Another Redhead bites the dust - pew pew

[MadScience]

Interestingly the pictures of that Edelmann box look more like the OEM Ford item than the aftermarket one I have.

The part I have is either machined wrong or the sector shaft needs to be pulled and re-inserted once properly centered. Their support seemed convinced that there's an adjustment nut for this "on the back". After a couple of calls they have instructed me to not attempt to remove the sector shaft, but to initiate a return.

I suspect it's pretty standard fare to confirm the OEM part numbers in a situation like this, and there are two numbers for vans from 99-07:

F7UZ-3504-GBRM 32-spline, vans with front axles under 4200lbs
F7UZ-3504-FBRM 36-spline, vans with front axles over 4200lbs

The spline count makes this pretty obvious, but I also believe the higher weight axle indicates the cutaway van chassis.

[MadScience]

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

Yea, the steering wheel…

In my case the wheel would have been off a full turn. You get to pick:

One turn to the left and three turns to the right.

or

Three turns to the left and one turn to the right.

Apparently I ended up with the dirt oval special.

If I could go back I'd go with another parts source, but now I get to see how this will play out. For all I know I got the one dud, and the next one will be fine.

[MadScience]

So, instead of sending me a replacement box, the vendor simply refunded my payment when the received the box I sent back to the without any further commentary.

At least the vendor is consistent in their theme of getting things almost right. This could be a simple mistake, or a sign that all their steering boxes are in this configuration.