2013+ steering gearbox in older trucks

Jomax · Mar 16, 2017

Black AOD said:
I just put a redhead box in my 08 just very recently and it did wonders for my steering. Almost everyone around here that has one loves them.

Sorry to hear about your Experience Jomax, that blows man

Thanks, first one had an internal valve come loose, second box is locking up. Hopefully third one is the charm. Lol.

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dsberman94 · Mar 16, 2017

So can anyone say how the lower steering shaft is swapped. Does the old one just slide out and the new one slides right in or what? Looking at ordering parts tomorrow or Saturday so I want to know what I'm doing before I order

And then what has to be done with the 02 pitman arm for it to fit into the 15 box?

dsberman94 · Mar 16, 2017

Actually I'll also be going down to Ford tomorrow. If I do end up doing this I'll be ordering the cardone box off of rockauto. I plan to do a write up if I do this also. There is a huge price difference between these boxes. I've been looking at pics side by side online and there are differences I can see just in the crappy stock pics. I still need to know about the pitman arm stuff and how to swap the steering shaft though.

Seems like I need to find out about the bolt size tomorrow because I'm just going to get grade 8 bolts and washers from fastenal, Ford wants stupid money for those bolts.

Also a price on the new steering shaft.

Hose is cheap and easy.

Did I miss anything?

co04cobra · Mar 16, 2017

Have to use the pitman arm in correlation to the year box. 02 will not swap to 05.

Depending on what year box you go with will change what has to be done to your steering shaft.

dsberman94 · Mar 16, 2017

co04cobra said:
Have to use the pitman arm in correlation to the year box. 02 will not swap to 05.

Depending on what year box you go with will change what has to be done to your steering shaft.

Will be a 2013 or newer box. Are the shafts different between 13 and 16 or the same. What will I have to change on my ball joint at the pitman arm to make that work? I've got an ad out for a box, bolts, and pitman arm from a 13+ truck. So that should make it a little easier. If I can get the steering shaft from the same truck that would be even easier.

I'm setting a max cost limit of $800 on this project as well. Although I'd like to be closer to 600 or 700. If I can't get it done for that I'm not doing it.

C2tuck · Mar 16, 2017

I too had a hell of a time with redhead on an 06 dodge I used to have. Replaced everything under the front end including the steering box. Drove it out to where I was working at the time (about 4-5 hr drive, and it was so sensitive it was worse than driving a 200 ton crane with all wheeel steering! Called them up and they asked me to send pictures of the installed box to them. I did as asked and they called me back and told me that I had messed with the adjustment bolt on the top of it. I told them that I had never touched it (per all their warning labels) as you could see the gobs of tamper sealant that they installed at the factory. Finally talked to the OWNER and he was a total a$$hole about it! Telling me that I DID in fact mess with it and that the only thing I could do was send it back to them and they would re adjust it and send it back. Of course wanting me to pay for shipping both ways and have my truck sit there with no steering for a week! I not so nicely told him to F-off and that I would never do business with them again and blast their a$$ if I ever felt the need to. He told me to go ahead and that he wasn't worried about loosing business over my issue. I know personally many guys on that forum steered clear (pun intended) of there products. Still pisses me off thinking about it. I ended up just selling the truck and moving on. Guess the new owner either delt with it or needs a lot of liquor after his daily commute! IMHO...don't buy from these douche bags. They have plenty of competition. Some of the most horrible customer service around if you ask me...just an FYI guys.

Lilbro · Mar 16, 2017

I definitely want more info on this. I've got a 05 with 37s on it and I feel like I have to herd it down the road.

dsberman94 · Mar 17, 2017

Is a 2015 f550 box going to be the same as a 250 or 350 box?

6.0 Tech · Mar 17, 2017

No the 450-550 boxes are a hell of a lot bigger. May bolt up the same, but physically they are much larger. And i wanna say close to double the price

dsberman94 · Mar 17, 2017

Ok. Just wondering because someone just told me they had one they'd sell.

GregW · Mar 17, 2017

I bought a steering box out of a 2011 6.7 to swap into my 08 Job 1 truck. I found out after I pulled my box that it's splined and the 2011 box isn't. The 2011 box just has a round shaft with two flat spots on it. I believe the intermediate shaft should be a direct swap so that the 2011 box will work.

Besides that, the box bolts into place with no problem and the lines fit without any modifications

PrecisionEngine · Mar 17, 2017

GregW said:
I bought a steering box out of a 2011 6.7 to swap into my 08 Job 1 truck. I found out after I pulled my box that it's splined and the 2011 box isn't. The 2011 box just has a round shaft with two flat spots on it. I believe the intermediate shaft should be a direct swap so that the 2011 box will work.

Besides that, the box bolts into place with no problem and the lines fit without any modifications

I put the 2016 box in my 2010 with ZERO extra parts.

Took my gearbox out , stuck the new gearbox in. Done. I started a thread in august, its attached to this thread. In there you will find part numbers and a vin for a direct swap from a 2016 to a 2010.

dsberman94 · Mar 17, 2017

PrecisionEngine said:
I put the 2016 box in my 2010 with ZERO extra parts.

Took my gearbox out , stuck the new gearbox in. Done. I started a thread in august, its attached to this thread. In there you will find part numbers and a vin for a direct swap from a 2016 to a 2010.

According to redhead, you just replaced your box with the same thing. Their website says 2010-2015 are the same. Chances are that includes 2016 too they just haven't updated the website. So if your build date on your truck is 3/10 and newer, you just swapped in a new box.

PrecisionEngine · Mar 17, 2017

dsberman94 said:
According to redhead, you just replaced your box with the same thing. Their website says 2010-2015 are the same. Chances are that includes 2016 too they just haven't updated the website. So if your build date on your truck is 3/10 and newer, you just swapped in a new box.

No Dude, I'm not retarded. The new box is SIGNIFICANTLY larger. you don't even need to put them side-by-side to see how much bigger they are. Further, I had them side-by-side: I KNOW it is much bigger box. And, Lastly, I planned this out with significant research and a donor truck before completing it. I'm sorry to say but REDHEAD IS WRONG!!!

ckrueg · Mar 20, 2017

I have no experience with redhead boxes but my 16 steers WAY better than my 2010. Its closer to the feel of my BMW. For the first week I kept over correcting because i was used to the looseness in the old boxes. the few 2011-2012s i test drove before getting my 16 felt just like the 2010 box

PrecisionEngine · Mar 20, 2017

ckrueg said:
I have no experience with redhead boxes but my 16 steers WAY better than my 2010. Its closer to the feel of my BMW. For the first week I kept over correcting because i was used to the looseness in the old boxes. the few 2011-2012s i test drove before getting my 16 felt just like the 2010 box

This is the exact same feeling i experienced when i jumped in my company truck. That is what led me down the path of figuring out if the gearboxes were interchangeable to my 2010.

MeTo · Mar 21, 2017

OMG, is it possible to shoe horn a 2016 box in a 97 f350? I'm thinking this would be a good mod when I have the engine out?

PrecisionEngine · Mar 21, 2017

MeTo said:
OMG, is it possible to shoe horn a 2016 box in a 97 f350? I'm thinking this would be a good mod when I have the engine out?

I believe these are the OP's intentions: to put a 2016 box in a older style truck. From what I've gathered, it sounds like there would be some differences....

Others who have posted here are claiming to have shoe horned a 2010 box into a 2003 truck. This, coupled with the fact that i was able to put a 2016 box in a 2010, would lead to the conclusion that it is possible to go back as far as 2003.

Highroller54 · Mar 23, 2017

I wonder if there is a difference between gas and diesel 2016 boxes.

Jomax · Mar 23, 2017

I believe this will work back to 1999, as I have a 2007 box in this 99'. I don't think it'll work for an OBS without some custom work, I highly doubt it'll be "bolt in".

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