I finally got my '52 disassembled to the point where I can start preparing to hang the Toyota power steering gear in it. As I was looking things over, I noticed something that I never had before. The original steering box is designed with the input shaft for the worm gear behind or below the sector shaft. The Toyota box places the input and worm gear abpve or in front of the sector shaft. I want to keep my stock column, but this is going to create a misalignment between the Toyota box and the column. What's the solution here? Install the Toyota box with it pointed at the column and then just run a u-joint? I guess I had always assumed that the input shaft lined up nearly directly below the original column opening but that's just not the case.

 

Maybe I haven't paid enough attention, but I can't recall seeing a stock column used with the Toy box? Is the Toy input parallel to, but offset from, the stock column? Is there offset only in one plane or two?

 

You will need a toyota spline to double D U-joint. Mid Fifty Mid Fifty F-100 Parts - Home or Borgeson sells them. you will also need a centering bushing for the bottom of the column housing and a purchased or homebuilt housing floor mount. Mount the Toy box, add the U joint. Cut the original steering shaft just above the stock box. install the centering bushing. Reinstall the column and mark the shaft 1/4" short of the bottom of the DD end of the joint. Remove the column, recut the shaft and grind the sides to match the DD shape, drill dimples in the shaft for the setscrews. Reinstall the column. You may need to adjust the floor hole to allow the column to align with the U joint. If the hole ends up too large, make a 1/16" thick cover that fits around the column, caulk under and screw it to the floor. add the floor mount and screw or bolt it to the floor.
Buy a momentary push button switch of your choice, make sure it's large enough to find easily in an emergency, and horn relay. Install the switch in your choice of location near the steering wheel, the side of the column is an obvious place, and wire the horn thru the relay.

 

I've studied the necessary mods for installing a Toyota box and retaining the stock column for quite some time and am aware of what needs to be done. I've even gone so far as figuring out how to keep the functional stock horn button with factory parts - although I've kept the details of this mod under my hat until I've had the opportunity to complete it myself and make sure it works as expected. What has blindsided me here was the amount of misalignment between the stock column and the input shaft of the Toyota box.

Everything I've read and even the aftermarket catalogs lead one to believe that it would more or less point straight up at and parallel to the stock column. What I'm seeing now is that it is misaligned in two planes. The first pic illlustrates my point about the difference in the worm to sector shaft relationship. This is going to result in a misalignment of several inches if the box was mounted with the input parallel to the column. Easy enough to correct by leaning the Toyota box back some more when I build the bracket. The real issue is the left to right misalignment illustrated in the second pic. It's a little tougher to see, but the mounting faces are sitting flush to each other and the input shafts are roughly an inch out of the same plane. This is a lot tougher to remedy. It would take two joints and a short intermediate shaft to correct it and I'm not sure that enough room exists between the Toyota box and the floor pan to pull that off.

I realize that I could modify the location of the column's exit through the floor but IMO that defeats the purpose of retaining the stock column. I want to keep the stock pedals also and this would throw the entire arrangement out of whack. I'm just really surprised that this has never been brought up before.

 

I don't see any way around a system with dual cardans and a second shaft. You may have to cut the stock column inside the cab to get the room for it. Supporting the top of the column could be a real challenge, but cutting high would help with retaining the pedals.

Or stick with stock, you're lightening the front end overall, aren't you?

 

First, what mount are you using? If you are using the Mid Fifty Heavy V mount or any made for a 53-56, new holes will need to be drilled through the frame for the mount to bolt in place determined by rotating the box so the input shaft points in line with the column. Second you need to saw or grind off the 1/8" lip on the 4 bolt pad on the housing just under the pitman shaft so the pitman shaft can fit through the frame as far as possible. If you bolt the Toy box to the mount you'll see exactly what is excess. Third you will likely need to enlarge the hole in the frame to allow the housing and pitman shaft to fit through.
It should look like this:


I haven't heard anyone else running into any problems.

 

But AX, that doesn't appear to be a stock column? Looks like an Ididit?

 

Check my gallery. I used a GM column but the toy box mount info may be helpful. It's pretty darned close to the stock column alignment.

 

I've studied your installation pics several times in the past and they are indeed helpful. I had intended to follow your process closely when I built my bracket and installed mine before I realized that there was this much misalignment with my column. I would imagine that this would be a lot simpler if I went with a non-stock column and wasn't trying to keep the original pedals as well. There have been several documented installations of the Toyota box in '48-'52 trucks, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I may be the first to try it in one of these trucks with a stock column.

I'll be using a "Z" style mount like eman92082's. I'm not kicked about the "V" bracket design. I knew about the grinding that needs done adjacent to the pitman shaft and took that into account when I aligned the two boxes for the second pic, although the farther outboard the box sits, the worse the misalignment is. I've seen many pics of the Toyota box in a '53-'56 and I honestly think this box may be a better fit with a stock column in those trucks because the frame is wider up front by an inch on either side. There's no possible way that it will mount properly and attach to a stock column with one joint in a '48-'52 like it will in a '53-'56.

That's my take on it too, Ross. I'm going to try like hell to keep it all below the floor if the u-joint angles don't get crazy. I want the truck to appear completely stock from inside the cab. For reasons too complex and numerous to get into here, one major deviation from my plan for this build here will cause an avalanche and I'll have to re-engineer half of my layout. Not thrilled about that prospect considering the amount of planning I've done and what I've already spent on parts. As far as a stock box goes, this truck is getting a 4x4 conversion and it's going to work for a living dragging antique tractors to shows on a heavy trailer. I'm not seeing any sort of joy doing that without power steering.


I'm headed to the shop in a few to rip out the stock box and see what I can up with. This should be interesting. Stay tuned!

 

If pushing the Toyota box inboard helps with alignment and creates no conflicts, a spacer seems like an easy solution. It would reduce it to a single plane at least.

 

The column used is immaterial, they all come down to a shaft in a housing between two points. You will need to shift the box end of the shaft some, but that should only require modifying the hole in the floor. Pivoting in the column drop, moving the end of the shaft even an inch should not displace it a significant amount between the pedals. Worse case scenario you may need to move the drop slightly to give sufficient clearance at the pedals. Absolute worse case scenario, offset the pedal arm(s) below the floor, cut new pedal arm holes. Any of these solutions can be done without affecting the stock appearance to any but the most knowledgeable restorer, and he'd probably notice the PS box first. LOL!

 

That would make this a whole lot easier as I could then do it with one joint, but it would create two more problems: header clearance to the steering gear and it would also pull the sector shaft far enough back through the frame that I wouldn't be able to get the pitman arm on it. Gotta love this modification stuff! One begets another which begets another which - ah, you get the picture.

This would definitely be a worst case scenario. It's tough to see the clutch pedal in the second pic as the spring has it held up, but there isn't much room between the pedals - certainly not as much as the later trucks. There's nowhere for the steering column to go without completely changing the angle of the dangle, bending the pedals, moving the driver's seat out to the running board, etc., etc. These earlier trucks are a lot more cramped through the cab and front end. If I have to do all that to make it work, I'd just as soon go to a later model column and hanging pedals. The timeframe I have to screw this bucket together and my vision of the finished product just don't allow for either.


So I yarded the stock box and column out, ground the side of the Toyo box, and got things test fitted with the empty column mocked back up in the floor plates and seal. It's a whole lot easier to see the source of my frustration now. The first pic clearly shows the amount of misalignment with the box at the same approximate angle as the steering column. Ouch. The second pic shows how much it's off laterally. If I were to cut the column and shaft off all the way to the floor, I'd have 6 or 8 inches to work with to make an intermediate shaft fit with two joints. Doable, but I think the joint angles would be excessive. The last pic is with the box layed back to roughly to the column. This would alleviate the angles immensely and might be the ticket to making this work. I think I'm going to order a couple joints and a double D shaft and see what it looks like. Only problem is that I really can't build the bracket until I decide for sure what angle the box needs to set at.

 

On my 56 the Toyota box fit like a glove with the V bracket. for mock-up I used a GM colum, but with a 4in drop and 30in colum, I know for a fact everything will line up just fine. I checked the floor plate, and it'll work perfectly!

 

I know it's against the grain for you, but you need to give up the idea that you will be able to use the floor plate umodified. That is not possible no matter what column you use. To see what you have and what you need to do, remove the floor plate. Next put the steering box temporarily in place by putting the pitman arm on to keep the box from falling out. Add the U-joint. Now cut a 32" length of 3/4" dowel and saw or sand the end to the DD shape to fit into the U joint. Wrap the dowel with tape until it will fit in the column drop. put your "dummy column" into the U joint while rotating the box on the pitman shaft. put your "column" in the column drop Now step back and see if and where you might have interference besides with the floor plate. If the pedal shafts are interfering, you can cut it between the V bend and the pivot, weld in a 1/2" or whatever size spacer needed to step the pedal shaft over away from the column. Once you have your clearances set, install the real column. Cut a posterboard pattern of the floor plate and cut whatever size and location holes and fit it around the column and pedals. Transfer the pattern to a new piece of 14 ga metal, cut it out and install. This is what Hot Rodding is all about, using a part designed for another vehicle and reworking or modifying as necessary to make it work in a different vehicle. I'm thinking you are making more out of it than it is, no one said it it would fit perfectly without modification. but it will fit if you don't fight it.