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Mon Jul 18, 2005 12:42 pm

Ive beenlooking for a steering box output shaft seal for my 61 bus,but cant locate one. Anybody know if they are still made? I talked to one guy that said I could drain the oil out, pull off the side plate and pack the box with grease. Has anyone done this, or do you think it might work? Thanx Bill.

Mon Jul 18, 2005 3:40 pm

according to bently this can be done, but i have never attempted it myself. i know the early bay boxes are not supposed to have grease put in them, this makes me question why bently would say what it does. i would try to locate a seal (dealer possibly) and replace it .
goodluck

Mon Jul 18, 2005 4:13 pm

OACDP 58-67 parts book says the shaft seal is # N14907.1, size is 25x36x7. Any bearing/seal shop should be able to get it based on size, I got one from Bus-boys.com last year and it was under $5. I should still have the new seal somewhere because I didn't fix that steering gear after all.

Regular grease won't work as it just moves away from the gears and stays there. I have read other posts saying CV-joint grease can be used as it stays liquid but is thicker than gear oil so it leaks less but I have not tried that. Others say 50/50 grease and gear oil works.

Mon Jul 18, 2005 5:14 pm

Your local bearing house should have it in stock

Installing it with something I had on hand:

Mon Jul 18, 2005 5:51 pm

My 1957 bus, which I bought 28 years, ago, had a steering box that had a grease zert on its side; it used grease and not oil.
Years ago, the steering box was wearing out and I drove the bus to Bus Boys in Redding, CA, where I bought a rebuilt steering unit and installed it right there (they loaned me a steering wheel puller). What I got with it was their homemade lubricant. It was thicker than oil; they sell it at Bus Boys but it is rather expensive.
A few years ago, I was at Wolfgang Int'l. and I told Steve (former part owner of Bus Boys) about it and he gave me the formula for making it: part STP and part graphite grease. I have forgotten the ratio he gave me, but I'm sure if you telephoned, he would give it to you. I got the feeling that he didn't want people to get ripped off at Bus Boys by buying their high priced steering box lubricant.

Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:06 pm

Thanks for the part numbers and tips I would rather use oil in there over grease. Ill check the local parts house with the CR number. Thanx Bill

Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:32 pm

if you search "Bus Steering Box Seal Replacement" in the gallery under "hazetguy" (me), you will find a 10 picture walk-through of the procedure:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php?search_keywords=Bus+Steering+Box+Seal+Replacement

use gear oil. that's gear oil, same as the tranny.. not grease.

Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:03 pm

Campy wrote: My 1957 bus, which I bought 28 years, ago, had a steering box that had a grease zert on its side; it used grease and not oil.
Early Buses had a grease zerk right there for the clutch pedal.

Just saying...

Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:43 pm

That is interesting. I think the zert was on the left side of the steering box. I never found a threaded plug at the top where I could put oil into the steering box.

Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:17 am

Tue Jul 19, 2005 6:28 am

hazetguy I looked at all your gallery photos, great info on many different repairs. Id like to get a good tierod / draglink removal tool, are Hazet tools sold in the states? Iam going start replacing worn frontend components before too long so your gallery photos will be getting a real work out from me.

Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:32 am

Here is some tool info:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=123103

Wed Jul 20, 2005 9:06 am

On my bug, steering box seal gave out and lost oil. Too lazy to change it, I put in some grease into a big hypodermic syringe I had, and injected as much of it into the filler hole as would go in. I then topped it off with SAE 140 gear oil. That was 7 years ago and it still doesn't leak.

Wed May 18, 2011 9:19 pm

Well this is the thread to post this question even if its from 2005! This picture is from Hazetguy's tutorial on steering shaft seal replacement. My question is I have this same tool and my box is out how do get the tool in the seal to get it out? my seal is bone dry and old and hard. I located a box that is real "tight" and turns freely and smoothly considering its out of oil. No slop at all! I want to reseal it and not dissect it to accomplish this. Anyone have any tips for getting this seal out? Jon?

Wed May 18, 2011 9:37 pm

Try tapping the seal remover in with a hammer if you can't push it in by hand.

Thu May 19, 2011 9:53 am

Get a screw or two into that seal and pull at those to get it out.. this helped me a few times..

Thu May 19, 2011 10:04 am

RPGreg2600 wrote: Try tapping the seal remover in with a hammer if you can't push it in by hand.

this is what i do. gently, so you don't damage the bore that the seal seats in. it's a real pain in the ass to try to file the bore smooth if you scratch it.

Thu May 19, 2011 11:00 pm

hazetguy wrote: RPGreg2600 wrote: Try tapping the seal remover in with a hammer if you can't push it in by hand.

this is what i do. gently, so you don't damage the bore that the seal seats in. it's a real pain in the ass to try to file the bore smooth if you scratch it.

Thanks Jon I got it out tonight. had to puncture the seal with a small flat screwdriver and center punch then tapped the remover tool in at an angle under metal in seal and out it came I am so relieved. One of the bolts on the big cover on the side has a hole drilled in the threaded part where it passes through the housing and has some steel wire through it with a soft metal pressed into the wire with some kind of logo on it. i would assume it is a tamper evident tell. Anyone ever seen this on a steering box bolt before?

Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:41 pm

Does the steering box have a drain plug. 64 bus?

Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:33 pm

No, but you can loosen up the four bolts on the bottom of the steering box and pop down the plate there. When done draining clean off the plate edge and rebolt back on.