivers side, on a LHD car)

 

[R413]

Maybe just lift the engine up some with the exhaust still connected. Box needs to move rearward and then come out the bottom.

If you are paying to have this done it is already to expensive.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

@Kern Dog has done this a few times. Engine removal is not necessary and hoping he can give some tips.

 

[dadsbee]

You can change both the input and output seals IN the car, don't let anyone tell you that you can't!

 

[kiwigtx]

The garage said that they may need to pull the engine to get the steering box out

Find a new mechanic if you're unable to do this yourself.

Harry & Paul are not the only experts around....sorry I meant Lee & Lance

 

[Kern Dog]

Simply put, a mechanic that thinks he has to pull an engine to swap out a steering box is akin to buying a hat too small then having your head shrunk to fit the hat.
They obviously have no experience with these cars. On slant six cars, you can swap boxes without even getting under the car!
It does help to pull the left torsion bar. The steering column has to uncouple and slide toward the seat. Sometimes you can do this without even disturbing the wiring.
Good luck.

 

[gkent]

Don't be so hard on the mechanic, he's just covering his ***. The last thing he needs to do is misquote the job and have the customer hold him to it! Its not every day someone brings a '70's classic into a shop for repairs and these days there aren't many mechanics around that have ever worked on one !!

 

[ckessel]

When I did the box swap on the 67 wagon, I was able to put the new Lares box in from the top. Car has a 440 with Hedmans. Since I was also putting a new pump in, the old one got removed which helped for the box install, plus the battery tray and braces removed. #1 plug too just for good measure. I pulled the engine mount bolt out and put my tall screw jack under the pan rail to tilt the engine up on the left side. Box popped the rest of the way in place. Was already close but needed to move the engine for the final. I did it that way as it has iron heads and I didn't want to hassle with coolant leaks on the head flange bolts. Getting the old box out was simple since I put a different K-frame in and left the box attached till the frame was far enough down. The car was on my lift with cribbing under the rails about even with the firewall, for support, and using the lift's rolling jack under the K to let it down and my engine hoist holding the engine up.

 

[Geoff 2]

If you are in London, UK, & car is RHD, mechanic could be correct. I doubt though that the engine needs to removed. Engine mounts removed etc, & engine raised enough for access.