steering gear leaking fluid

[trenton163]

So I was under my truck today and I noticed that my steering gear is leaking (a small amount) of fluid from the front. The whole front drivers side seems to be covered in oil/fluid. I think that this is a really old leak that I just haven't really noticed.

 

I will try to get some pics posted, but I was wondering if anyone knows what it could be and/or how hard it is to fix?

 

I was looking on rockauto and a seal kit is like 30 bucks, I'm just wondering how hard it would be to do?

 

Thanks Trenton

[Tungsten]

It's not uncommon for the steering boxes with high miles to self destruct. They will usually wear out after some long mileage interval. I know my box failed. Basically, you need to rebuild the steering box (or swap to a newer one). It's not that hard but not on the easy side either. You have to remove the pitman arm, which is probably the hardest part of the whole job. I went to a junkyard and got a steering box (pitman arm included) with the accompanying lines and a reservoir. About to put it in and replace the entire system (see this thread).