ok so ive never been much for 1960s power steering. or rather power 'assist'.

i did the P/S to manual steering swop on my 67 fairlane and freakin LOVED IT!

but this is a different system on my 68 f100.

my trucks P/S is crazy sensitive which i dont like but if im pulling something then im sure its nice to have.

so my question is. with twin I-beam suspension. is it pretty difficult to steer the truck without P/Steering?

thanks

 

If you're moving, it's fine. If your not, it sucks. Best thing I've done to my truck is my p/s swap.

 

I drive with manual steering..manual brakes..and a clunky 4 speed manual transmission. Not difficult..you just have to be more concious of your surroundings.

 

Set your preference with a Heidt's adjustable PS control valve for $85:



Heidts Hot Rod & Muscle Car Parts - Steering Kits & Components

 

Drove manual steering for years and it's fine if you don't run fat tires. Also takes a little different technique, you learn to steer while the vehicle is moving, not while it's stopped.

 

My x father laws 70 f250 cs has ps and that steering is so damn squirrely driving it. I'm still driving a manual 4wd. 33 yrs of it. Just keep tires aired up good and always be moving when turning the steering wheel. Its a truck!!! orich

 

i will be running fat tires, my steering is WAY squirrely. and ive driven sooo many M/S so u know the technique. but that valve may be the answer thanks

 

If you grew up on more modern power steering, the old ones do lack some of the "feel" but if it is squirreley you probably have a problem. Toe out would be the first guess. There is also a torque sensing rod in the upper part of the power steering that needs shimmed. I have not attempted this because the shims are long gone from any parts sources I could find. Also it is a very touchy adjustment. I tried to mix and match parts once and ended up with the shimming wrong and had a box that oversteered bad in one direction.
Also those old front ends were not designed for wide tires and getting one to drive "right" with fat tires might take some experimenting with front end alignment. I generally don't like wide tires because they cut down mileage and wear out front end parts faster than normal sized ones. But that's just my 2 cents.

 

Power Assist P/S utilizes a separate control valve and hydraulic ram cylinder. The manual steering gearbox is used, as it has nothing to do with Power Assist.

The only Ford trucks to use it were: 1973/75 F100 4WD / 1975 F150 4WD / 1973/77 F250 4WD (Highboys).
Bendix integral P/S: 1966/68 F100/250 2WD / 1969 F100/250 2WD before serial number D96,001.

 

I drove my '68 C/S with a 9' cabover camper for 20 years before I put power steering on it. I had wide tires on it and could parallel park. It had to be moving!!!! I was a lot younger too.

 

Down the road fine, park in mall parking or limited parking spot it can be hard to get out. Had to drive my 70 longbed without the power steering for a few days while waiting for a hose. Did not like it at all.

 

The power steering box is a higher ratio than the manual box, thus harder to steer without it working. You needed a bigger steering wheel. In the 50's I drove an XK120 Jag and they had a quick box without power steering but they had a huge wheel to help.

 

Aw thank reminds me of my old Model A back in the 60's that most young kids had.....orich

 

Yea that makes sense but I would still do power steering if you can. Had to go to publix when power steering was down. Of course 2 people had to wait while I did a 3 point back up to get out.