Steering Gear - Worm Gear and Circulating Balls

[BrianG]

Okay, so an input seal job went really bad and the worm gear ended up coming out of my steering gear. The unit was unbolted from the frame but the pitman arm still attached. Truck is down to just the frame, so I had lots of room to work on it. All I was trying to do is stop the input shaft leak. I was able to put the parts back together and it seems to turn okay. Question is, ... Am I SOL? Did I loose the recirculating balls down into the pump? Is there no chance that they might have stayed in place? (I honestly don't really know the internals of these).

If they did come out, is there any way to put them back where they go without removing the pitman arm?

Anyone with experience with these things, please give me some advice.