Its just dodgy man. Do it on a bush truck all you want. Guys in big lifted trucks get a bad rep from hacked steering,brake lines,and w/e. I take pride in the fact that all my work is made to perform and to be safe. Would you run 44's with manual steering and all 4 drum brakes....Nope
Its why i run 4 wheel discs with 99 superduty hydroboost brakes and crossover steering. It just needs to work

 

Which output shaft? On the Power Assist? Thanks for all your help.

 

With Power Assist P/S, the manual steering gearbox is used, because it has nothing to do with Power Assist.

No P/S hoses route to the steering gearbox.

The Pressure and Return P/S hoses route from the P/S pump to the Power Assist's Control Valve. Two short P/S hoses route from the Control Valve to the Power Assist's Ram Cylinder.

And...there are TWO totally different types of Power Assist P/S. The parts do not interchange!

F250 4WD High Boys: All 1973's, 1974's before serial number T80,001 use GARRISON Power Assist P/S.

1974's from serial number T80,001, 1975/77's use BENDIX Power Assist P/S.

 

Try turning your steering wheel back and forth easy, if you have free play where you can turn the wheel with out the output shaft on the box moving then you can take up some of the play by loosining the lock nut on the adjusting screw and turning the screw in about 1/3 of a turn at a time. That runs the gear on the shaft into the gear on the piston in the box. You might have to do this a few times before you get the play out of the box. But you dont want to make it to tight or the steering will dbe tight and hard to turn... After you get the play out of the box, which doesn't have any thing to do with the "power" part of the steering but usually does have play in it. You get to the power part. thats where my pump was weak and making noise when steering. Thats where the other play was. The valve was moving ok, but the pump was low on pressure and flow...After replacing the pump that took the rest of the play out...
When adjusting the box the best way is have the wheels off the ground and turn the steering wheel from lock to lock each time before tightening the adjusting screw again. With the wheels straight ahead and the box centered there is a high spot on the gear on the output shaft thats what your adjusting to. The screw will just be snug, only a few inch pounds tight when its set right. It will be free to both sides and just a little drag when you cross over the high spot. If you get the screw to tight just back it off a little , turn the wheel back and forth and try it again...
All your doing is moving the output shaft in the bearings and pushing the tapered gears together... The right way is unhook the draglink and use a inch pound torque wrench to have about 5 inch pounds of drag on the input shaft crossing the center, but this is easier...

 

Thank you for your help HB76!

 

Have you ever Googled "scary steering"? Here's a link: Scary Steering!

You'll appreciate the "engineering" and the "workmanship".