Topic: WS6 gearbox question

[Gold78Spc]

Can anyone tell if a steering gearbox is a ws6 just by looking at it.  The only part number on it is stamped on an end cap and is exactly that, the part number for the end cap.  There is a stamp sized plate that has been ground flat that has some numbers stamped on it but those don't match any gm #'s and there are 2 raised numbers on the gearbox housing.  it does have the 4 bolts that are on the cover that hold the gearing inside the housing.  Do plan on selling them on ebay soon as i can verify that they are ws6 gearboxes.

[ta78w72]

I went through this already.  The WS6 box is part number 7829773 (at least that's the 78 part number).

Here's a link:
http://hometown.aol.com/nascarta1/WS6info.html

The easiest way to tell is to actually turn the gear either with the pitman arm or a vice grip.  End to end, you should be able to count 2.5 turns...it you can count 3 turns it's not a WS6 box.  Also, if you can turn the gear fairly easily, it's shot and needs to be rebuilt.  If that's the case, it's worth nothing since you can rebuild a basic box to 2.5 turns.  It it's tight and really hard to turn, it's worth something.  But if I'm going to go to all the trouble of R&R'ing a steering box, I'm going to have it rebuilt.  It cost me $300 to have mine rebuilt to a 2.5 turn box.  But they did it in two days and it was local so there was no shipping cost....and they did a great job.