What steering box do I have?

JayChicago

JayChicago

Well-known member
This is the box on the '37 street rod I bought couple years ago. Anyone recognize it? What do I have here?

How do I check fluid level?
 

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It's a Vega (GM) steering box. Saginaw manufacture. The lube goes in through a bolt hole holding the top cover on.



Terry
 
There used to be a special GM grease for these boxes - no idea if it's still available. John Deere Cornhead Grease is probably your best bet now.
 
Thanks eveyone. So I guess this is a real GM Vega box, not aftermarket. Interesting. Wonder how old it is? There is a lot of free-play in this box. If I tighten the adjusting screw it just binds on the straight-ahead position, does not remove the free-play slop. Maybe time to replace the box.

I looked at Borgeson 920004 sold by Summit. Any thoughts on that? Any better Vega box out there?
 
JayChicago said:
Thanks eveyone. So I guess this is a real GM Vega box, not aftermarket. Interesting. Wonder how old it is? There is a lot of free-play in this box. If I tighten the adjusting screw it just binds on the straight-ahead position, does not remove the free-play slop. Maybe time to replace the box.
Click to expand...

A lot of folks will tell you that a Vege box, as cute as they are, is really too light a box for a '35 - '40-ish Ford. Vegas show to weigh 2,200-ish pounds stripped. And I guess it may be possible that that's what has caused the damage you're finding with your box. I sure would feel a lot safer with a Saginaw 525 instead of the little Vega. The 525 came in cars like the Chevelle and Cutlass, quite a bit heavier than a Vega. Nice thing about the 525s is that they can be had with all sorts of ratios available. And I'm not sure, but it seems like I remember the Vega and the 525 both having the same bolt-mount pattern. Below is a picture of a 525 in a '40 Ford.

Coop

481741
 
Thanks. I don’t doubt you are right that the Vega box is not strong enough and the 525 would be better. But….

This car has Fenton cast headers and the clearance at the steering box is close. Am afraid going to any other box would open a can of clearance issues. May still be an issue even with an aftermarket Vega box if the box casting is a little beefier than original.
 
I'm have a 525 box in my 40 coupe, works good. That said during the 40+ years I built chassis I built quite a few new straight axle 35-40 chassis with new Borgeson Vega boxes and to date have had no negative feedback or problems. I did always use the 525 in the larger 41-48 chassis.
 
Randy in ca said:
There used to be a special GM grease for these boxes - no idea if it's still available. John Deere Cornhead Grease is probably your best bet now.
Click to expand...

Midwest Steering recommends using a CV joint grease or a lithium grease such as "Phillips/Conoco Super Sta Grease #2" in Saginaw steering boxes.
 
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