85 c20 steering box fit in 85 k10?

[1low4x4]

??????????????

 

[chengny]

Power steering?

Parts dwg and list show the same steering gear for both the C and K versions (1985 & 1986):

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[1low4x4]

Yessir. Both power. That would be great if they interchanged

 

[chengny]

Looks like they do.

 

[Georgeb]

I believe the difference is in the pitman arm. I think the blind spline is located differently in the arm.

 

[firebane]

I believe the difference is in the pitman arm. I think the blind spline is located differently in the arm.

Yeah I was going to say this. I was pretty sure the box would work but the pitman arm is different.

 

[1low4x4]

I've got the pitman arm from the 4x4...but the box has tons of play in it. Was hoping to swap in my box from the 2wd and use the 4x4 pitman arm. So y'all are saying that the 4x4 pitman won't slide.on the 2wd box gear?

 

[Georgeb]

It should go right on. The 2x one is paralell to the box but the 4x one sticks off to the outside perpendicular to the box. The blind spline is located differently in the respective arms. You could also attempt to adjust the box. I have don it sucessfully on at least three or four of them. You just have to ba careful not to over do it or the box wears ot really fast if it's too tight.

 

[1low4x4]

oh yeah, I forgot I read something the other day on here about loosening a jam nut and adjusting a screw, to fine tune the box. I have a lot of play in my steering wheel while driving, I have to chase the turns very hard, I would estimate that when I take a sharp curve I have to move the steering wheel at least four to six inches to have it respond. I've gotten pretty good at swinging it left and right going through the turns in downtown lol. I had my wife turn the wheel back and forth with the trucks on the ground and off, and while my drag link joints are not the greatest,I could definitely tell the play was in the box, Btook a lot of steering wheel movement to get the pitman arm to even move

 

[Georgeb]

oh yeah, I forgot I read something the other day on here about loosening a jam nut and adjusting a screw, to fine tune the box. I have a lot of play in my steering wheel while driving, I have to chase the turns very hard, I would estimate that when I take a sharp curve I have to move the steering wheel at least four to six inches to have it respond. I've gotten pretty good at swinging it left and right going through the turns in downtown lol. I had my wife turn the wheel back and forth with the trucks on the ground and off, and while my drag link joints are not the greatest,I could definitely tell the play was in the box, Btook a lot of steering wheel movement to get the pitman arm to even move

I just adjusted the one in my 2003 Burb. Took 3/4 turn or so to get down to 1/2" play in the wheel with the truck at operating temp. It may be worth a try but thats a lot of slop to take up. Worst that could happen is it gets loose again.

 

[firebane]

oh yeah, I forgot I read something the other day on here about loosening a jam nut and adjusting a screw, to fine tune the box. I have a lot of play in my steering wheel while driving, I have to chase the turns very hard, I would estimate that when I take a sharp curve I have to move the steering wheel at least four to six inches to have it respond. I've gotten pretty good at swinging it left and right going through the turns in downtown lol. I had my wife turn the wheel back and forth with the trucks on the ground and off, and while my drag link joints are not the greatest,I could definitely tell the play was in the box, Btook a lot of steering wheel movement to get the pitman arm to even move

The boxes have two types of adjustment.

The first is the input shaft. This you remove the locking collar then insert a drift and turn it clockwise till its completely tight then go a bit more. Then mark the casing of one of the holes then mark back 0.20" and rotate it counterclockwise till the hole lines up. Then put back on locking collar and tighten up. This adjusts the bearing pre-load.

The other is the sector shaft which has more to do with the output shaft and that is the one on the top of the box. Sometimes these boxes are so worn that no amount of adjustment makes any difference at all.

Don't forget as well that you should have a good RTC when adjusting the sector shaft and if its too tight you'll lose this and the RTC will fail and either continue turning or be very slow to respond.

 

[rangerman]

I just replaced the steering box in a 79 C10, when driving you could move the wheel from 10 to 2 and not move the wheels.
If it were me I would replace the steering coupler assembly when I had the gear box off.
After the gear box/steering coupler and a new pitman arm, the truck steering is great.

 

[bucket]

2wd and 4x4 boxes are actually different, the sector shafts have different ends, so the pitman arms cannot be interchanged.

 

[highdesertrange]

thanks bucket, I was reading through this thread I couldn't believe everybody was saying they are the same. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. you can't bolt a 4x4 pitman arm on a 2wd box and vice versa. highdesertranger

 

[1low4x4]

Damn shame. Should've made them the same or at least interchangeable with both arms. It only makes sense from a production standpoint