Ross Versus V6

I am about to get an exhaust put on my 225. I know I’m going to rebuild the Ross steering box next winter. The service manual says the box has to go out the bottom on V6s. Kind of looks like it might go up through the floor. Will it? Otherwise I’ll have the guy put a joint in the exhaust so I can remove the drivers side pipe. Thanks

 

It is easier out the bottom. The hardest part of the Ross box removal is getting the steering wheel off. If the steering wheel is the original type of wheel and has been on there a long time they can be stuck on pretty tight. It usually involves soaking them a day or 2 in PB blaster while having some type of puller rigged up to keep the wheel loaded while the penetrating oil does it's work.

 

Just buy the correct steering wheel puller from Kaiser Willys. Makes you life easier.

 

Might not be a bad time to upgrade to a Saginaw box. Even the manual boxes steer better than the Ross system, especially with lifts and bigger tires.

 

Saginaw upgrade is worth doing, but when put in good order the Ross system works good too.

With my arthritis, I find it a lot easier to remove the left fender so I can get at it without having to crawl underneath.

 

This is my running around town or fishing Jeep. I have a YJ on 40s I rock crawl with. I am heading back to stock tires soon and removing the 31s. The rest of the steering system is good. I just want to get in to the box and inspect/rebuild it. The steering wheel removal is not an issue, just swapped it out recently. Although no one told me I can't remove it from the top side I guess I will have the exhaust guy set me up where I can remove the Y pipe for access. It would be good if I have to pull a transmission or swap a clutch at some point. Thanks

 

I never removed one from the topside not sure it would come out that way. It isn't hard to remove from below. Sector shaft usually needs to be replaced, if you are lucky the worm shaft will still be usable. The only difficulty in rebuilding are the sector shaft bushings. The old ones are pressed out, the new ones pressed in and usually have to be reamed to fit the shaft.

I bought a Pittman arm puller at Harbor Freight for cheap and it does the job just fine.

Replace the Pittman arm if the ball shows any egg shape from wear. There are two sizes depending on which size sector shaft your box has.

 

I removed mine from the top, it wasn't easy, but doable. The Steering wheel will need to be removed to maneuver around the seat.

 

There is a city named Versailles in USA? Is there a castle ?

 

There is a Castle actually. It might come up as Woodford County but it's Versailles. It is now a bed and breakfast/event center. It's been there since the 70s.

Good to here about going out the top. I really don't want to add complexity to the exhaust.

 

https://en.chateauversailles.fr/plan-your-visit

 

Yep. I have two m38a1s which may be the same design. The tabs on the sector shaft were in terrible shape and you can no longer adjust for slop in the box. Don't know about the Ross in the v6 but that joint that mounts to the frame had so much slop it was rediculous. Add these two together and add a little tie rod slop and no Kingman joint preload and you have the makings of the notorious "Death Wobble".

All I remember when it started shaking was the 6 million dollar man "She's breaking up" friggin scary.


I ended up scavenging up a better sector shaft. Can't keep oil in them either.

 

A properly rebuilt Ross steering box with new bushings, seals and gasket will hold 140 wt gear oil just fine.

There are multiple points in the system which wear and produce slop.