WTF steering: 72 4x4 K5

[mister.freeze]

2nd replacement steering gearbox is in and... It's fixed! Really need the steering dampers back on now.

Some thoughts:

I'm pretty sure the stop-leak power steering fluid was to blame. Shouldn't have been, but I really feel that's the case. That being said...

The first replacement gearbox had a smaller input shaft than the original. The second is the same as the original. Same part numbers (according to O'reilly) but definitely different. Same steering problems between the original and 1st replacement, tho.

It would seem that others that had the same symptoms as I did would be experiencing something with internal seals and such in their gearboxes. I pretty much ruined the 1st replacement box with that same stop-leak fluid, giving me the same problems I originally had. Others likely have the same problem but for different reasons (age, contamination, etc). Looks like those internal seals are clogging up the works in any case.

The solution? A good replacement gearbox. Everything else may contribute to these symptoms, but in my case, the gearbox was the culprit.