Mark has been working his tail off trying to help me wtih what I consider a dilema (which he assures me will stave of dimentia) so go give him a break I am turning to all of you.

Bought a Classic Performance Power Assist Ram from a private party who had purchased it for his 56 F100 but never got it installed. Unit is new with all mounting brackets and hoses.

But, the pitman arm does not work on the sector shaft (too small) of my original 55 steering box. Contacted CPP and they said they would sell me the correct pitman arm for a bunch of money plus the exchange of the new one that came with the unit.

Problem: I cannot figure out how to remove the pitman arm from the adjustable drag link. I haven't learned, yet, how to post pictures or I would show you guys what I am dealing with. Has anyone installed one of these and if so, do you have any pictures you could share so I can get a visual on the total install of this thing? I am in possession of a Toyota box and have begun to consider that instead of the ram.

Help

 

I took a ram unit off my truck that was on it when I bought it because I did not like it, and my wife said she would not drive it again if I didn't improve the steering immediately, so I changed to the Toyota box, I have that much experience with one. My Honest opinion: resell the ram and put the Toyota box on, you'll be a whole lot happier with it. I wonder if the unit you have was for the car, not the truck.

 

Toyota box swap was easy. Only issue I had was having to raise the Flathead out of the way to get it in place.

 

Thanks Ax. I have considered the Toyota box but thought I would try the assist unit so I didn't have to mess with any of the steering mechanisms. If the ram didn't (or doesn't) perform well then I would take it off and do the Toyota Box. This thought process took place before the dilema of the wrong pitman arm.
Your question as to whether the unit might be for a car vs. truck is the line of thought going on now.

Starting to think I should buy some "muscle milk" at Costco and stick with the original steering. Unlike your wife, Ax, who wouldn't drive your truck until steering was fixed, my wife won't even ride in mine till it can be safely steered in the intended direction.

Fred

 

Both Ford and GM used the power ram unit from about the mid 50's up through the mid 70's. In my opinion they are not worth it. I don't know much about the aftermarket ones but I figure they weren't much different from the factory guys.
I had a factory set up in a 1975 F-150 4x4, I hated it. that danged thing was twitchy as all get out.

I agree with going with the toyota set-up. The biggest downfall to the toyota set up is that you loose the horn function as the original horn wire goes down the middle of the column and through the box.

Bobby

 

Thank you Bobby. Losing the horn is not an issue....it doesn't work anyway.
Fred

 

As Bobby says, the ram system is very numb around neutral, especially if the OEM box has any free play in it, then kicks in full, making it very twitchy and susceptible to tramlining. and wandering. Mine was dang scary when it would suddenly switch lanes when being passed by an 18 wheeler!

 

I have a drag link & control valve, I am looking for assist cyl & tie rod for my 56 if you have one avilable. CPP will not sell parts for kit

 

How hard is it to swap the steering box with toyota and keep stock column. I don't have a shop, just my driveway and basic tools. I'm a novice at this stuff, is there a step by step instruction somewhere.

 

yes, it is a pretty easy swap even with basic tools in your driveway. Only power tool needed is an angle grinder to grind the stock column to a double D shape. It would even be possible to file it if absolutely necessary, but you can buy a 4" angle grinder at Harbor Freight for 19.99 and take 20% off with a coupon in Street rodder, Hot Rod, or Rod and Custom magazines. Check all the coupons, I have seen it selling for 9.95!
I wrote an article with Fergie on doing the swap here:
Toyota Steering Box Swap For 1948-1960 Trucks .: Articles
You can get the swap kit from Mid Fifty Mid Fifty F-100 Parts - Home and a used box from Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market or see if you can find a local 4x4 offroad club in your area, they change the box when they put lift kits on their trucks and sell them cheap or even give them away. Be sure to get the hoses and fittings with the box. The only sticking point will be to adapt a power steering pump to your engine. Easy if it is an engine that was used with PS, a little harder if you have to cobble together a mount and drive.

 

Thanks AXracer - I'll be sure to look at your links. The engine is a 351W so shouldn't have any problems with the PS pump mount. Not sure I follow you on the grinding (double D), but perhaps your link will give me more insight. Thanks again for the quick response.

 

When replacing the stock gearbox, you will notice that the steering shaft is directly connected, with no flex joints. To replace it with a Toyota box, you have to cut the steering column to remove the box. Then, in order to connect it to a new box, you have to install a joint (usually either a u-joint or rag type). You have to grind the factory shaft, that you cut, in the shape of a "D" so that the new joint will fit/not slip.

 

Yes, a commonly used U joint is a Borgeson unit that is Toyota spline on one end, DD (said "double D") on the other. DD is just a round shaft with flats ground on opposite sides so each ground away portion resembles a letter D. When you get the U joint it will be obvious how the shaft has to be ground to slip into the joint. Saw the original shaft off right at the box with a hacksaw (the shaft and gear in the box are one piece, so it needs to be sawn off), but wait to finish the shaft until you have the box mounted and the U joint on hand to see just how long the shaft needs to be to fit. Make the final cut so the shaft is ~ 1/8" shy of bottoming out in the U joint. Save the box and send it to Mid Fifty, they will buy it from you for a rebuild core. When they rebuild the boxes they put in a new shaft/gear assembly anyhow so they don't want the shaft.

 

I would love to use Toyota box in my 56, I saw one in a 55 in Macungie this weekend, but I do not want to lose my 3 speed on the coluimn. I just have not heard of anybody making it work, with out using floor shift

 

Just did it in my 54. It works, you just have use a coupler and do some fab work on the floor plates. I wrote about the process in another thread. I will look for it and post.


Here is what I wrote:
"With the 4spd floor shifter, you will not have the column shifter part located at the end of the stock steering column to deal with. Not having that extra piece will allow you either to use a steering U-joint (about $75) or a steering coupler (Borgeson #312500 11/16-36spline) (about $19 from Summit). If the angle is maintained I would use the coupler otherwise the u-joint will allow more angle adjustment. I had the column shift so I had to use the coupler because there is no room for a u-joint. The biggest modification was figuring how long to make the steering shaft and make everything work right. I also used a polyurethane suspension bushing I had left over as a centering device to hold the steering shaft centered inside the column tube. I never had to mess with clutch pedals. The stock floor plates worked fine also because the column angle stayed the same."

With the 3 on the tree, the key is to cut the column as close to the shifter cup located at the end of the column. You may have to change the drop/angle of the floor plates and column support depending on the angle of the column ONCE its attached to the toyota box. There is NO room to use a u-joint so the angle of the column must be inline with the gear box. My advice is to put the box in, attach the column/steering shaft to the box and fab/alter the floor plates and column support as necessary. I will get some pics posted tomorrow if you like.