'47 One Ton Steering
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From: On Nutting Lake
'47 One Ton Steering
I drove my truck for the first time today to move it from the garage bay it was sharing with a '63 Impala to an empty one 10 feet away.
It was great to see the truck moving under it's own power, but my arms feel like I spent eight hours in the gym! If manual steering isn't bad enough, the truck needs new king pins so the effort required to steer it was at least doubled.
I know I need to replace the king pins (and probably everything else in the front end), so my question is this: how much of an improvement am I going to see with new king pins, etc...? Or should I start to consider swapping out the front end to one with power steering?
I'm in the very early stages of restoration and can still go either stock or custom (haven't decided yet)
If I swap out the front end, does anyone know what newer front ends would swap with a '47 Ford 1 ton pickup?
By the way, if your interested, you can follow the project at http://ernie235.home.attbi.com/index.htm
Thanks
It was great to see the truck moving under it's own power, but my arms feel like I spent eight hours in the gym! If manual steering isn't bad enough, the truck needs new king pins so the effort required to steer it was at least doubled.
I know I need to replace the king pins (and probably everything else in the front end), so my question is this: how much of an improvement am I going to see with new king pins, etc...? Or should I start to consider swapping out the front end to one with power steering?
I'm in the very early stages of restoration and can still go either stock or custom (haven't decided yet)
If I swap out the front end, does anyone know what newer front ends would swap with a '47 Ford 1 ton pickup?
By the way, if your interested, you can follow the project at http://ernie235.home.attbi.com/index.htm
Thanks
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Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Orange County, CA
'47 One Ton Steering
It'll tighten up the steering, but it'll still be kind of tough, especially if you add radial tires and go any wider. You could add a steering box out of a GM car and add the GM pump to get power steering. That's what I'm doing on my '46 1/2 ton. I bought a good box and pump, plus an adapter for the box to frame for $65 from my local paper. BTW, nice site you have there. I really like the pictures of the truck.s I'm glad to see that rust/blue 1 ton pickup I saw on eBay go to a good home.
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From: On Nutting Lake
'47 One Ton Steering
Gary, thanks for the compliment on the web site and for the info on the steering.
How do I determine what GM pump and steering box would fit the '47? And where do I begin searching for an adapter?
How do I determine what GM pump and steering box would fit the '47? And where do I begin searching for an adapter?
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Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 2,643
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From: Orange County, CA
'47 One Ton Steering
I think the pump and box on mine is from an early '70's GM, usally an A-body car. I think in the latwe '70's GM went to metric boxes, so look for something from th eearly 70's. Then I'd match the pump to the year and model the box came from. There are also quick ratio boxes, but I think those came on the hi performance models of the A-bodies. The adaptor will have to be made...We modified a passenger car one to work. They are different from the trucks.
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From: On Nutting Lake
'47 One Ton Steering
Gary,
Once again, thank you for the help.
Do I understand that the adapter is only to mount the box to the frame? If that's the case we should be able to fabricate something with the welder and torches.
Once again, thank you for the help.
Do I understand that the adapter is only to mount the box to the frame? If that's the case we should be able to fabricate something with the welder and torches.
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Joined: Nov 2001
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From: Orange County, CA
'47 One Ton Steering
Yeah, the adaptor is to mount the box to the frame. So if you are handy with a welder, then you could easily make one up. As for mounting the pump to the motor, that'll depend on the motor you use.
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From: On Nutting Lake
'47 One Ton Steering
Gary,
I'm glad there are guys like you out there. You're a wealth of helpful information and you never seem to get tired of sharing it with newbies like me.
I have a few slavage yards not too far from me. With any luck, maybe I'll be able to grab a matching pump and motor from the same vehicle.
I'm glad there are guys like you out there. You're a wealth of helpful information and you never seem to get tired of sharing it with newbies like me.
I have a few slavage yards not too far from me. With any luck, maybe I'll be able to grab a matching pump and motor from the same vehicle.
