Steering Gear Lubricant-'53 Pontiac

[straight8pontiac]

I am trying to determine what the appropriate lubricant would be for the steering box/gear for a 1953 Pontiac. The owners manual says to use an "All-Season Steering Gear Lubricant" and the shop manual is of little help as well. What modern gear oil would be recommended??

Thanks in advance for any help- Dave.

[Guest Commodore]

Interesting topic. Some steering boxs use 90 wt gear lube like my 1949 Hudson. Some use "chassis grease" and other use "All-Season Steering Gear Lubricant". It looks like the "All-Season Steering Gear Lubricant" is no longer available. Some people use "chassis grease" to replace it. Others use a 50-50 mixture of "chassis grease" and 90 wt gear lube. The 90 wt gear lube is too light and will run out of the steering box. Finally, Penrite offers steering box lube for classic cars and Restoration Supply Company has some lubes that would work. You want I think grease that is lighter then chassis grease but heavier than 90 wt gear lube.

STEERING BOX LUBRICANT - Penrite Oil

Restoration Supply Company

[Owen_Dyneto]

Use of chassis grease may result in damage to the gear surfaces. The reason is that it "channels", thus as the gears rotate they squeegee the grease away from the gear surfaces and leave them essentially dry on the next gear rotation. You need a lubricant that has enough "flow" property to return back to the surfaces. If SAE90 gear oil leaks, you probably need to reseal the gearbox, but you could try SAE 140 gear oil.

[Curti]

Try Penrite. available at Restoration Supply

[Richard1]

The best steering gear box for most cars (especially with the wear and sealing problems of older cars) is a 00 grade EP grease.Chevron has a Delo Grease that works well. Many others as well. As a NLGI grade 00, it has a little thickener, and generally a 150 to 220 cSt base oil. It is enough thickener to hold it in place and not too much to channel.

Think of it as putting a blob in there.

[Guest carlnut50]

If your box is in good enough shape not to leak then just use STP. It will steer easy and not wear out.