willysmjeeps.com

Hi all, further to my previous post, here is a report of a NOS Steering assy I was fortunate enough to find! I get excited when very seldom I have on my hands genuine parts wrapped still in wax paper!

So here is a comparison of the Part Numbers of the NOS compared to the worn out steering assy I removed from my M38.

NOS PARTS:

• GEARBOX (CASTING #): TA122985
• GEARBOX (STAMPED #): TA13084OJ
• COVER : TA125999 13 114
• PITMAN SHAFT: TA124997
• NOS WORM
• STEERING WEEL TURNS: 4,8
• STEERING COLUMN: Longer

MY M38 PARTS:

• GEARBOX (CASTING #): T122983
• GEARBOX (STAMPED #): No other number
• COVER: TA125998
• PITMAN SHAFT: 38.15.? SAMI
• STEERING WEEL TURNS: 4
• STEERING COLUMN: Shorter

Here I pass it on to you experts, since my part number crunching has always been minimal especially with our army multi-part numbers. Do I now have the OEM assy or as Brian suggested one from a M38A1? If so what did I have on my car before? If I’m with an assy from another M Jeep, so be it, I’m happy as after decades of struggling I can now steer with no play or binding, so better late than never!

Here are the pictures that my daughter was capable of uploading (she used this to obtain the URLs https://postimages.org/)

PHOTOS OF NOS
BOX MARKINGS:

BOX MARKINGS 2:

COVER:

PITMAN SHAFT:

WORM:


PHOTOS OF ON MY M38
BOX MARKINGS:

COVER:

PITMAN SHAFT:

Odd that a NOS still sealed in package steering gear would have such a terribly corroded worm gear!

wesk wrote:Odd that a NOS still sealed in package steering gear would have such a terribly corroded worm gear!

Wes I was under the impression that the gear was coated with grease so I did not examine it more closely! The column itself is NOS as I had to pry out and clean the wax paper from the also NOS nut at the wheel end.
The assy is now mounted and is operating amazingly well, I was hoping the steering issue was resolved for good........
Aris

I have seen rusted parts that apparently were pulled from the shelf coated with cosmolene and packaged for the Military Assistance Program to be given to friendly foreign governments not for US forces use.

radtech wrote:I have seen rusted parts that apparently were pulled from the shelf coated with cosmolene and packaged for the Military Assistance Program to be given to friendly foreign governments not for US forces use.

Redtec that is certainly possible. Unfortunately when installing I assumed it was in good condition.
Now it is mounted so I guess I will have to wait and monitor the performance closely.