Steering Box Internal Inspection

[bluebug66]

I did do searches for this but have not found what I need. Other than the seals and maybe the ball bearings, what should be inspected for wear inside the steering box? The gears appear to be hardened steel with no pitting or visible wear marks. I am not sure what to look for on the button end that is on the adjustment shaft which goes through the box cover. It does have some pitting but I don't know if it is enough to make it worn out. Has anyone rebuilt their steering box and found worn out parts other than the seals or bearings? Thanks.

[KTPhil]

This thread may be of some help:

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

[bluebug66]

Thanks. Good information. After looking at this thread I think that I could safely put mine back together with new seals and grease and it should last for another 50 years.

[Zundfolge1432]

There's more to it than that.

[vwnut1]

There are places that rebuild VW Bus steering boxes, but I have yet to find a shop that does Beetle boxes. The demand is out there but all I can find is cheap boxes from China and TRW.
_________________
1957 VW Oval Resto Mod

[Zundfolge1432]

Contact type3 Tim he is doing it now and tell him I sent you. He is a friend of mine.

[modok]

the main thing is CLEAN everything, get it as close to oil free as possible before pronouncing any part sound. it all looks fine when you can't properly see anything. You are generally looking for play in bushings you can't replace and for pitting of the bearing surfaces. All the German stuff is very hard steel, so it does tend to fail by pitting more than pure wear. Common for the worm gear shaft to have pitting where the ball bearings ride on it, because the upper one doesn't get much lube and probably does get the wrath of any water vapor. I had one with a lot of pitting, and reground it, and it seems to be working so far but I don't know if it's a good idea.

The wheel has pitting then it's probably dead. Should be only a few thou at most play of the wheel in it's housing. Generally not a problem with the German units. It could be fixed if needed but so far i don't have a shortage of those. You have to get all the hardened grease out to actually find out it's true play, which is hard to do.
the top adjuster bolt should be removed (snap ring) and that cleaned out and surfaces polished. That pocket up there also gets no FLOW of lube so it suffers, and might be why they get loose and need adjusting.
If a seal fits in it's housing, and rides on a polised surface, the it will seal, so polish where they ride!
For assembly lube use gl5 gear oil, even if for filling you elect to use grease.
Virtually ALL of the parts in the TRW boxes verge from slightly inferior to entirely defective, but if OE parts are scarce then you might use SOME of the parts from TRW to substitute, sparingly, if they seem sound.

[Zundfolge1432]

Reread the post over on the type 3 forum you'll see why they settled on cornhead grease as a lubricant, not gear oil. The write up while lengthy will give you a better understanding of what you are up against.

[bluebug66]

I am pretty certain that my box must be the original one. The grease inside the box had mostly turned to a liquid so there was not a lot of lubrication left. After cleaning the parts I could see where there was some significant pitting on a portion of the bearing surfaces of the worm shaft so I think that this box is toast. I assume that the wear on the worm shaft is most likely due to over tightening the adjustment screw. The screw was bottomed out in the top cover. The box had a lot of play in it and that is the reason that I took it off. I installed a "new" box on the car which is working just fine. Probably a TRW box but I cannot find any markings other than the VW marks on the outside. I got it at a swap meet several years ago and had been saving it. Thanks for the replies.

[rockerarm]

Hi.
If what Glen said about the TRW boxes being trash is true, and I believe him, this is disheartening.
I found this business and especially for the west coast crowd could be a good source.

http://www.rebuildingfactory.com/index.html

This is the e-mail I just sent them.

To
[email protected]
Today at 8:36 AM
Good day. My name is Bill and live in the Los Angeles area. I would like to inquire to the rebuilding of a few different models of steering boxes for the VW air-cooled community. Could you give an approximate price quote to rebuild for these three models:
1- The standard VW bug steering box, used on most standard bugs, ghias, and type 3's.
2- The super beetle steering box.
3- The bus/type 2 steering box.

I am a frequent member of a very active web site for the air-cooled community called http://www.thesamba.com/ and will post your reply there.


Thank you in advance for your reply.
Bill

[flyboy161]

Interesting. It looks like they rebuild a wide variety of parts and models of VW back through 1967.
_________________
My father's 1970 Beetle-
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=603879

The 1964...Diamond in the rough
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=612776

My 1958 Morocco Bug-
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=611483

[Zundfolge1432]

Why do this when you could support another samba member? Just like the guys rebuilding distributors and tim@ volksbitz doing carbs and awesome powder coat ?...

Type3 Tim is trying to break into the market rebuilding these boxes. Why not send him a message and ask directly? Support the small business man, read his post first over on type 3 forum.

[rockerarm]

Hey relax. Are you directing your reply towards me? If so, please think that some folks may be more inclined to deal with a business with a quicker turn-around, or many other factors. I don't know this Tim guy. People here should have options. I also don't know the place I mentioned, Rebuilding Factory. He may not be able to do this work OR want this work. Options are always good.
I have and always will support the small business person vs the large corporate greed. I believe this steering box rebuilding is in its infancy, so let's see where WE take it.
There is also the Bay Bus and Super Beetle box's to contend with.
Bill

[flyboy161]

I too support small business, hell...I am a small business, however, Tim does steering boxes...GREAT! But these guys do much more. Like rebuild generators. My mind wanders at times and the question arises, which has nothing to do with this thread, I wonder if they can rebuild a 6 volt generator and rewire it as a 12 volt? Ala Porsche 90mm 12 volt style. Just an curiosity.
_________________
My father's 1970 Beetle-
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=603879

The 1964...Diamond in the rough
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=612776

My 1958 Morocco Bug-
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=611483

[modok]

I don't really WANT to rebuild them either. It's not fun, but, it has to be done. Just don't scrap any please, even the TRW ones.
i could not find the seals so I ordered a minimum order worth from Rocket Seals in Denver, and now that I used them up I'm OUT.
But just wanted to add, that IF the seals are good, they actually DON'T leak, even if you fill with oil. small miracles