steering box leaking - why???

Why do people generally replace with recon rather than stripping and changing seals?

There are numerous seal kits available on ebay for about 15 quid.

Is it really such a difficult job?

scuse my ignorance! Just trying to decide which way to tackle this before my next mot.

defender 90 200 tdi

They are notoriously difficult to get them to stop leaking. Even national power steering can't get it right, the only people who I would trust are the likes of adwest who make them anyway, they also recon the old ones.

I have never actually looked at one myself so I cannot give you an exact reason as to why they leak, but I know even a lot of good engineering shops won't bother with them, they just tell you to go to adwest.

You can get a recon unit for about £120 exchange. Steering is pretty damn important, although without fluid they will still work, all be it non assisted, it could cause an accident if you expect the steering to respond quickly and all your fluid has escaped. Is it really worth it for the relatively small amount of money needed for a recon unit?

it isn't just the seals that wear, the metal parts wear as well so your new seal that you take all that care fitting and getting right is sitting against a worn part and and is a looser fit than it should be, hence it leaks again....