Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Opinions please,
Rebuilt the steering gear box with new oil seals, some of which were the old leather type. Are we asking for trouble by using a synthetic gear oil with those seals?
Thanks.

Certainly no issue with respect to the seals, bearings and other moving parts are the issue. Were it mine I'd go with conventional GL-1 gear oil as the best choice though I have used GL-5 multi-vis SAE 85-140 gear oil in Packard steering boxes for decades w/o issues. If the gearbox has "yellow" metal (brass, bronze) parts many years back there was an incompatibility between the very early hypoid gear oils and yellow metal, so GL-1 is the safest answer though I believe all modern GL-5 gear oils of the current era are compatible with yellow metal if indeed any is present in the construction.

An old steering box that I had apart one time used a thin grease that had diatomaceous earth as a binder instead of Soap or Moly based greases.(really)
The local lawn equipment shop had it on the shelf.
If you ever pull down a grease box that looks like it was full of dirt that had settled in the bottom, that's what it was!.