Steering Box Oil SAE 90

Special oil for steering box.
SAE 90.
1 litre.

Under normal circumstances a steering box needs no maintenance, so changing the steering box oil is not mentioned in the Volkswagen maintenance schedule. But in the event of a rebuild the oil must of course be changed, and if you have bought a new steering box, it is not always obvious that it is filled with oil by the manufacturer.

This classic oil is a medium EP (Extreme Pressure) SAE 90 oil, suitable for classic steering boxes. Due to the requirements that modern lubricants have to meet, modern and often thin oils are not suitable for use in our classic cars. This classic oil is compatible with classic seals and rubbers and has excellent lubricating properties.

This classic oil has the following properties:

- Excellent lubricating properties
- Good corrosion protection properties
- Good EP properties
- Compatibility with conventional seals and rubbers
- Good anti-foam behaviour

Note: The manufacturers of steering boxes give no warranty if an oil with specifications other than the EP SAE 90 oil mentioned here is used.

Types of steering boxes:

On the old models of the Volkswagen Beetle and Karmann Ghia we refer to the worm and sector steering, which was later replaced with a worm and roller steering. On the Beetle 1303 and T25/T3 Bus a rack-and-pinion steering was used. It is important to know what is fitted under your car; here is the full explanation:

Volkswagen used the worm and sector steering on the Volkswagen Beetle up to 1965 and on the Karmann Ghia up to 1961. The steering box consists of a fork (sector) with a gear that turns on a shaft (worm) to enable the rotary movement. In the later years a worm and roller steering was used, where too only the toothed sector was replaced with a support roller (worm gear). From 1974 the Beetle 1303, like the third-generation buses (Vanagon T25/T3), was fitted with a rack-and-pinion steering. This is a rectangular bar with teeth on one side like a gear. With the pinion, a small gear that engages the teeth, the bar can be moved lengthwise. Volkswagen did not implement this change on all models at the same time, so the following list shows when and on which VW model the system was used.

Worm and sector steering:
Beetle export model up to 1961 (chassis no. 3 933 184)
Beetle Convertible up to 1961 (chassis no. 3 933 184)
Beetle for the domestic market (standard version) up to 7/1965
Karmann Ghia up to 1961 (chassis no. 3 933 184)

Worm and roller steering:
Beetle export model from 1961 (chassis no. 3 933 185) onwards
Beetle Convertible from 1961 (chassis no. 3 933 185) to 7/1974
Beetle 1200, 1300, 1500 from 8/1965 onwards
Beetle 1302 and 1303 up to 7/1974
Karmann Ghia from 1961 (chassis no. 3 933 185) onwards
VW Bus up to 7/1979
Type 3 all models and years
VW Type 181 (Thing) all models and years

Rack-and-pinion steering:
Beetle 1303 from 8/1974 onwards