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Apr 20, 2004 | 01:26 PM

jdhastings

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How to rebuild a Saginaw PS Gearbox? (for Nod?)

I would like to add power steering to my '66 F100 4x4. It sounds like I might be able to use a late 70's 4x4 150 gear box and swap the worm gear (from a 2wd?). Is that right? What year 2wd box should I look for?

Since I'm a new member I can't directly send a message to another member.

Apr 20, 2004 | 01:46 PM

charlesecarter

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I'm not sure of the '66 setup. On my '68 F100, the gearbox is setup on the outside of the frame in front of the front axle. If the '66 setup is the same as the '68, you can get a 4x4 gearbox from 77-79 F150 and swap the gears as described in the replies above this. My main area of unknowing is the '66 setup.

If your setup is "exactly" the same as the 67-72 F100 4x4, you can use this setup and I got an article emailed to me where a fellow named Don Alves had made it work without welding anything and used simple materials to make it work. HTH

Apr 20, 2004 | 01:48 PM

charlesecarter

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I also forgot to mention, another big part of it is which your pitman shaft turns when you turn the wheel. The gearboxes must turn the same direction....that is why there is so much discussion of changing input shaft and worm gear setups.

Apr 20, 2004 | 02:16 PM

jdhastings

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The 66 4x4 box is identical so the solution should be the same. The 66 box sits on the outside of the frame with the pitman arm facing the rear.

Charles: Which year 2wd box did you use? I can't see in the discussion above which year 2wd box I should look for. How has your conversion held up? I can't imagine that anything could be weaker than the original box (at least on a 4x4).

Apr 20, 2004 | 03:28 PM

charlesecarter

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I got the '77 F150 4x4 box to use on the truck and then tried to use a 2wd gearbox from a '78 F150 2wd as I had read on another forum somewhere else. I did the worm gear and rack piston swap by putting the 2wd "guts" in the 4x4 box. Then, checked out the rotation of the pitman shaft and it was exactly the same as it was before the swap.

Then after further checking on the internet, I found that someone else said the 2wd box needs to be from an early 80's F series truck. I have not been lucky enough to find a 80's 2wd box at the price I am willing to pay....free or just a few dollars more!! Therefore, I haven't finished the install. When I do, and it works, I am going to do the install. Until then, I am just doing an upperbody workout each time I drive the '68.

Another thing to look up to find more info re: this is to search the Early Bronco ps setup options, that is where I found alot of write ups on what boxes make the swap work. Let me know if I can help more.

Apr 20, 2004 | 03:48 PM

jdhastings

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Thanks for all the help. One last question (I hope). Does the 2wd power steering box (from an early 80's 2wd) need to be a power steering box, also?

Apr 20, 2004 | 04:49 PM

charlesecarter

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Yes. You have to use the input shaft and the housing that the input shaft is in (the piece with the 2 bolts holding it to the actual gearbox, the rack piston and worm gear assembly from the box. They actually look exactly the same when taken out. But the worm gears are machined in opposite directions so that the rack piston moves in different directions when turned clockwise or counter clockwise. Kind of hard to describe without visuals. There was a website that had pics of it. I thing it was bcbroncos.com