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Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:14 am

I bought a new TRW Brazilian manufacture steering box for my Beetle 17 years ago. I checked packing box today and it is still as new. Was/Is TRW a good manufacturer of steering boxes for the Beetle or should I be looking for something else if I want the best quality available.

Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:08 am

read thru this for your answer
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=660446

Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:23 am

Definitely read through the thread above as suggested.

The unknown factor is whether TRW steering boxes were built to a higher standard 17 years ago than they are now.

If you're going to install it, at the very least you may want to flush out whatever lubricant is inside and replace it with John Deere Corn Head Grease as described in the above thread.

Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:38 am

so i should just throw away my 13 year old trw box and rework the vw ones... I see no real issues with the trw.

Thu Jan 26, 2017 12:14 pm

mark tucker wrote: so i should just throw away my 13 year old trw box and rework the vw ones...

I don't see where anyone suggested that.

Quote:
I see no real issues with the trw.

If you look through that thread you will see several issues with the TRW, but that doesn't necessarily mean that every TRW is junk.

It does seem though that they are kind of lax on their quality control, especially when it comes to the machining of the housing. It seems like you need to do some extra inspection to make sure it was manufactured properly.

If you got a good one then hooray for you. But that doesn't negate the experience of those who got bad ones.

Fri Jan 27, 2017 12:44 am

I took some external photographs of my new 20 year old TRW steering box I have today. There are subtle differences in the TRW castings from the link.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=660446.

I see a reasonable quality product from the outside (inside might be different however)

Fri Jan 27, 2017 2:12 am

Meiang wrote: I took some external photographs of my new 20 year old TRW steering box I have today. There are subtle differences in the TRW castings from the link.

gee, TRW has been in the auto parts industry, and a trusted member at that throughout my half century of acquisition installation and support after the sale without concern.

Put it on the car or back on the shelf. The continued whine of suspect component needs to go, or go to the bad parts whine forum.

TRW Automotive - Wikipedia
TRW Automotive, headquartered in Livonia, Michigan was an American global supplier of ... On September 15, 2014, it was announced that German car parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen will buy TRW Automotive for approximately $13.5 billion ...

TRW Inc. - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRW_Inc.
TRW Inc. was an American corporation involved in a variety of businesses, mainly aerospace, .... Soon afterward, the automotive assets of LucasVarity and TRW's own automotive group were sold to The Blackstone Group as TRW Automotive. .... for use by the U.S. Army to control the inventory of Cheyenne helicopter parts.
TRW - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRW
TRW may refer to: TRW Inc., former US aerospace and automotive company, purchased by Northrop Grumman. TRW Automotive, spun off from TRW Inc., later ...

Fri Jan 27, 2017 4:52 am

Just because a manufacturer has been in the business for a long time does not mean they don't produce dud components.

My own daily ride (a Range Rover Sport) has been a issue of faulty manufacture by major component suppliers.

The air suspension compressor was replaced 3 times under warranty. Landrover only realised the problem after 7 years before changing the design and supplier.

I have had the air conditioning compressor replaced 5 times under warranty during the last 4 years. The problem was tracked down to faulty manufacture.

Both these items have been a major issue for Landrover.

I seem to recall in my post:

I see a reasonable quality product from the outside (inside might be different however). This statement is consistent with other member experiences.

Not sure where the whinning is.

Robust discussion of parts quality is surely part of a forum mandate.

Fri Jan 27, 2017 5:19 am

I think it would only be fair to purchase another unit from trw and perform another detailed autopsy.

Fri Jan 27, 2017 6:36 am

Zundfolge1432 wrote: I think it would only be fair to purchase another unit from trw and perform another detailed autopsy.

:lol:

Fri Jan 27, 2017 7:36 am

The TRW steering boxes are fine. Are they as good as the original VW boxes from back in the day? No, but they are close. They only issues I've seen with those boxes are the main shaft seals can weep or leak too soon IMOP. You just need to keep an eye on that seal while you're greasing your front beam every 4k miles. :wink:

Fri Jan 27, 2017 8:07 am

The last answer is what I was after.

Problem goes away however I just bought an NOS German made steering box for my 1968 Beetle.

Fri Jan 27, 2017 8:13 am

Meiang wrote: The last answer is what I was after.
Yep, looking for an answer that you agree with doesn't make a bad part any better. :lol:
But if the TRW boxes are so good why didn't you buy one?

Fri Jan 27, 2017 9:59 am

I bought a TRW box because that is all there was available in this part of the universe and at the time I did not no any better. This part of the world is the most remote western outpost anywhere. They call WA "Wait Awile" for good reason. I believe however during the late 1970's we had the highest per capita ownership of Posrche 911's in the world - if that is relevant.

Its a strage place here for car ownership.

Fri Jan 27, 2017 10:15 am

Must have been all that mining money .

Fri Jan 27, 2017 10:25 am

what you see isant always what is true. diferances arnt always bad, most of the time updates. visual offsets may not always be true offsets,anr or may be a correction, or update. Ive wondered if the china manufactures were to make new replacement yugo parts...would they drop thier standards down to match the yugo standards? I passed up a rebuilt vw box for this trw box(both at the parts store) Ive seen too much "rebuilt shit in mmy lifetime" and I usualy go through everything any way and fix it right, especialy for new parts as they are not burnished in from using yet. as for the poster that had a bushing wore on the right top and the left bottom of his vw box....it was not straight pure and simple, the machining was off somewhere, either the top, the houshing where the top mounts or the shaft angle. that almost never gets checked to be square .just the bush replaced and it's "good",but it isant.square it up. as for cornemealgreezzzzee....never heard of it but I dont do farm work...much. I use synthetic mixed with some gear lube to thin it out even more.when greessee squishes out it dosent do squat, thin it out so it can stay in contact much better where it need to be, remember this is not a hig heet location like a wheel bearing where the greessee does thin to a almost free flowing liquid, if your stearing box gets hot on a vw you got a issue. the first vw box I pulled the top off of looked like it was totaly dry on the parts that needed the lube...and it was also dead. I think I threw it away. I had one that had a felt seal...wtf? I assume you can put a real seal in....if not I would of machined it for a real seal if I was gonna keep it/use it, (lower out put shaft)I gess I should of kept them for what if...

Mon Feb 27, 2017 7:08 am

Recently I purchased a new TRW steering box to evaluate just what is available to consumers now. We spent about 2 hours this past Saturday looking at it and measuring the parts. Tim was kind enough to perform a detailed examination and will share findings. Without letting cat out of the bag, I'll just say it's good news bad news.

Mon Feb 27, 2017 8:10 am

Interesting thread. I've noticed with about 200 miles on the TRW box I installed there is a slight "delay" in turning, meaning that when I turn the wheel, the car doesn't immediately respond. Not huge but enough to be a bit disconcerting at first. But it's not something I care to live with on a restored car. I just finished an alignment (it did this before the alignment as well), so I am certain that all of the new front end bits and pieces are tight and installed correctly. OEM coupler is in place, no problem with it, and I made sure the box itself was centered.

At park, there is no more than 1" play at the wheel, but I'm not really sure where the delay in steering comes from. I do think it's in the box. I'm more curious than upset, what I decided to do is to rebuild the OEM box, using the good tech info on Samba and the rebuild parts kit available. Then do a simple swap and see what happens.

I'm not rushing to ping all TRW products, just interested in figuring out the cause and to see what info Zundfolge and Tim have.

Mon Feb 27, 2017 8:22 am

Talk about beating a dead horse.
what is so tough about installing it and finding out for yourself?

Why so suspect?
There are already how many threads created with the same premise.
If they are so suspect, find something else.

Too many variables, and on top of that 20 years. The statute of limitations should prevail.

Throw it out and source elsewhere.
Sell it on ebay or here.
Install it and use it.
Tear it apart and blueprint it.
Find a professional steering box rebuilder and have it professionally assesed.

Mon Feb 27, 2017 9:19 am

DeathTrap wrote: Talk about beating a dead horse.
what is so tough about installing it and finding out for yourself?

Why so suspect?
There are already how many threads created with the same premise.
If they are so suspect, find something else.

Too many variables, and on top of that 20 years. The statute of limitations should prevail.

Throw it out and source elsewhere.
Sell it on ebay or here.
Install it and use it.
Tear it apart and blueprint it.
Find a professional steering box rebuilder and have it professionally assesed.

Because we wanted to verify if these parts are worth installing on your car. As others have found with replacement distributors,carburetors, fuel pumps,etc. I'm waiting for the day when you post something useful for this forum, or when you can show us something besides attitude.
If you are not interested in finding out please feel free to skip this topic, plenty of others here for your entertainment. Thanks. :D