Great work! I'm surprised there was that much fabricating to install that 79 steering box. I read either on this forum or the Fordification site that it was pretty much a bolt in.

 

The 1979 Bronco and F150 steering boxes are different from the F250 & F350 4x4 truck boxes, but I still don't think they are close to being a bolt up deal.

Obviously, my steering box is a '79 F250 4x4 box and and has 4 bolts instead of 3 and requires a bit of frame modification to mount.

 

What is your steering box off of? It's the Fordification site that says: "the 1978-1979 F250 4wd box that had 4 mounting holes and are becoming very hard to find and expensive). On a side note, if you can find / afford the ’78-’79 4wd sector definitely go this route with the conversion, as it is almost a direct bolt on to the Highboy." Which is what I've got.

 

I am using the same box as quoted (1978-79 4x4 F250/350). Obviously this is not a bolt on since a 1970 highboy uses 3 mounting holes instead of 4 found on the '79 box. The bolt holes don't come close to lining up either when you try and mount it. Maybe they are talking about later modeled highboys? 1973-77? As you can see, it is not "almost a direct bolt up" on 67-72 trucks.

When I pulled this steering box there was two to choose from at the local pick and pull, so they are not so supper rare either. Or maybe I just got lucky

 

Well regardless I sure appreciate you blazing the trail! It'll make it a lot easier on those who follow...

 

I just discovered that these 5th gen trucks were built in brazil until 1992 !
does anyone know how to get a hold of one ?

 

They build old school VW busses in Brazil also, but the emissions are not up to par for the US market. They are virtually impossible to import as far as I know. The best way to get ahold of one is to move to Brazil.

 

i read somewhere that once an import vehicle is 25 years old, it doesnt need to meet US emissions and safety standards, so you could possibly get a mid/late 80s bumpside. if what i read is true that is lol

 

Time to set CASTER. Caster is that thing that most people don't think about when messing with their front suspension. Caster essentially is the angle at which the front axle sits forward to allow for stability. The easiest way to describe this is to think about a motorcycle. If a motorcycles forks to the wheels were strait up and down, you wouldn't be able to ride the bike over 20 MPH without getting a death wobble and wrecking. If you stick the forks out too far, then your turning radius becomes impossible. You want to find the right angle for stability and turning radius.

Here is how to set caster on your high boy with custom suspension:

Find a flat spot on the axle that is parallel to the axle at "0" degrees (strait up and down). This spot for me on the 79 Ford Dana 60 is the cover with the zerk fitting on top in the center of my high steer arms. I took the cover off and used a file to ensure the surface was perfectly flat. after filing, I would check on a flat surface to see if I was perfectly parallel at 0 degrees with a digital level. Remember that there are very few surfaces that are truly 0 degrees flat, so you will have to check the angel of your surface and match that with your cover surface that you filed.



Next I reinstalled the covers back on the axle and checked my angle with the digital level. Remember that you need to be on a relatively flat surface to check the angle. I took a piece of flat steel and laid it on the ground, then placed my level on it. It was dead on. Also, you need to make sure your truck is sitting at your expected ride hight both front and rear. Check the angle on the flat part of the frame. Mine was nearly dead on.



My ideal caster angle is 7 degrees. Things were really close but needed some adjustment, so I broke the tacks on the custom front cross member and and shifted it accordingly to get closer to my ideal caster angle. I ended up setting it at around 7.2 degrees.



Once everything was set and I checked and rechecked the angel about 10 times, I welded the front cross member in place.



Next I welded the factory cross member braces in place.



Notice that my cross member ended up back slightly from the factory position. This leads me to believe that doing a Super Duty spring swap in the factory cross member location will lead to a excessive caster angle. Many have done this swap with acceptable results in the factory location, but it seems that the turning radius would be decreased. Of course the rear shackle length would affect this also, but if I had to guess - I would say that a Super Duty spring swap with the factory front cross member location would lead to about a 10 +/- degree caster angle.

 

Well, the time has come to close another chapter. I loaded up and left Castle Valley, UT to move to Ogden, UT. I had been pushing hard to get things done on the truck because I knew this was coming. The truck is safe and sound in it's new home. I am going to try and get as many things done on the truck as possible, but time and resources will be low as always. My new responsibilities Pastoring in Ogden and Logan will keep my focus elsewhere for some time. The big push is over to get the truck rolling and moved.



I also was busy doing a motor swap on my wife's Honda Accord. Her parents bought the car new off the lot back in '92 and she has fond memories of riding to school with her brother who died in a motorcycle accident, so I revived it again with 326,000 miles. The swap to a JDM H22A was complete in just about a month. 130 HP to 200 HP makes the little grocery getter a little more fun get around.



New house, New son, New responsibilities at work = not a lot of time. But don't fear, I will keep moving forward on this project and get it done.

 

Great work, looking forward to more updates!

 

What he said.

 

Thanks Redneck. I need to motivation to get moving on this project again. A new house and job have consumed my attentions for now, but I will see this project to completion hopefully sooner than later. Next step is to re-gasket the Cummins and take care of the Killer Dowel Pin. Hopefully I will be working on that soon.

 

Project looks good so far. I've been in the same boat lately. I had a 4bt project to finish (done- now a DD 03 F150 Supercrew). My wife has taken over my 4b project as her van (03 honda) dropped the tranny for the 3rd time in 170K. All else is good, i just can's see fixing it again. Anyway, I did know you are a pastor. I am as well. I've been pastorig for 12 years. Just over 5 years where i am now and i hope to be here much longer. Keep working at the project. I'm going to try to get my 69 CC F350 over to my place from my dads pretty soon.

 

So any updates?