Manual to Power Steering Box Conversion Advise

[gandbl]

Hello,

I am looking for advice and experiences that you have had performing manual to power steering conversions on your Ford truck.

I purchased a Bendix power steering gear conversion kit to be installed in my 1972 F100 2WD equipped with a Bendix manual steering gear. (See Fig 1) Installation of the new Bendix power box was simple enough. During installation of the steering column I had difficulties starting the under dash to column mounting bolts. I was able to start the bolts but the adjustment of the column was at maximum extension. The appearance was that the column appeared to extrude further into the cab as it used to. During installation of the exterior firewall plate it appears that the column angle through the firewall is slightly different because when the plate is bolted to the column it does not sit flush with the firewall.

I made some adjustments to the column shaft by moving it 5/8 of an inch in the cab direction. This resulted in easier mounting of the under dash to column mounting bolts and resulted in normal steering column extrusion into the cab. This did not correct the column angle though the firewall and now resulting in the steering wheel not sitting flush with the upper column housing. (See Fig 2)

Since I am doing a full restoration and after recently installing the cab with new cab mounts I thought that the cab might not be fitted to the frame properly. I decided that the easiest way to check this was to remove the new power steering box, install the original manual box. A perfect fit correcting all issues.

Has anyone had the same experience when performing a conversion? What am I missing?

Thanks!!

Fig 1


Fig 2


Pictures of the Bendix Power Steering Box installed


Pictures of the Manual Bendix Steering Box installed

[td]

gandbl,

are you still using the manual column?
if so its longer than a power column and you need to find a powersteering column.

by the way looks like your doing a great job, i love your rocker covers!!

[gandbl]

Hello,

Yes...I am still using the manual column. I thought that as long as I was using a Bendix power box that I could use the manual column. Am I wrong?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

gandbl,

are you still using the manual column?
if so its longer than a power column and you need to find a powersteering column.

by the way looks like your doing a great job, i love your rocker covers!!

[MAK]

That's what I thought too. A bendix box has some disadvantages but was the same length as the manual steering box and so you didn't have to hunt for a new shorter column.

Hello,

Yes...I am still using the manual column. I thought that as long as I was using a Bendix power box that I could use the manual column. Am I wrong?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

gandbl,

are you still using the manual column?
if so its longer than a power column and you need to find a powersteering column.

by the way looks like your doing a great job, i love your rocker covers!!

[td]

yes your both right, i wasn't thinking correctly. you are able to use your same column.

that leaves me out of ideas, so i hope someone else chimes in to help.

[Jake11]

Now your gonna have to buy a whole new truck! That ones ruined.

Can you slide the column up if you lossen the mounting bolts? Can the slots under the dash where it mounts be
made longer to give more adustment? They probably can. Also look at the "Cab Mounts" the rubber bisquits that
hold the body on the frame. If there all squissed up, the adjusting thing will run out of room. Jake

[SportCustom]

I may be different on the Bendix, but the bracket that bolts to the firewall is different on the power steering trucks, did you get a bracket that is marked "Power Steering" ? The PS bracket changes the angle through the firewall slightly.

Todd

[gandbl]

Hello,

After loosing another nights sleep I have decided to check the height of the old cab mounts and compare the measurements with the height of the new mounts. This would account for the excessive column length.

I am also going to check my local wrecking yards to see if I can find an exterior firewall steering column bracket from a truck equipped with power steering.

I installed cab mounts that I purchased from LMC truck. does anyone know if the cab mounts sold at Dennis Carpenter are the same?

Thanks

[FORDification]

...PS Keith, BB code has an image resizer code. Can you turn it on so I can link to full size images I already have posted? Thanks
http://bellonline.co.uk/web-services/fr ... e-limiter/...

Hawkrod:

That code would've worked with the previous forum software versions, but not on the latest (v3.02). This version no longer uses .tpl (template) files. I currently have the software set up to automatically thumbnail an image that is attached, but right now there's nothing I can do to a linked image. You'd have to just post the image link without using the [img] tags.

However, I did just find a code mod that will resize posted images. I will get that installed so we can try it out as soon as possible.

[FORDification]

Thanks for that info, Hawkrod....I've only run across one Bendix PS setup myself on one of my parts trucks, but it was right when I was getting into these trucks and I got rid of it before I got a chance to document the length of the column shaft. I've always been told the column shaft that came with the Bendix setup was the same length as a manual steering setup too. I guess I've got a few tutorials to update now, huh?

Anyway...I belive in gandbl's case, getting the stock steering column to fit will be a breeze. Here's a picture of the flange end of the shaft. The yellow arrow points to the spotweld holding the flange to the shaft.



All he has to do is remove these spotwelds holding the flange to the end of the column shaft, slide the flange off the shaft, cut 5/8" off the end of the shaft, and then slide the flange back on the shaft and re-weld. Since the main column housing itself is short enough to allow some shortening of the flange end without creating any problems, I would think this modification could be easily done in an hour or so.

[gandbl]

Thanks for the info everyone. I was considering sending the column shaft to a machine shop to have is shortened. This looks like a much simpler solution that even I can do except for the welding, I don't have a welder.

Last night with the manual box still installed I decided to remove the column and readjusted the column shaft to fit with the proper gap between the upper column and steering wheel. I reinstalled the column and found the bolts under the dash bolted up perfectly. I then checked the fitting of the exterior firewall plate to ensure that it still lined up perfectly. It does not. It now fits similar to when the power box was installed. I am going to remove the column and rotate the new coupler 180 degrees to see if this makes a difference. Maybe the new coupler is not centered? The coupler that I am using was included with the power steering conversion kit that I purchased.

Thanks again for all of the postings. I need all of the help that I can get as I have no clue what I am doing.

I will let you know how this all turns out.

Thanks Again!!

Thanks for that info, Hawkrod....I've only run across one Bendix PS setup myself on one of my parts trucks, but it was right when I was getting into these trucks and I got rid of it before I got a chance to document the length of the column shaft. I've always been told the column shaft that came with the Bendix setup was the same length as a manual steering setup too. I guess I've got a few tutorials to update now, huh?

Anyway...I belive in gandbl's case, getting the stock steering column to fit will be a breeze. Here's a picture of the flange end of the shaft. The yellow arrow points to the spotweld holding the flange to the shaft.



All he has to do is remove these spotwelds holding the flange to the end of the column shaft, slide the flange off the shaft, cut 5/8" off the end of the shaft, and then slide the flange back on the shaft and re-weld. Since the main column housing itself is short enough to allow some shortening of the flange end without creating any problems, I would think this modification could be easily done in an hour or so.

[cdherman]

A whole lot more than a spot weld holds that bottom flange on the steering shaft.

It was a splined unit that was then swaged (very large press, squashes it) so that the bottom end of the shaft is mushroomed and the spines are tight.

I don't know for sure why Ford chose to do it that way, but I have visions of welded flanges fatiguing and suddenly sheering off.

If that bottom flange sheers off, you have no steering. Not pretty.

Honestly, there are tons of 73-79 shafts out there in pick and pulls for $5 if you are lucky. To use them with the early years steering wheel, you just hack saw the top end off.

I would be VERY careful when shortening a steering shaft. Only a professional welder should do it, and even then, I have my doubts about it......

Just my $0.02

[FORDification]

Hmmm....did not know that the flange end was splined. Good info...thanks! OK, so much for that idea.

Unfortunately, the junkyard shafts he'd be able to find are going to put him in the same scenario of incorrect length , unless he could find one specially for the Bendix setup, which is highly unlikely. And I feel that a competent welder could easily shorten that shaft by sectioning a bit out of the middle and have it be just as strong and reliable as an uncut piece.

[cdherman]

I've read a lot of threads in the last 6 years. NEVER BEFORE, have I read before that a Bendix swap needed a different length shaft.

Not saying it ain't so, as I never say that unless I have personal experience.

But it seems to me that something else is going on here. Cab mounts sagged? Truck been in a wreck and cab or frame is twisted? Just becuase the rubber mounts look OK, does not mean that the metal is OK.

I have also NEVER heard of needing a differnt firewall flange for a Bendix. Ever... Perhaps the shafts are different lengths, but it seems that most folks are able to make the Bendix setup work with the orginal manual steering shaft and column.

Those differences in shaft lengths may or may not reflect real changes -- if different people pulled the dimentions from the engineer drawings, they may have measured from the bottom of the flange versus the bottom of the shaft. That's about 5/8" difference. If you think you can trust Ford manual and books like the Bible, then we need not argue here. My position is that Ford made some mistakes too.....

If you cut off the shaft and only later realize that there was a different problem --- well as the saying goes " Gee, I measured and cut it off twice and it was still too short".......

[FORDification]

I agree, that's what I've always heard too...and have talked to folks who have made it work. But I've also heard from others who have experienced the same problem as the OP, with the excessive gap between the column and wheel, but they reported that they made it work. IIRC they simply opened up the slots in the steering column mounting bracket (under the dash) to allow them to slide the column housing up into the cab a little more to close up that gap.

gandbl: please keep us informed about what you try and how to get things figured out.