Hi there,

I have had some work done on my truck 2006 H2 (mileage is around 66k)- I purchased Kryptonite upper control arms, upper and lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods and center link, also idler and pitman arm. The mechanic said I needed a new gearbox so I had that replaced with a RedHead. I expect the truck to drive and feel more tightly in the suspension through to steering.

On driving home after the gearbox was replaced on slight turns I could hear almost a chaffing sound - the same sound if driving on sand that comes from braking slightly - as the brake pad hits the rotor. In the past I had the powersteering pump replaced so I should be good there (when I dropped the truck off the powersteering worked well). Turning the wheels is also much harder - almost as if the power steering is failing.

Is it normal when a gearbox is replaced to hear a slight chaffing sound on slight turns and stiffer steering? The guy that did the work is not my regular mechanic at the shop who did previous work so I am a bit concerned that he may have done something incorrectly or affected the power steering in some manner.

Any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

if you think there is something wrong. then there probably is. can you have your normal guy look at it?

 

My redhead box has been nothing but a pain in the butt. I think they just require more fluid/pressure than stock. It also takes a while to bleed out all the air in the system, no matter what you do. Most replacement ps pumps come with the wrong orfice valve for trucks. I have a post on here somewhere explaining all of that. When I replaced my valve, it did make a difference but was still not good enough.

I'm in the middle of a new engine install now but along with that I upgraded my power steering pump to a 12 vane unit, I've read this is the cure. I'll let you know once I get the new engine up and running.

Tim