[rusty1161]

The wire looks like it might be from a tag.

Do you still have the original steering box? If you do, return the one you bought have have @CHOCK rebuild the original. That is the best way to go here.

 

[rusty1161]

Makes me wonder if the Lares steering box shaft or the nut they provide are metric and not compatible with the other.

 

[rusty1161]

The threads are standard, the nut is thicker.

My thought is since it’s an aftermarket box, there could be bad machining of the threads on the shaft or a mis-boxed nut that could cause issue with tightening.