NOT HAPPY to find this leak . NOT HAPPY WITH AGR BOX

[sweetk30]

My AGR steering box with under 10k miles just started to grip fluid out the sector shaft seal . . . . Happened in the last 48hr's and under 10miles of driving . As I was just under there when I hooked up the plow the other day a NC d no leaks .

Guess it's time to try a new seal kit first . Otherwise not sure on next level of fix .

 

[centexk5]

I had to have my PSC box with a 100 miles on it warrantied because it was groaning turning.

 

[SpeedlabDan]

That blows man

 

[sweetk30]

local carquest 2 towns over has seal kit . but cant get till monday . so truck is staying in the shop nice and dry with the rain we have going on . so when i get the seal kit its ready and dry .

 

[sweetk30]

so i got my everyday rebuild kit for the sector shaft seals only .

pop the spring wound snap-ring out ( first clue to trouble )

no backup washer ( second clue to trouble )

screw it its leaking pop the seals out . fire up turn left and pop .

look under the truck and fine a seal / roller bearing / on leaf spring and then a second seal still on the shaft . . . ? ? ?

call the guys up at AGR and talk with a nice guy and he tells me that box is atleast 8 years old from the spring wound snap ring design they dont use anymore . he said its there HD 2 bearing design for the pitman shaft thats why i got a bearing in the mix . but the problem is the std kit wont fit . its special seals just for there boxes and bla bla bla . we dont offer a seal kit seperate only a rebuild service for $295.00 + S&H . . .

yaa thats not going to happen for a FU*KING BOX thats leaking from a bad seal . . . .

yes i got the box used from our old site member UPstate years ago from his blazer build he swapped to a 2wd box on for crossover . he had a few k miles on it then from new and i have 6k ish on it now . i know there is no warranty coverage to me for 2nd owner and also year of the box but WOW what a joke on no seal kit offered for this seperate .

measuring up the seals the BAD inner 2 lip seal is the same as my new seal kit and the lower single lip is not the same . so i am going to try and swap the 1 seal and go from there . otherwise i am not going to spend the time or money on a box thats this special for a over $300.00 seal fix .

 

[sweetk30]

over 1hr now with this dam box for a 2.00 seal . . .its all together minus the stupid wave washer lockring . . . .

lunch break and then maybe i will work on it some more

 

[Kain]

wow

 

[sweetk30]

ready to pull this *&%$#%^&*(#@!$ box out of the dam truck now .

and to get me this pissed off takes a LOT

 

[diesel4me]

Is the seal the one for the steering colum side of the box,or under the pitman arm ?..

I had "fun" replacing the seals under the pitman arm on my truck,I had to rig up a tool made from a conduit fitting that had the right diameter to fit the seal right and I used washers and a "jack bolt" and a hunk of 2x4 on top of the leaf spring to press in the seals..

I was determined not to take the box off to do it..leaf spring is right in the way so you cant use a mallet to push in the seals..

I've never messed with the seal on the steering colum side--when I had one leak there I went boneyard shopping for a box that wasn't a leaker..
Seems most "rebuilt" steering boxes have a 70/30 chance of panning out well--I sold many at the parts stores and a lot of them came back "defective" in short order,if not right away..

 

[blazer74]

Good to know they don’t support their product with parts.

 

[sweetk30]

yes pitman arm seal for output of the box . i have lift springs and it was hanging on the 2 post lift so i got lucky for most of it .

and yes now i know why i see more talk and retail sellers doing PSC

 

[ZooMad75]

Good to know they don’t support their product with parts.

Hold the phone... Playing devil's advocate here, but AGR isn't allowed to make changes to its products in EIGHT years? Products can and will change and a company is within its right to improve or change its product. With changes, it also means a company may not be able to supply parts for older obsolete versions. I don't have a dog in this hunt, but an 8+ year old steering gear built by anybody that also looks like it was raised from the Titanic would be suspect in my book. Just my thought. I've picked up used parts in the past and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I sure don't take to my keyboard and put the company on blast when the used part picked up started leaking and they won't support it other than offering a rebuild. But it's a free country to do so, just as it is for me to be free to make my comment.

 

[sweetk30]

Good points @ZooMad75 but not as correct to my story .

And @blazer74 I didn't say they dont have parts . They just dont sell them separate only in the FULL rebuild service only .

They have parts but dont sell . Only get $295.00 + s&h 2x for them to fix it .

Bad shaded pics make the rust look worse .

Box is 8+years old but 1.5years ago when I put it on it was 95-98% rust free super low mile take off sitting in my stash of parts .

They can do what they want I dont care anymore after this . Search there reviews and you will see why PSC comes up a lot more and why the good vendors sell them .

 

[diesel4me]

After I got my seal kit installed,a guy told me I could have just removed the 4 bolt pitman shaft cover ,pulled out the shaft,and drove out the old seals from above after taking the snap ring off...and put the new seals back on using a similar tool like I made,or a socket the right size,and use a threaded rod,washers and nuts to pull the new seals into place..
...
I seem to always hear or read about an easier way to do something after I did it the hard way..

 

[blazer74]

Good points @ZooMad75 but not as correct to my story .

And @blazer74 I didn't say they dont have parts . They just dont sell them separate only in the FULL rebuild service only .

They have parts but dont sell . Only get $295.00 + s&h 2x for them to fix it .

Bad shaded pics make the rust look worse .

Box is 8+years old but 1.5years ago when I put it on it was 95-98% rust free super low mile take off sitting in my stash of parts .

They can do what they want I dont care anymore after this . Search there reviews and you will see why PSC comes up a lot more and why the good vendors sell them .[

If they can sell a kit they can sell individual parts. That’s on them.

 

[Ned Kelly]

Not having parts available to customers?
That is ridiculous in regards to this type of SERVICEABLE product. Imagine if every business did this?
I would not even consider buying from a vendor if that was their policy.

Caveat: Of course for certain products having parts available is not practical...most people understand this...like a resin embedded electronic parts.

 

[mrk5]

Happens to us all the time in the large format printer world. After about 5 years, the manufacturers stop supporting the printers and plotters.

 

[ZooMad75]

Not having parts available to customers?
That is ridiculous in regards to this type of SERVICEABLE product. Imagine if every business did this?
I would not even consider buying from a vendor if that was their policy.

Caveat: Of course for certain products having parts available is not practical...most people understand this...like a resin embedded electronic parts.

The oems have been doing this since the beginning of time. Call it planned obsolescence if you want but it's done all the time. I don't agree with it either but it's a fact of life.

As far as the agr box goes, we don't know if the new parts require any changes to the old housing to allow fitment of the new parts. Hence rebuild only option. But that's a guess on my part.

 

[sweetk30]

Well new inner seal from std kit and reused outer seal and no leaks yet . 3 days of driving it .

 

[sweetk30]

And as simple as this seal kit would be to have available to end user I just dont get it . And I would NOT send a good box in for full remand job for this .