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Best steering box for crossover?

Which steering box would you get?

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NorCalAnthony

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I'll be ordering everything to do a lift and crossover on my '84 K5 in the next week or two when my tax return comes in and I'm trying to figure out which steering box to get. I don't really want to deal with picking up a junkyard box and trying to rebuild it myself and it seems that the quality of the box store remans out there have gone downhill lately. Another thing I'm considering is getting one that's ported & tapped in case I wind up doing hydro-assist later on. After doing some reading on here and Pirate I've been debating having one rebuilt by Red Head or West Texas Off-Road instead but their costs are pretty close to what a PSC steering box runs. Anyone have any experience with either of these boxes they'd like to share?

FWIW I already talked to the places and got some pricing info. A rebuilt Red Head box runs $276 + $110 for port & tap + $150 redundable core + shipping. West Texas runs $580 + shipping for a rebuilt, ported & tapped box including a $175 refundable core for my 4wd box (or $250 for a 2wd box). The PSC boxes run $333 for a stock reman or $428 for ported & tapped at Summit with no core and free shipping.
 
I have PSC ported 2wd box, pump and resevoir. Very happy with it. I only have 35’s but i can steer with my pinky.
 
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Thanks for the replies so far guys. I was mainly looking at just getting the steering box for now because I plan on swapping out the tired 6.2 for a stroked LS2 next spring and didn't want to put money in to a hydro assist setup if things weren't going to be compatible between the different engine setups. I was just looking at the PSC website and saw that their power steering pumps are the same for all trucks 1980-2010+ so it looks like I could probably make everything work after all. It's way overkill for 35's and the minimal wheeling I'll probably be doing but I'll already be halfway to the cost of ORD's PSC kit with just a new steering box and stabilizer and the "might as well" urge is coming on strong lol.

@Fastereddie How do you like your PSC setup? Do you do a lot of street driving or mainly just trail stuff?
 
all 1980 + pumps and boxes will use the same metric o ring fittings. Even if you swap out your pump or box for another fit your hoses will fit up.

Currently Im running a 80 box with a 2006 ls pump using the factory hose for the 2006 yukon the engine came out of.
 
TreeFarm said:
all 1980 + pumps and boxes will use the same metric o ring fittings. Even if you swap out your pump or box for another fit your hoses will fit up.

Currently Im running a 80 box with a 2006 ls pump using the factory hose for the 2006 yukon the engine came out of.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, it's great seeing someone else has already done this and made it work. I knew the fittings and hoses would work with all the 80 up stuff having the same metric fittings but I think I was trying to ask if the new PSC high performance pump would fit in both engine's accessory drives so I could run theirs on my current diesel and swap it over to the LS2 when the time comes. I'll be using the truck FEAD so it looks like the pump will be in roughly the same spot on both engines and would maybe need to have the pulley changed at most if I'm not missing something.
 
I like it alot. It’s mostly a trail/camping rig, but I can and have daily drivin it.
 
The PSC box is a lot of money. I had mine for a few years and the case cracked my last trip out. I asked if it could be covered by warranty and they are making a decision. I've been waiting to hear back from them for over a month at this point with several emails back and forth, but still without a conclusion.

Just food for thought...

If they don't warranty it I may be going a different direction. I can't justify breaking another $500 box.
 
Richcz28 said:
The PSC box is a lot of money. I had mine for a few years and the case cracked my last trip out. I asked if it could be covered by warranty and they are making a decision. I've been waiting to hear back from them for over a month at this point with several emails back and forth, but still without a conclusion.

Just food for thought...

If they don't warranty it I may be going a different direction. I can't justify breaking another $500 box.
Click to expand...

Even if they do warranty it I wouldn't be buying from them again. Over a month for a major component? I wouldn't want my truck down for that long on the off chance they do give you a new one.
 
Richcz28 said:
The PSC box is a lot of money. I had mine for a few years and the case cracked my last trip out. I asked if it could be covered by warranty and they are making a decision. I've been waiting to hear back from them for over a month at this point with several emails back and forth, but still without a conclusion.

Just food for thought...

If they don't warranty it I may be going a different direction. I can't justify breaking another $500 box.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback and yeah like TreeFarm said, that's a long time for a rig to be dead in the water waiting for them to make a decision. What caused your box to crack if you don't mind me asking?
 
I don't really know what caused it to crack. An ear actually broke off where it bolts to the frame, and then the rest of the box ripped through. It's some fairly decent carnage.
 
Richcz28 said:
I don't really know what caused it to crack. An ear actually broke off where it bolts to the frame, and then the rest of the box ripped through. It's some fairly decent carnage.
Click to expand...

Did the frame have either of ORD’s braces installed?
 
454Sub said:
Mine did the same thing and it was tierod to diff cover problems.
Click to expand...


Interesting. I don’t think mine was rubbing at all. My diff cover is freshly repainted and I see no evidence of contact there.


I should add to this discussion that PSC uses a GM steering box that they rebuild. If the steering box is broken it actually wouldn’t be their fault. The best I could probably hope for is a good deal on a replacement.
 
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