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I am about to rebuild my steering box for my 52 m38. I was looking in the tm and it was talking about reaming out the housing bushing. Will I need a special tool or has somebody used something different to do this?

Ryan,

To accomplish the reaming you will need a "reamer" tool.

This is one of the most important aspects of rebuilding your steering box.

I chickened out and had mine rebuit by an old jeep mechanic that has done a lot of them.

Reaming tools should be available at an auto parts store.

Thats what I figured. I work at a John Deere dealership and Im hoping we have one in the shop. Im going to let one of our mechanics (who happend to be in the military when this jeep was in use) look at the gearbox when I get it pulled off of it. Hopefully I can find a reamer since I probably will not be rebuilding a gearbox after this one anytime soon!

I went to the local NAPA store and bought a small honning tool that fits in a drill and used it.. hasnt leaked yet..

I am assuming that when you use a honing tool you just hone it out unitl the other bushing fits inside the other?

Yes, That is excatly what I did.. Figured it was worth a shot and cheaper than a tool and die shop.. Gave them too much money anyhow...Take care

When a repair procedure lists a reamer size it is done to insure a proper fit. Genarally there are several different descriptive fits; sloppy or loose (more than .003 clearance), slip fit (about .002 to .001), push fit (about .001), press fit (less than .001) and sometimes an interference fit where the little piece must be cooled and the big piece warmed before assembly is possible. Expansive reamers that are adjustable can be purchased fairly reasonable and you can concentrate on 2 or 3 size groups that fit most of your needs. A (friendly) machine shop would probably charge you $5 to size one bushing.