Hi guys,

I’ve got a 1956 f100 that I just put power steering into, using the CPP steering box and a Saginaw pump. I got everything installed, and cranked the wheels back and forth on the jack stands and cleared most of the air from the system.

I was pretty excited to take it for a spin. Got it down off the stands and tried to back it out of my garage, but once it’s down on pavement it won’t crank to the left. To be clear, it cranked both directions when the front end was lifted, but not when it’s down.

I checked for leaks in the system and I don’t see any. What am I missing? Any help is appreciated.

Peter

 

I would check for a binding issue somewhere....pitman arm ,drag link, tie rod? Maybe check pump pressure as well?

 

Are all the couplings tight between the steering box and column ?

 

The coupling is solid, nothing appears to be binding, and it steered just fine on the stands. Ive never had existing power steering fail, but it’s my understanding that it is just extremely hard to turn. For me, the steering wheel turns easily, it just doesn’t do anything. I’ll have to check that the pitman arm is secure, but I can’t see how it wouldn’t be.

My next step is the part I dread: have my wife come out and help. I’ll see what’s going on while she turns the wheel.

 

I think that is what your going have to do! Now, it is my understanding, like you say, that if the hydraulic part is not working, it will still steer, but just hard.
In the case of a failure in a power steering equipped vehicle there must be a redundant system to still be able to steer, so something is not connected.

 

If turning to the right is fine with good power assist, but you have no power assist turning to the left, something might be wrong with the steering box. Particularly the spool valve assembly inside the steering box.

 

Well, I got it, and I feel dumb. I put the stock pitman arm on the CPP output shaft, which isn’t notched for the bolt that pinches the mount on the arm tight. (Hope that made sense). In the process of things, I forgot about this, so the arm was slipping on the shaft. I got in with a grinder and gave the shaft a little notch, put the bolt through, tightened it up, and just like that, I have power steering! It feels amazing! Thanks guys.

 

Excellent!!!

 

That's great that you found it and shared . I am not familiar with the setup but just a bolt with a small notch doesn't sound safe .

 

It’s the stock setup. It’s very safe. This is what it looks like:




This image is from the Internet, mine is cleaned up a bit more and I swapped in a grade 8 bolt. The notch with a bolt running through it keeps it from slipping in any direction.

 

I would want to have a pretty good look at the splines since it's been slipped . I am assuming " without seeing a top view " the shaft it goes on has a flat side that the bolt corresponds to . Not trying to question your abilities just want to make sure everyone is safe and trying to understand it myself .

 

Appreciate it. The flat spot it goes into is what I put in with the grinder. It’s more a trough than a flat spot, for the bolt to slide through, with splines left on either side of the trough, just as with the stock steering box.

I feel good about it, but have already ordered the pitman arm intended for this shaft, just to be safe. The splines look undamaged and are still enough intact along the trough that I don’t think it’ll be a problem.

 

I knew it was something slipping somewhere , that's why i suggested the couplings .
Didn't even think the pitman arm could be slipping .

 

I used the CPP 400 series Power Steering kit from Mid Fifty on my 54 and it came with a new pitman arm. The pitman arm uses a big nut to secure it to the steering box shaft. No grinding needed, just tighten the nut onto the shaft.

 

He states above that it's a CPP steering box , so the original pitman arm is not the correct one to actually use on this type of steering box .
The CPP box has a tapered spline on it , and the orig pitman arm from an f100 is not designed to go on a tapered spline .
If it were me i would be buying the correct pitman arm .
Unless this is a different type of steering box ??