Things you find out years later . When I let the panel sit , it gets a pool of power steering fluid under it . So I think that it is time to pull the Toyota box and replace the leaky seal . All goes well until I get the box unbolted and try to snake it out between the frame and motor . Not enough room to get the Pittman arm shaft through the frame as the box hit's the motor . I had built the frame and installed the box before making motor mounts and installing the motor . Now it looked like after 22,000 miles , I would have to move the motor to get the steering box out . Well that sounded like a lot of work on a 86 degree day . So out came the plasma cutter and a little bit bigger hole in the frame solved the problem . Now I only have to wait until Monday for the seal to get here. 5 years and 22,000 miles and I found a mistake in planning my build . I wonder what's next ?

 

Dave, you have the answer right in your second sentence. "When I let the panel sit" Drive it, Dave, drive it.

 

Uh oh

Your post got me thinking..... I want to rebuild my steering this winter. When I put my Toyota unit on I installed in front of the axle. Woohoo, works great but I'm getting tired of the bump steer. So, I need to move the box back to the original location but now I've gone and boxed the frame.......Looks like the old smoke wrench will come into play on my truck pretty soon as well.

Bobby

 

I ran into similar problems with simple things like hose clamps. I installed before I had the sheet metal bolted on. I just reached down from above and cranked the tight. Years later I went to remove.the bottom hose from the only accessible place, underneath the truck. It took a lot of time and more tools than should have been necessary. I've a.few.other things that had be done differently to remove.