i have a 68' F100 6cyl. 240 3spd. on column manual steering. i was told i could simply bolt bendix on with no mods. i did that but my steering wheel is sticking out about 2" farther in cab. did i do something wrong? also its not steering right. when i rev engine and barely turn wheel to left it will keep turning left on it,s on until it can't go any further. please help this is daily driven and would love to have p/s as soon as poss.

 

if the box is used you may have a valve sticking open could be dirty fluid or just a weak valve body, id try to get a hold of a local hydraulic shop and see if they might be able to help as far as the olumn goes if its not a slide aprt style shaft you might have to whittl a little off to make it look right

 

i did get it used , paid $150 for bendix & pump. he said it works good . ibought it for the so i would'nt have to remove column. i did notice the fluid turned milky brown color as soon as i cranked up. so i drained and pumped that fluid out and put new in. did the same again, and the wheel is still trying to turn on its on when rev engine. thanks for reply and any more help would be appreciated. iworking on it all day today if i have to. i'll check in at lunch for any replys.

 

well,its 4:30pm no replys.thought somebody would have the answer. i called the guy that sold me the bendix box and pump, he said the pump was probably bad ,to come get another one and he would also show me how to fix steering wheel from sticking out. so i drove the 45 minute trip. he pulled the pulley off and took the pump bracket off then gave me thepump. he said to loosen the 2 bolts under the steering column in cab and slide the column up to close the gap in my steering wheel . i left thinking everything was going to work. got back home found out i cant get my pump bracket off and on the new one without pulling pulley and i dont have tools to do that . also loosened the 2 bolts under steeing column to slide it up,can't budge it.any advice?

 

I moved my 67 body over my 69 chassis. the 67 had manual steering, and I used it's column with the bendix setup on the 69. Mine also sticks out farther, seems less than 2" though.

Are you sure you got the rag joint pushed all the way down on the steering gear?

 

yes , the rag joint clamp is all the way down to the steering box.

 

Well, mine might be 2" long as well. I plan on replacing the rag joint, and rebuilding my 69 column if I get inspired.

Not sure whe it's not working for you. I got a rebuilt box from Advance auto parts, and after installing I was able to turn the wheels with my hand on the rag joint (no body on truck). Mines working pretty good, but the rag joing is definitely shot. I should have replaced when aprt..I know. Just one of a 1000 should have's.

 

i measured the gap in steering column it's only 1/2" instead of 2". i guess after spending acouple of hours installing bendix steering gear and pump ,then opening the door to crank it up to test and see the steering wheel out that far it seemed like 2". i'm still needing help if i dont get it fixed i may have to drive toyota nobody wants that do they?

 

As far as the steering wheel spinning on it's own, it sounds as if you need to adjust the valve trim.

As you are facing the Bendix from the front of the truck, you will notice 4 bolts on the aluminum cover. Just to the right or the right rear bolt (nearest to where the hoses plumb into), you will see a small Allen head plug. Under this plug is where the valve trim screw is. Some oil will drip out when you remove the plug, but really squirt out when the engine is on, so you must install the Allen head plug each time you test the steering.

The valve trim screw can be adjusted with a simple blade-type screwdriver. The screw is part of the valve/input shaft, so to be able to access it through the plug hole, you must have the steering wheel turned in just the right spot which is about 85-90 degrees right of center. You might have to spin the rag joint by hand while looking into the hole with a flashlight to allign the valve screw with the hole.

The preliminary setting for this screw is 2 full turns out from bottom. The adjustment range from this setting is 360 degrees (one full turn) in or out from the preliminary setting.

Test the preliminary setting first (remember the Allen head plug). The goal is to achieve equal steering wheel torque left to right. If not equal, shut off engine, remove plug, and adjust valve trim screw 10 degrees in or out and test again. If the torque difference left to right at the steering wheel is worse, the valve trim screw must be adjusted the other way. Turn it 20 degrees the opposite direction as before and test again. When the torque difference starts to get close, use 5 degree increments until the steering is equal. Remember to not exceed one full turn in or out from the preliminary adjustment.

Once your steering wheel effort turning left is equal to the effort turning right, apply some pipe thread seal (tape or dope) to the allen plug and install it for the last time.

At one time, Ford made a special tool for the valve adjustment that allows you to test the steering without having to install the plug each time. It is basically a screwdriver that has a threaded sleeve on the shaft that screws into the allen plug hole and seals around the shaft when the engine is running. There are some special rules to using this tool to prevent damaging valve parts and the tool itself if the valve screw happens to be in a certain position when the engine is started. The Ford part # for this tool that is probably no longer available is T66T-3504-D.

 

thanks for the info on the valve trim adj. i've had this truck since 1993 i'm the second owner. it's always been dependable and i've never had any major problems with it. i'd been thinking about getting a more up to date truck but this one has such a good one i just decided to make it a little more conveinant to drive and keep it. i have found this website valuable for the task i have ahead of me. i'll check other threads for info and keep FTE informed how things are going with my 1968 F100.

 

the bendix steering gear was bad , theysaid they could rebuild it for $250. decided to buy rebuilt from parts store for a little cheaper and use the one i bought from the junk yard as core. i did try adjust. valve trim for about 4hrs. i never could get it to stop turning on its own. maybe this new gear will work right ,i have learned a lot about changing power steering so maybe i can be of some help to someone else.

 

finally got new steering gear today ,installed ,worked great. i also was able to get rid of the gap in the steering column inside cab by loosening the 2 bolts with the slos and pulling the steering column up it took a lot of elbow grease though. the main thing is i finally have p/s and everthing works fine. thanks for the help,i may try p/b next so i'llcheck threads on that when i get a chance.

 

Nice work!

If you had to drive a Turdota make sure you shower twice and burn any of your clothes and shoes b4 touching anything in the house and getting back into your Ford. I have been told that soaking your clothes and shoes for 3 days in a 25% bleach solution will kill the toy cooties also. -