khany2002

Hey everyone,

I need a new IFS steering box for my '86 4Runner. Some of you may remember a week or two back, I was asking questions about towing -- this is in relation to that; long story short, it's probably safer to never let a girl drive your truck if you ever plan on keeping it! My current steering box has a sector shaft which is snapped in two.

Anyways, my local Toyota dealership wants $1500 CDN for a brand new Toyota steering box. The parts guy there has dealt with me before, and quoted me $900 for a rebuilt steering box.

My local NAPA dealer wants $623 (CDN) + $195 core charge for a rebuilt unit (I can't give my existing box to them, as it's broken).

Northshore Offroad (Trail-Gear.ca) quoted me $388.70 (CDN) for a rebuilt unit, and they have no core charge, and from the looks of it, no warranty.

Lastly, All-Pro's website lists the IFS steering gearbox at $399 US (so about $450 CDN), plus shipping. All-Pro gives a 5-year replacement warranty.

Are all the rebuilt boxes likely made and rebuilt by the same guys?? I don't mind paying more for something good -- and definitely don't want to replace my original box with garbage -- the truck only has about 85,000 miles on it, and I want to keep it in good shape.

Which would you guys go with, quality wise -- although All-Pro is offering a longer warranty, reliability is an issue, and, I wouldn't want the box to start leaking one month after I pick it up.

Let me know what you think!

Thanks,
khany2002

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

from my experience dealing with Trail-Gear and some of it's vendor's down here in the US I have had some great service from trail-gear. I have ordered several thousand dollars worth of parts from them. One order got hosed pretty bad, but they corrected it very quickly. I did have one order that may have been missing parts, but the stuff sat on the floor of my garage for over a year before I went to install it, so the bolts could have been lost by me.

I have had good luck getting some fast responses when asking questions on the trail-gear forum so maybe ask them about the warranty.

If you order from outside canada aren't you looking at some wicked duties?

Not sure what part of Canada you are in but some canadian members that I am aware of are: slacker, aviator. Maybe send them a PM, slacker is in the Toyota business, maybe he can hook you up with a good used steering box.

good luck...that napa price is out there

edit: forgot about this company Sky's Off Road Manufacturing. they offer inspected used boxes for $135 w/ a 90 day warranty against leaks...
http://www.sky-manufacturing.com/new...uct.php?id=175

khany2002

Thanks for the reply!

I've looked into the Sky Manufacturing unit, but, I'm not sure how long it would last. I'm thinking of rebuilding my OEM steering box with new seals and a new sector shaft when time permits, but, I wouldn't mind putting a known good (rebuilt) box in there for now.

As far as the harsh duty fees from ordering from the US, I've gotten caught by them a few times. Luckily, I live in Ottawa, so, it's about a 45 minute drive to the US border, and you can have your parts shipped and held at the UPS store in the US for about $5 extra, and deal with duty and other issues yourself (which usually ends up saving you a bunch of money).

The trail-gear parts are shipped by a Canadian company though, so, it would avoid the hassle, duty, and trip down there. Essentially, the only reason I would bother going through the hassle is if the All-Pro unit is actually giving me something better for the extra $100.

Matt16

Call a wrecking yard, I'm sure it would be cheaper and chances are the part will give you years of service.