71 F100 Power Steering Problems
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71 F100 Power Steering Problems
Hi all,
First post and all, glad to see these forums here.
I am upgrading a 71 F100 from a 3 on the tree to an automatic w/power steering.
On the power steering end, I am having trouble with the pitman arm. The donor truck was a '76 F100 and its pitman arm is not working. I tried using the pitman arm off of a '72 w/ps but that did not work either. Anybody know what is going wrong? I really need my truck back on the road, and $$ is getting low. Some help would be appreciated.
I tried searching this forum, and looked at the tech articles to the right to no avail.
Thanks,
DHMcKinley
First post and all, glad to see these forums here.
I am upgrading a 71 F100 from a 3 on the tree to an automatic w/power steering.
On the power steering end, I am having trouble with the pitman arm. The donor truck was a '76 F100 and its pitman arm is not working. I tried using the pitman arm off of a '72 w/ps but that did not work either. Anybody know what is going wrong? I really need my truck back on the road, and $$ is getting low. Some help would be appreciated.
I tried searching this forum, and looked at the tech articles to the right to no avail.
Thanks,
DHMcKinley
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Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 940
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From: LAT 46.55501° & LON -122
Make sure it is not upside down since the arm and output shaft are tapered.
Make sure you slip them together on one of the 4 possible engagements. Note that there are 4 "blank" splines on the shaft and 4 "missing" splines on the arm. These must meet.
Make sure you slip them together on one of the 4 possible engagements. Note that there are 4 "blank" splines on the shaft and 4 "missing" splines on the arm. These must meet.
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Thanks for the reply.
I am reasonably certain that the pitman arm is being installed properly, I am relying on the experience of a well seasoned mechanic and not my own experience with this.
What appears to be happening is that the end on the pitman arm (from 76 truck w/power steering) that hooks to the center link is angled different and will not fit the existing center link on my 71.
It appears that the pitman arm will work if the center link from the 76 truck is used instead of the center link that is already on my 71.
Does this sound like a common swap, the center link, that has to be made in the power steering conversion?
Thanks,
DHMcKinley
I am reasonably certain that the pitman arm is being installed properly, I am relying on the experience of a well seasoned mechanic and not my own experience with this.
What appears to be happening is that the end on the pitman arm (from 76 truck w/power steering) that hooks to the center link is angled different and will not fit the existing center link on my 71.
It appears that the pitman arm will work if the center link from the 76 truck is used instead of the center link that is already on my 71.
Does this sound like a common swap, the center link, that has to be made in the power steering conversion?
Thanks,
DHMcKinley
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Me again,
Thanks for the tip about the drag link, that got the pitman arm working. However, now the toe on the wheels is not adjusting. Will I need to use the tie rods and adjusters off of the donor truck also?
One more thing, the firewall on the 71 is different than the firewall on the donor truck and the passing gear lever is hitting, can the rod be bent to make the passing gear lever work or do I need to find a 71 rod?
The truck is almost road worthy again, except for these few minor problems.
Thanks for your help.
Daniel
Thanks for the tip about the drag link, that got the pitman arm working. However, now the toe on the wheels is not adjusting. Will I need to use the tie rods and adjusters off of the donor truck also?
One more thing, the firewall on the 71 is different than the firewall on the donor truck and the passing gear lever is hitting, can the rod be bent to make the passing gear lever work or do I need to find a 71 rod?
The truck is almost road worthy again, except for these few minor problems.
Thanks for your help.
Daniel
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We didn't look at the donor truck real good it seems. The donor truck has disc brakes on the front. Would the fact that the donor truck has disc brakes be what is causing the front end pieces not to swap around easily?
I'm trying to talk my front end man into knocking those king pins out, which project he is reluctant to start, and just swap front ends so that I wind up with the disc brakes on my '71.
I am starting to understand now why when I did a thread search power steering always showed up in conjunction with disc brakes. I think.
I'm trying to talk my front end man into knocking those king pins out, which project he is reluctant to start, and just swap front ends so that I wind up with the disc brakes on my '71.
I am starting to understand now why when I did a thread search power steering always showed up in conjunction with disc brakes. I think.
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 5,130
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From: Brea CA
Sorry for the delay.
Yeah, the tie rods are specific to the drag link for those years. Disc brakes shouldn't make a difference unless they were the dual piston ones on an F250.
Up to '71 all the steering components are the same. Then things started changing in the '71 model year (starting from serial # M00,001). It gets a little complicated over the years and models but I think you should be ok with the '76 tie rod ends, the adjusters should all be the same but check it out just in case.
Yeah, the tie rods are specific to the drag link for those years. Disc brakes shouldn't make a difference unless they were the dual piston ones on an F250.
Up to '71 all the steering components are the same. Then things started changing in the '71 model year (starting from serial # M00,001). It gets a little complicated over the years and models but I think you should be ok with the '76 tie rod ends, the adjusters should all be the same but check it out just in case.
Last edited by BB; Aug 29, 2004 at 02:23 AM.
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Good News,
The mechanic swapped the front end and now the power steering and everything is working, Yay! It turned out to be for the better because now I have the disc brakes.
Today was the first time I have driven the truck since the engine/transmission/frontend swap and it is awesome to know that Ol'Blue has been given new life. Ol'Blue served well for 33 years and 350,000 miles and I hope that she and I can get another 33 years and 350,000 miles before the next overhaul. There is still body work to be done, and some odds and ends to be fixed, but I feel that the major portion of the work is done.
Thanks to all of you for your help, there was a couple of tight spots where I was worried if the overhaul would ever take place.
Daniel
The mechanic swapped the front end and now the power steering and everything is working, Yay! It turned out to be for the better because now I have the disc brakes.
Today was the first time I have driven the truck since the engine/transmission/frontend swap and it is awesome to know that Ol'Blue has been given new life. Ol'Blue served well for 33 years and 350,000 miles and I hope that she and I can get another 33 years and 350,000 miles before the next overhaul. There is still body work to be done, and some odds and ends to be fixed, but I feel that the major portion of the work is done.
Thanks to all of you for your help, there was a couple of tight spots where I was worried if the overhaul would ever take place.
Daniel
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I just don't understand why more folks don't just drop the I-beams and move them over. If the aleignment on the donor truck was good, it would remain good. If the kingpins were good they don't need a beating ah changing.
John
John
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Unfortunately they aren't power disc, just disc. That is kinda what threw us off. When we didn't see a power booster for the brakes we just assumed (Yeah, I know) that the donor was drum brakes. Therefore, we believed that the power steering would be a simple swap without having to change the front end.
I now agree jowilker, if anyone asks me about a power steering swap or disc brake swap; I'll tell them to plan of swapping the I-beams because in the long run it saves alot of trouble. I am glad that we were fortunate enough to find a donor truck where most of the parts were in good condition. It is also good to know that there is a junkyard or two in this area (middle ga) that keeps the older Ford trucks for parts.
Still curious as to why it had disc brakes but not power disc brakes. At any rate, the disc brakes are an improvement over the drums.
I now agree jowilker, if anyone asks me about a power steering swap or disc brake swap; I'll tell them to plan of swapping the I-beams because in the long run it saves alot of trouble. I am glad that we were fortunate enough to find a donor truck where most of the parts were in good condition. It is also good to know that there is a junkyard or two in this area (middle ga) that keeps the older Ford trucks for parts.
Still curious as to why it had disc brakes but not power disc brakes. At any rate, the disc brakes are an improvement over the drums.
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