Steering Boxes: VW vs. TRW; VW Teardown & Rebuild

[heimlich]

I was looking for some lubricants. I came across this one for Bosch worm drives.

https://www.boschtools.com/us/en/boschtools-ocs/circular-saw-attachments-wd7lub-27325-p/

[OKType3Tim]

[alikatcraig]

If you have a friendly CNC operator it may be possible to cut these, BUT you are going to have to run quantity to offset tooling and programming costs. Heat treating is another nightmare unless the shop you chose (and material you use) really does what they are paid to do - so often they don't! The shafts would have to be handled with care during the heat treating process to avoid any bending. At 80+RWC they are like glass, and will tend to break if you try to straighten them cold. My choice would be to repair good German shafts and shim them accordingly - you know where you are then. I will turn a little of the shaft down and Rockwell it to see if the number changes - I am guessing no, as this part was not intended to flex and through hardness would have been a plus.
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1967 Ghia
1971 Deluxe Microbus
1974 Convertible Bug
1973 Standard Bug
1998 Mexican Bug

[raygreenwood]

[Brian]

So, when do I put in the saw dust?

So if ZF now owns TRW, is quality going to be affected ya think?
_________________
Wash your hands

'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper

Only losers litter

[raygreenwood]

[KTPhil]

More TRW drama from yesteryear... founded by multiple ex-Hughes Aircraft geniuses who didn't like how Hughes ran his company. Founder Thompson, and then Ramo, Wooldridge (hence, TRW). This is turn spawned Pacific Semiconductors, the Aerospace Corporation, Bunker-Ramo, Experian, and TRW Automotive which is now part of ZF Friedrichshafen. Persons coming from TRW were important to build up corporations like SpaceX, according to wiki.

I worked at Hughes Missiles in Canoga Park, CA, which was an old Bunker-Ramo-built campus from the late 1950s, closing a circle. Late in my career I worled for Litton Industries, bought by Northrop Grumman (who bought TRW), closing yet another circle.

And who can forget the Star Trek connection...

I spent six months at TRW (including in the building above) when I worked for Hughes cooperating on an SDI anti-missile project.

The aerospace industry is heavily incestuous!

[heimlich]

I love that explanation. Thanks.

[OKType3Tim]

Related to, and confirming, an item several posts back:

Yes there appears to be a new run of TRW steering boxes that have a differently marked housing. This run does not have the TRW marking on the side of the housing, and has the VW/Audi symbol ground off of the front of the housing.

I finished a rebuild today for Rob. He sent me his old VW unit, which unfortunately was totally, totally used up. It was well cared for right to the end, not abused. But the only things we salvaged were the cover, cover bolts, roller shaft adjuster screw with lock nut, and marker ring. The original VW cover got a new bushing.

Rob then shipped me a new TRW unit. As expected, both the roller shaft adjuster screw, and the big worm shaft adjuster were set way to tight. The unit was completely torn down and cleaned. The TRW housing, roller shaft, worm shaft, and circlip were used. New FAG bearings, New double lip seals, new gasket, new roller shaft shim, new grease plugs. As previously noted, the TRW worm shaft cavity is not machined to allow for a worm shaft shim. Thus, to get the mid point set correctly, I had to mill a few thou off the back of the upper worm shaft bearing race.

I used the build procedure I've previously documented here, and all of the adjustments came it at the proper values.
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'69 Squareback restoration
'69 Fastback restoration
'66 Type34

[heimlich]

I purchased two of those units. All in all, do they seem to be better than the previous ones?

Would you suggest that we readjust these units before using them? I am just wondering if we can backoff the screws a bit as you did will everything fall in line.

[OKType3Tim]

[Clatter]

[ataraxia]

The tightness of the TRW box, lack of a gasket between the aluminum top and the cast body and the single lip seals guarantees that it will fail in short order.

It's rather obvious that TRW has 'value engineered' every last cent out of this product to reduce their manufacturing cost at the detriment of quality and longevity.

[Zundfolge1432]

I've had the ability to see these boxes opened up and compared to OE units. You would think if someone had gone to the time and trouble and expense of doing comparative analysis folks could connect the dots. Reading back through some comments there seems to be a few shills for TRW here. Nothing surprises me anymore.

[raygreenwood]

[heimlich]

Ray,

That's interesting and sounds logical.

I'd pay double for a steering box that was in better condition but maybe I am not the 'norm'.

[ataraxia]

I tend to agree with Ray, with a few caveats, that the aftermarket isn't typically supplied the same quality parts as the OE.

The company that I work for owns a lot of the tooling for our vehicles and, 30 years later, we can have our suppliers crank out OE spec parts if one of our larger customers commits to buy them. In addition, we negotiate parts supply contracts that specifically state that aftermarket parts have to be at least as good as the production parts the vehicles are assembled with as new. We are an exception in this area - most others simply 'let the aftermarket take care of itself' or they sell OE parts at OE prices (which 80% of people won't buy). Since most people don't buy OE parts at OE prices, aftermarket suppliers reduce quality to the benefit of cost - making it cheaper for both the supplier and the customer. This also reduces longevity (something most people don't really consider) and increases future sales due to shorter lifespan.

For something like a Volkswagen steering box, VW washed their hands of this part 30 years ago, if not more, and let the aftermarket do what it will at a price the customer is willing to pay. So they 'value engineer' cost out of the product to either meet profitability requirements or to meet a specific price point/control cost.

[heimlich]

Companies figured this out a long time ago. We are a consume and throw away society. Things last just long enough to make us happy to buy a new one.

[ataraxia]

[raygreenwood]