I am kind of new to the diesel thing, what is that my power steering pump is bolted to? Is there any way any kind of oil can leak through that thing into my power steering pump?

 

i belive it's the coupling/drive for the vaccuum pump... oil does come in contact with the drive... but to my knowledge it isnt pressurized... eitherway; if there were a seal bad enough to let engine oil in; it'd let the resevoir bleed off into the crank case causing the fluid level to go down; or pressurized oil would cause the fluid level to go up; none of which is happening from what you've told me... i highly doubt it is engine oil and i stand next to my first statement... the fluid is either being sorched or another possibility is deterioration of the hoses

 

I put a new box on, and with about 100 miles on it so far, It drives like new other then the fact that it turns sharper to the left then it does to the right. I hear that a adjustable link will fix that though. Does anyone know how the redneck ram or any hyd. assist ram set up handles on the highway? Or is that only for off road use?

 

i dont know if the pitman arms can be indexed on these or not... if they arent "keyed" to go on in a certain direction you maybe be off a tooth or so... i believe the 2nd gens are keyed but in 90* increments so it's possible to get it off. first gens... not so sure

 

They are keyed (the same) and no, it's not possible to "get it off." As long as the box is anywhere near centered, it is simply impossible to put it back together wrong, literally foolproof. Even if you had the steering box turned/locked all the way to one side and assembled it 90 degrees off, the wheels would no longer turn at all any further in that direction. It would only drive straight or around in circles the opposite direction.

 

gotcha; knew they idiot proofed it for the 2nd gens... had the pitman off a first gen just dont recall... thanks for the clarification Nadir