steering worm wheel shaft seal

[Former Member]

The oil is leaking out of the steering box around the shaft. It does not appear to be leaking out the gasket at all.

Does this just require dropping the front axle, remove castle nut and steering pittman, then replace the seal and reassemble?

That is what it looks like from this picture from TM's site

[Dale Finch]

Yes, Dale. Remove the front axle, the nut, the bolt and nut on the steering arm, then the arm, the woodruff key, then the seal. Check the key for wear (= slop).

Be careful prying out the old seal...you do NOT want to damage the rim of that recess, and make sure that the recess where the new seal goes has NO divets or burrs. It will "dent" the outside of the seal and cause it to leak (btdt!).

[Buzzard Wing]

There is a reason people pack the gear box with grease..... That seal is it!

[Bob McCarty]

Dale, I've never replaced one that didn't have the steering box off. I don't know if you can get the old seal out without having removed the shaft.

Bob

[Former Member]

Thanks folks.

Bob, I will give it a shot soon and let you know. Once the axle is off, dropping the box is not a problem, just wondered if it was required.

Dale

[Dale Finch]

When I had to RE-replace the seal on my SA, I carefully drilled two small holes opposite each other in the seal rim, then screwed two sheet metal screws in and managed to pull the "new" seal out. I actually cannot remember what I pulled the screws with, but lubricate the wall of the recess and pull carefully and slowly. It really wasn't too bad. Of course, that was a new seal that had just been installed, so I don't know if it will work on an old, dry seal. Maybe spray the lip of the seal and spread some grease around. Good luck, Dale!

[Yogie]

he seal is very small, maybe less than 1/4 inch from the outer metal to the seal edge. Be careful and not scar the shaft as I did... I had to then remove the shaft and have a friend weld and turn it back down to specks.

[Russ Leggitt]

Dale,

For about $7.00-$8.00 for the main round housing gasket, I would remove the five bolts and drop the bottom portion. This would be a perfect time to investigate/inspect all the gears and clean out any old "grease" from the housing. Just my $0.02 worth. If any of the bushings or thust washer has slack would be a great time to accomplish that also. You could even turn the steering gear around on the shaft to "newer" teeth.

[Dale Finch]

Good suggestions...I would go with that!

[Buzzard Wing]

Yep Russ that's what I did. But I was replacing the gear and the steering shaft anyway, the Lo Boy had some history that included a whole new front end and steering shaft (the shorter one, less teeth on the gear). It's probably much easier in the long run.

[Former Member]

I had a spare steering assembly to "play with" today. The bushing and the thrush washer were both toast in this one.

With the unit off like Russ suggests, the old seal can easily be punched out from the top with a brass punch.

It is the last mechanical thing I need to do on the 68 lo boy. would be great to have a crew of guys to disassemble, strip to bare metal, prime, paint and reassemble in a day or 2.

[Buzzard Wing]

Sure wish I had a crew of one to lend a hand putting an engine on the other day.... but sometimes it's just as good to get it done... with a crew of one!