Steering Box Replaced 4 Times
I drive a low mileage, 2002 Chevy 3/4 ton Duramax Crew Cab short bed.
I replaced my steering box about 3 years ago. I decided to save some money and bought a rebuilt one through Rockauto. They were great about replacing it (about 1 yr later) with another rebuilt when the first one wouldn't adjust the slack out. The lower bushing was still good. The second rebuilt one did the same thing. Good lower bushing but couldn't adjust the slack out. In both cases I would adjust till I had some bind and still had slack in the box, not the steering column. My front end guy checked and found no problems with the front end. (Actually some time after the second rebuilt I replaced all 4 ty-rods.) Rockauto, was still working with me as warranty replacements. I was working out of town when the second rebuilt box got loose. Rockauto felt bad about things and sent me a NEW Lares. I had it installed since I was out of town. It was great for the first ~1,000 miles. NO SLOP! But it actually loosened up on my way home. This was all highway driving on the NEW Lares! I replaced it at around 2,000 miles (I'm home at this point.) when it had nearly 1/8" slop in the bottom bushing. I'm surprised it hadn't start leaking. Now I'm on my second NEW Lares. I've gone about 2,000 miles and it has about 1/16th" of play in the bottom bushing. I've got sloppy steering AGAIN! Looks like I'm going to bite the bullet and buy a NEW AC Delco. Oh how I wish I'd done that in the first place. OBTW, I just passed the 150,000 mile mark about a month ago. Admittedly, I drive 3 miles of gravel each time I make a trip from and to my house. But if Lares can't handle that ...