Technical STP for Steering Box Lube?

John Deere corn head grease. Won’t leak out. Big improvement in steering.


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Every thing old I have I use PowerPunch...just about the same thing as STP. As long as the seals don't leak...you're fine.

I also drill a small hole up from the fill plug, the across to it, to vent it.

Been working in my old stuff for a lotta years.

 

It does work just fine, but in Az, I like something thicker, because in this heat that stuff will work it’s way through the cracks.

 

I don't use it because it's "better", the seals are worn in the box and SAE 90 gear oil (lube the manual calls for) won't stay real long. If I had a rebuilt steering box I'd use whatever it calls for.

 

This stuff is good, but I don't think it's available north of the border.

 

I bought a rebuilt steering box from East Coast Chevy and at the time they said fill it with stp. I have not had any problems.

 

I second the John Deere Corn Head Grease.

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Like choffman41, my cousin and I used STP as an assembly lube on my Hemi engine back in the 70's.. worked fine.

 

Many moons ago I had a 65 Mustang with a rear end howling like a banshee, sucked out the gear oil and refilled with straight STP, quiet as a churchmouse for the 2 more years I owned it and probably still going. My only use ever for Andy's product. I just couldn't see how that stuff would ever mix with engine oil. Most of that stuff is "Snakeoil" anyway. Ralphie

 

Please, delete your post, don't encourage anyone to do this. Differentials require extreme pressure additives due to the extreme offset in the hypoid gears, which results in a lot of sliding wear. The correct oil meets GL-5 specifications, and contains a heavy dose of sulpfur-phosporus EP additives that provide a self sacrificing layer on the gear teeth to prevent wear. I'm happy you got away with what you did, but it's really bad advice to anyone else. Do the community a favor and delete your post before someone else thinks it's a good idea.

 

Typically in situations where a gear box is leaking and you need something to get by until you can down the machine and fix it correctly (new seals/bearings/etc) is to use a semi-fluid grease with EP additives to protect the gears. #00 or #000 grease is what you want. Most lube co's have something like this, it's very common. You work on trucks, you ever run across semi-fluid grease in front wheel bearings and in trailer axle bearings instead of oil? See TMC RP 631B (I may have the bulletin on my work computer, I'll see if I can get a copy tomorrow). That's the stuff to use. Synthetic would be great as a "fill it and forget it" fix. But non-synthetic would also work until you have a chance to down the car and rebuild the steering box.

 

Yup, John Deere cornhead grease works well in steering boxes.

 

Ditto on the corn head grease

 

Once again Blues4U has said all we need to know about lubrication. Thanks for setting the record straight.


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FYI on the JD Corn Head Grease, it is a polyurea thickened #0 grease with EP additives, good stuff. Here's a link to tech data: https://jdparts.deere.com/partsmkt/...alMultiPurpose.htm#_Special-Purpose_Corn_Head

Every major lubes company will have a similar product, nothing special about the Deere grease that you can't get from someone else, but since most locations have a Deere dealer near by it's probably an easy way to get what you need.

 

Is Corn Head Grease compatible with other greases/oils that may be hanging out in an old steering box, or is it something that you should only use in a rebuild?

 

Polyurea thickener is NOT compatible with other types of thickeners. If you had grease in a box you would definitely want to clean it all out before adding the Corn Head Grease, or any polyurea grease. Non-compatible greases will result in the thickeners failing and the oil separating out, it would be a mess.

If it had gear oil in it, that should not cause a problem, but I would still try to drain it as much as possible.

 

Thanks! That's why I've always been leery of using it in my old gearboxes.

 

Pussey juice

 

What would Richard Petty have to say about this.

 

Nothing, paid a lot of his bills. Better products have been developed.

 

I was fortunate growing up to know many great old racers, Rollie Free and Dana Fuller were two. My family had a great old friend, deceased, who had worked on the Granatelli crew at Indy. Andy would always document the addition of a minuscule amount of STP into the STP race cars. Thus legitimizing the STP brand being used in the engines. As I recall the base formula for STP was paraffin and it was well know to have limited lube ability.

 

Hello,

STP has been used in all sorts of motors from stock cars to drag racing cars, even on the Indy 500 motors, too. It is an engine additive, not a replacement oil. It has its uses for just about any situation. We were given several cans of it and it worked in all applications for us, from the 58 Impala to the Flathead Ford Sedan Delivery, our 671 SBC motor in the 40 Willys C/Gas Coupe,the 327 El Camino and our second 40 sedan delivery with a 327.

In my first 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery, the recycled oil was used in the Flathead. This oil being thinner, was supplemented by the random STP additive. We also used the STP additive in the 348 1958 Chevy Impala in the A/Stock days. When we built the 1940 Willys Coupe with the 283, then the 292 671 SBC motors, we used 30 WT. Valvoline and STP again. At the time, all of the top racers were using either Wynn’s Friction Proofing additive or the STP brand of additive to their engine oil.

Despite the attitude of today’s hot rodders, it did work for plenty of historic racers back then. The question was raised, why did we use the STP? We were given several cans of STP by my dad’s mechanic friend and were told that it would help the motors in the long run, especially in high horsepower situations, like drag racing.

He also gave us a case of Wynn’s Friction Proofing to use on our cars, too. He said they were similar and to see which one we like the most. He told us to use them on the street/drag cars (ours and our friends’ cars) and our 1940 Willys C/Gas Coupe with the 292 SBC 671 motor.

The most memorable and ever lasting “Cars and Scars” with an STP performance item, happened in 1960 at Lions Dragstrip. Then, 58 years of noticing the scar on my bicep (and telling the true story or making up a doozy as to why and how…) daily until the burn scar is almost gone, today.

But, recently a new scar took its place on the same right arm, just below the bicep where that semi circle burn was covered with STP. My right arm was near the stainless steel covered top of a Charbroil Barbecue unit. I reached down to pick up something off of the ground and leaned into the stainless steel. It was hot, but did not look like much. Later that night, it started changing color, creating some of its own heat, and needed some protection. No STP this time...

Now, the arm has one fading, 59 year old burn scar and one brand new one for a few more years.

Jnaki

So, for the steering box replacement, there are specific compounds for such a task. STP is an engine oil additive to keep things running well. YRMV

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...-jobs-that-arent.1152546/page-3#post-13158950

 

I use corn head grease in mine. As far as STP being snake oil I worked for an aerospace co for 27 years building and testing aircraft main engine fuel pumps for both military and civilian jets and the government approved assembly lube was STP. It was written into the Tech Manuals.

 

After reading this post and commenting on it I went out and checked the very hard steering 47 coupe that I bought last fall and have been fiddling around with. Hes a stock box and when I checked it had something that couldn't have been thicker than 50 wt. oil. I sucked it all out and filled it with Corn Head. Took it for a short drive and couldn't believe how much better it was.

 

Shoebox Central rebuilds steering boxes and uses straight STP in rebuilt units. That's good enough for me! I have a 1950 Ford coupe and will try it first, but I am curious about the corn head grease. I will post what I find later this summer. I have radial tires.

 

Personally, I don't think I would put it in a steering box, but back in the 70's before all the fancy engine assembly lubes were on the market we used STP on rod and main bearings religiously for assembling both hot street and race engines. The stuff stays where you put it. It gets dissolved in the oil during break in and then dumped along with the filter. Never had a bearing failure and they all ran like raped apes.

 

John Deere cornhead grease for the win!

 

In 1976 STP got pinched for not presenting any scientific evidence of their claims.

They had to pay $500,000.00 in 1978 for failing to validate the claims. That's $2,552,507.28 in 2023 dollars.

They did it again in 1995, and had to pay $880,000.00 That's $1,764,206.45 in 2023 dollars.

They are habitual liars and the products are hot garbage.

 

I picked up this 00 grease from Tractor Supply and filled the steering box on my RPU with it.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/super-s-cotton-picker-spindle-grease-00