Grease in steering box?

[Apogee]

Howdy all,

First post on this site.

I just picked up a couple of project tractors, a B6100 and a B7100.

The 6100 has a bad steering box that I am going to rebuild. I also have an L175 that the box also failed in.

So here's my question:

Has anyone packed their steering box with high quality grease instead of using oil?

I know what Kubota recommends to go in the box. However, since the vast majority of these get damaged from either the oil leaking out (lack of maint) or water getting into the box, it seems to me that it would be better to have grease in the box. At the very least, one would never have to worry about the oil leaking out or being displaced by water.

The reason that I bring this up, is I also own an old Range Rover. Land Rover originally used oil in the steering knuckles but then the factory realized that a "retrofit" of using grease in the knuckles was better. It eliminated all of the seal leaking issues and the joints have lasted every bit as well as the oil bath. Further, Rover designed the first generation to be very, very tough in all conditions. Hence, the factory knowing how they are used must have had a good reason for the change and I think it was due to them realizing that the oil bath design simply wasn't as good in that application. My thinking is the steering boxes have a similar problem in that they are often overlooked during maintenance due to the hassle of draining them. Hence, they either end up dry or full of water. Seems to me a similar situation to what Rover addressed except that Kubota hasn't.

My 6100 has a FEL on it. My thought is, since moly is an extreme pressure lubricant, moly grease would be better in the box due to the stresses on it.

Thoughts/opinions on this idea?

Thanks,

Steve

 

[Apogee]

Vic,

I appreciate the input.

White lithium instead of moly? Will the moly really affect the steering that much when cold? I hadn't thought about that... Is the white lithium grease as good as an extreme pressure lubricant?

Worst case I guess is I end up rebuilding it if it doesn't last. Time will tell.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[Piker]

That is what I did on my '47 Ford 8N & on a '55 Massey Harris Pacer, works great using regular chassis grease. Since both tractors spent a lot of time uncovered, I drilled the steering tube in 3 places between the wheel & the box & installed grease zerks. I filled the tube on both tractors with grease to prevent water running down the tube. Power steering! Did the same trick on my 1980 Kubota B7100. The steering box was full of water when I first bought it & didn't know it until the first time we had freezing temps overnight. Thawed the box with a heat gun, drained & flushed with WD40 then refilled with 90w rather than grease since box seals were not leaking.. Had no problems since.