steering gear rebuild, left with some extra o- rings??

[doni10]

hello people,

am currently rebuilding my steering gear (1981 2wd 4.9), and have got to the point where it's all going back together.
only thing is i've noticed that i seem to have a couple of o-rings left over in the rebuild kit? (always a slightly disconcerting moment!)

I kept everything i took off and there's nothing like the two that are left. I have noticed though that one of them seems to perfectly fit the base of the worm gear screw piece?... (although there wasn't one there when i took it apart)

was hoping someone might be able to please put my mind at ease before i put it all back together! :)



the two with the arrows are pointing to them are the o rings in question.

thanks!

[Shorty]

Hi,
Sorry, no answers here but I have to ask- do you have a link to the source of the kit you used? Afraid I’ve got to this job myself one of these days.
Thanks,
Dennis

[doni10]

Hi Dennis,

I used the 'Sunsong' kit with bearings from rockauto. (https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/ford,1981,f-250,4.9l+300cid+l6,1123478,steering,steering+gear+rebuild+kit,7397)

Job itself wasn't too tricky. (except for removing the rusted on pitman arm. that was a nightmare! In the end i found lots of heat to be the only way it was going to budge. broke a puller trying to  remove it before i worked that out!)

I used this guy's video for reference when assembling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJG5tlgGSYU


The only thing I might suggest adding to his method is marking the ring that locks in the worm gear before disassembly, so that you can be sure it's tightened up right when it goes back together.



Good luck!

[doni10]

Also, as I mentioned in my fist post in this thread, the kit seems to come with some extra bits that (hopefully!) weren't needed in my rebuild. 2 washers a large O-ring and  a smaller one.
I decided they must be included to allow for different variations of the steering gear.

[Shorty]

Perfect, thank you.
This is now on my list!
Dennis