P/S steering xfer

[ares360]

I am planning on xfering to power steering in the near future. I was reading Keith's tech/tutorial on the procedure and had a couple of questions.

1. why do you have to xfer the steering column?

2. which type of box is better to use, the bendix box or the Saginaw box?

[Hawkrod]

The steering columns are different lengths for manual versus power steering and the Ford box is superior in design and durability: http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... =5&t=37142 Hawkrod

[ares360]

how much of a length difference? so I don't really need to get a different steering column because it won't fit? I put on an aftermarket wheel that I know would be near impossible to get off, is the reason.

[fordman]

if you swap from a bendix box of any kind to a saginaw or ford box. then the column won't fit back in at all. the difference is too much to make the bolts go back into the bottom of the column to the dash. maybe if you moved the bracket off of the steering column it might work. but thats a lot of work and might mess up the column while trying to remove the bracket from it. the best deal is to get column box and steering pump with brackets all at the same time possibly from the same truck.

i do have that setup by the way. i have everything you would need. the column is a automatic column. the engine is a fe. i have 70 72 and 73 available.

[ares360]

well see that is the thing, I have a 71'. I was wondering about the steering column because mine has 4 on the floor, so the donor truck that I am wanting to get everything off is an automatic.
Any other ideas?

[fordman]

thats ok it will still work. you just dont have to use the column shifter. the wiring for the turn signals is all that would have to be wondered about. if the plug is the same as the 71 you have you would just plug and play. if not an it had two plugs then you would have to change some of the pin locations with the two plug to the single plug. its not that had i think. pm me what the guy wants for that setup when you get it. i would like to keep up on local prices.

[kaptnkaos]

Hey ares360..

Here's another solution...
You can keep your existing 4-speed column housing and just swap out the center shaft for a PS one...
Other wise you need to shorten the center shaft about 2-2.5 inches or swap columns, or use a Bendix box which is prone to over heat and leak... that's why Ford went to Saginaw boxes.
The housing on a four speed equipped truck is exactly the same length as power steering one, and you don't have all that linkage stuff to mess with.
I just did that on my '68 CS and it worked perfect...
I have a PS center shaft already removed from the housing if yer interested...
I also have a pair of brand new in the package, column bearings.
Shoot me a PM if you wanna work something out...

KaptnKA S

[ares360]

turns out he wants $100 just for the box, and he doesn't even know what type it is. ....

and I have to pull it!!

[kaptnkaos]

Hey ares360

That's a little steep, but not unreasonable...

There is more that you need to do the conversion...
With your truck being a '71 you need to know when it was made...
About mid '71, Ford changed a few things... to find out when yers wuz made u'll haveta decipher the vin#
Make sure to read the article in the tech section and get all the parts together before you get started.
A couple things that I ran into doing the conversion on my '68.
You may need to change the idler arm on the PS box depending one when the box was made...
unless you get lucky and the new PS box already has the correct ider arm.
You need an idler arm that matches yer trucks steering componets.
The retaining nut on the steering box is 1 5/16" which is 1/16' larger than comes in a standard 1/2" socket set.
I took my power steering box down to a machine shop they took the nut off for me at no charge.
The new inder arm goes on easy.
you will need to change the driver's side motor perch for a PS one. You can also notch a manual steering one so the PS will fit.
U'll need to change the outer steering column flange.
You will also need to swap the brake line support.. The PS one is different than manual steering one.
U'll also need a pump with the correct brackets for your motor.
It sounds like a pain, but really isn't that difficult, and is certainly well worth the hastle of doing the swap.

KaptnKA S

[ares360]

I think it was unreasonable because I have found other ones for 25 to 40, the only thing is that they wouldn't work. I have looked up that info before but I will have to do it again. I find that out tomorrow and set-up a game plan.

[kaptnkaos]

It never fails... when ya need something, you can't find it for a good price..
after you pay too much for it ya find a great deal on it...
at least that's the way it aways seems to be for me.

[ares360]

well the good thing is that I don't have it tore apart, so I can just wait until I find a good deal.

I looked up the date, JUNE 1971. So it's right in the middle of the year.

[kaptnkaos]

That means ya got a 50/50 chance of gettin' the right one first shot...

You might be able to get some numbers off of the idler arm you have on it now...
That would at least help indentify whether you have early or late '71 steering componets.
I think there is also an actual cut off number for the older style, but not sure where you could find that info...
You might PM Hawkrod.. he's pretty much the guru when it comes to technical information like that...
In spite of the trouble it seems to be... when yer toolin' around in yer truck after yer done you will definitely thank yourself.

KaptnKA S

[ares360]

well the only problem is that it has manual steering now so if it has any idler arm I wouldn't know where to look.

[kaptnkaos]

Hey ares360

The idler arm is the short piece that is on the bottom of the steering box.
It connects the box to the tie rod... here's a pic of it laying in front of a Bendix PS box

Here's some better info on steering componets...
http://www.fordification.com/str-susp_variations.htm
This should help identify if you have the early style or later style.
EARLY: trucks with serial numbers prior to M00000
LATE: trucks with serial numbers M00000 (late '71) and higher

The more you learn about doing this upgrade, the easier it is to do...
I went over the whole process in my mind probably a hundred times before touching a wrench...
The two small snags I ran into, was not having a socket large enough to get the idler arm retaining nut off.
You will need to have a puller to get the idler arm off...
The second snag was when I went to tighten the castle nut on the ball joint...
The shaft of a ball joint goes thru the other end of the idler arm...
you will need a ball jont puller or pickle fork to separate these... they come apart pretty easy...
I used a pickle fork and whacked it a couple of times with a hammer and it came right off.
Putting it back on was kinda a pain, cause the ball joint wants to spin in it's socket rather than pull into the end of the idler arm. It is a tapered shaft so it draws up in the hole in the hole when you tighten the nut
I used a prybar to push up on the tie rod to put enough pressure on the ball joint so it didn't spin, then it went in ok...
If I can give you any tips along the way just me a PM...

KaptnKA S