Steering gear lube?

What kind of lube should I use in the steering box of my 40 Special? The shop manual specifies a "special, non-flowing lubricant" and leaves it at that. I just replaced the seals and gaskets on mine and filled it with 140w gear lube. It is slowly seeping past the seal. I have seen rebuilt steering boxes filled with grease by the rebuilder. Would this work? Any info will be much appreciated.

Use 600w the same gear lube used in Model a trans.

John Beatty

1922 Buick Sport Touring

I found a simple solution! As long as the car is not driven in cold weather, just pump it full of Chassis lube. It will mix with the existing oil, and is thick enough not to bypass the seal. I have done this an all my old Buicks, and it stops the leak , and the steer just fine. If it leaks after the first application, just put in more grease.

GM still catalogs manual steering gear lube in their Standard Parts Catalog. It's stated application is for Corvettes. Until the "integral" power steering systems were introduced, they typically used a hydraulic ram setup on the steering linkage for the assist, like Ford used up until the later 1960s on many of their cars (never did figure out how those dangling and oily power steering hoses never did get snagged on anything!), and used a manual gear box for the steering functions. The Corvettes used the linkage assist system all the way through the 1982 year model, if I remember correctly, as that basic platform dated to the prior decades.

There might also be some similar lubes in the aftermarket in variations with "moly" in the mix. Might make steering a little easier with that friction fighter (also in disc brake, Ford-spec wheel bearing grease and some chassis lubes) in there.

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

Um, I've used a mixture of hypoid-gear-oil and molly-grease; it doesn't leak out and it sticks to everything, the viscosity is prety darned good too, it doesn't leak out of my Rambler's stearing box; my Buick has PS, so I just can't use it there!

My mechanic suggested heating up wheel bearing grease and pouring it in. Make sure to HEAT IT UP OUTSIDE! He knows of someone that started a fire doing this.

Thanks for the information everyone. The "take home message" appears to be that I need a thicker lube in the box. I think I'll start by mixing a brew of molly chassis grease and 140w gear lube and see how it works. It's not leaking that bad now, just enough that I get dripped on occasionally when I'm working under the front end.