Power Steering - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Racecarl · 06-02-2001, 21:40

Is there a power steering box that will bolt in to my 1966 f-100 2wd? I have the pump that came with the 300 six I overhauled for this pickup, so that is not a problem. I have heard that mid 70's Ford half ton power steering boxes will drop right in.

Ford vehicles are kind of new to me--I have been a Chevy man for 35 years. This pickup was my father-in-law's before he passed away, and since I was the only one mechanically inclined enough to get it running again, I got it. It is a good clean pickup other than some moderate rust under the cab. The stiff manual steering doesn't bother me that much, but I am used to torquing diesel head bolts. My wife refuses to drive her Dad's old pickup because it is too hard for her to steer, and if I were standing in her road, I would like to think she would have enough strength to avoid running over me. Power steering would be a godsend.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

82f100 · 06-03-2001, 05:19

ive never done this conversion before, but ive been told that 65 to 79 will work, you'll need a shorter steering column and you'll need to reuse the mounting bracket from your old column. if you go to www.fordtruckforum.com you can do a search and find more info. you'll have to let us know what you find out. i hope this helps.

Racecarl · 06-04-2001, 19:15

Thanks 82F-100 for your information. I will now see if I can locate a power steering gearbox and get to work.

Racecarl · 06-07-2001, 19:56

I went out to the local bone yard and got a power steering gear off a 77 f-150. I read the post on the Ford truck forum and shortened the steering shaft 2" and welded it back together just like they said. Only after vainly attempting to install the box did I realize that I had to shorten the column as well. Out came the torch and off came 3/4" off the bottom of the column. The pitman arm had the wrong angle bent where the idler arm hooks up, so I had to remove the pitman arm and heat and bend it to the correct angle. I would have used the pitman arm off the manual box but it would not fit the shaft. Luckily I removed the arm once before I installed the steering gear, so it did not come off very hard. (usually I am never that fortunate)

Everything else hooked right up and it all seems to work. Looking back on this experience, using to torch on the outer shell of the column was a bad move. This pickup used to have a '3 of the tree' standard and now is equipped with a c-4 automatic. I have been using the column shifter arms to shift the auto tranny, which worked OK at best, but not real well. With all the heat of the torch, I must have melted something inside the column because now my shifter is stiff at best and I can hear something ribbing inside the steering column when I turn the wheel.

When Dad-in-law had the pickup, the front cab mounts rusted away the the weight of the can was running on the bearing at the bottom of the steering column, which wore it out, so I really didn't have much of a steering column to begin with. I got the cab mounts all fixed up so now I am now thinking of installing a floor mounted shifter and getting a good steering column out of a 4 speed pickup and fixing this column right.

I started this project at about 7:30 last night and was done (sort of) at 11:30.

82f100 · 06-08-2001, 04:20

that didnt take all that long for you to do . i'd still be working on it. thats too bad about the column. i'm not sure but i think you can use a column from a newer truck. did the box bolt right in or did you have to do any drilling?

Racecarl · 06-08-2001, 20:20

No other modifications were needed other than the column and bending the pitman arm. So I guess it was a 'bolt-in' swap in a general sense. I have another steering column spotted out of a 4 speed pickup, so now all I have to do is change out the column and finish the project.