I've heard a lot about using Durango steering boxes on later jeeps because they're basically the same, but a bit beefier. Anyone know if any year Durango box will fit an 83 CJ7 ?
Usually they refer to this as the "Dakota" steering box upgrade because they are said to produce up to 20% more pressure. IIRC it is a bolt-on to the frame but I think the newer Saginaw boxes only use 3 of the four mounting bolt locations. Depending on years the hoses may need to be addressed for the metric/SAE differences. Also, you need to adapt the couplers to make the shaft work. There are a number of gear boxes that give better pressure than the CJ one.
I was looking into doing that conversion to my 79 CJ7 ..
In the end, I went with a reman box out of a J20.
Supposedly it is beefier than the original, and has a faster, variable turning ratio...
But I'm not sure you can use that one because you probably have PS lines with o-ring style hoses. Anything back as far as the J20's probably all used flare...
I put a J20 box on one Cherokee as the original was toast. I did notice an improvement.
Forgot to mention this before but when I put ton axles under another FSJ I used a steering box from an S10 ZR2 version. It is a variable ratio and it did make a difference in the jeep on 37's. The down side is that it is a 3-bolt box not a 4-bolt. The ZR2 box is a different spec than the other S10 boxes and supposedly makes a bigger difference. I sold it not long after so I am not sure of the longevity.