hi, i have some questions about power steering for my truck. I am sort of restoring my grandpa's old 69 f100 2wd 360. I just got new rims and tires for christmas and they are wider than stock which makes the armstrong steering quite a work out (considering that i am 15) I was wondering how hard it would be to do a powersteering conversion to it. I have heard that it is easy and cheap if you pick up parts from a junk yard, but i do not know exactly what parts i am looking for. I was also looking on ebay and i found a whole conversion kit which would be nice if it was not $350, and it is now hard to get a job when your 15, hence low budget.

thanks,
cole

 

What all does that kit on ebay include? 350 sounds realy cheap for good quality parts. As far as the parts that you will need, here they are: Steering collum for 67-72 2 wheel drive truck, steering gear box for 67 to at least 76, pit man arm for power steering, brackets (2) for power steering pump, 2 groove fan pulley, 2 groove crank shaft pulley, power steering fluid cooler, a fan belt, a high pressure hose, and a low pressure return line.
Steering collum- any collum from at least 65 to 79 should bolt in to your truck, but
the plug to plug it up to your wireing harness may be different if it
comes from something other than 67 to 72. A nice upgrade would be
to use a 78 or 79 model collum that has tilt and cruise. The tilt could
be used the minute you put it in, the cruise control could be added
later if you wanted. There will be differences in the plug, but you can
the wires around to make everything work correctly.
Steering gear box- try your best to find one not leaking. If you can't find a non leaker
buy a leaker as cheap as you can. The core charge for a rebuilt
box is realy high.
pitman arm- the pitman arm has a bigger hole to connect it to the gear box on a
power box than a manual box. Any pitman arm from a power truck from
67 to at least 76 or 77 should work.
power steering pump brackets- There is a picture of the brackets that you need in my
gallery. Let me know if you need better pics, and I
will fix you up. The brackets will interchange between
360 and 390, but the ones for a car and a truck are
different. Make sure your's come from a truck.
crank and fan pulley- both need to be 2 groove if you are going to run power steering
and alternator. If you want to add A/C, or you already have it,
you will need to get a 2 groove fan pulley, and a 3 groove crank
pulley. I would highly reacomend finding an engine that has all
accessories (A/C and P/S) and buying the whole complete set
of brackets and pulleys. This way you can add A/C later as your
budget allows.
P/S pump- Get one from the wrecking yard. It if it isn't good, just get a rebuilt one.
Here again, you will need an old one for a core charge.
P/S fluid cooler- Is just a hard line that bolts to the frame on the driver's side. Should
be dirt cheap at the wreckers. If you need picture of one so that
you know what your looking for, let me know.
Belt and lines- Buy new over at your local auto parts store.
If you need to know how to put all this together, just give a yell. It's actualy very simple. I have done it twice. If you have trouble finding the parts, let me know. I have one last suggestion....I would highly recomend buying a parts truck in your area if you can find one cheap. Try to find about a 73 to 76 1/2 ton. A lot of those had 360's and 390's. All of them had disc brakes on the front with dual resivour master cylinders, most had power brakes. I bought a 76 a couple of years back with a lost title, ragged out interior and body for 75 bucks. I got hundreds of bucks worth of parts. Think about what all upgrades you want before you even get started. If you want several, look for a parts truck. Last but not least....welcome to this board. Feel free to post any questions that you may have.

 

Thanks man that really helps alot, i will start to find the parts and i just to let you know i will probabbly have lots of questions along the way. The kit on ebay consited of pretty much just pump and pulley and the pitman arm hoses and brakets and box
thanks again

 

Ask all the questions that you want, that's why we're here. What is the item number on the ebay kit? I'd like to take a look at it.

 

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The kit on ebay was on about a onth ago and i cannot find it again but it is a company and they always have auctions of the same kit on so im sure i will be able to find it again and i will let you know when i do the seller was customsteering4u or something close to that
Thanks again

 

If you find out give me a yell, that still sounds awful cheap for good quality parts. Between now and then just keep your eyes open for prices. Good things come to those who wait.

 

So how much trouble is it to put power steering in a 1968 4x4 F250? I'm looking at buying this truck today. I've had it with the newer GM products. They are just glorified cars.

 

Makofan, I'd love to help you, but I've never messed with a 4 wheel drive, and have no clue as to how to change one over. I'm sure someone will chime in with the answer for you. There are a lot of 4x4 owners here on FTE.

 

Thanks Doc,
I was able to obtain the parts I need and everything else necessary( and the 4x4 is no piece of cake!) from the parts supplier on this site. I can't believe how knowledgeable the guy is.

 

hey doc i bought a kit on ebay it was a different kit than what is usually on there i bought it for $250 with shipping, but there is a problem, the guy accidentally sent a automatic coulmn instead of a manual, but i was wondering if i cut the steering shaft and made some modifications if it would work with my old coulmn. Also i think he sent me the wrong brackets they bolt up to the water pump right? well if he did send me the right bracket it needs some serious modification.
Thanks

 

I have a 1968 F-100 if I remember right I bought a used power steering gear box wich was the same size as my manual box, bolted it on I have a 302 Put on pump it was very simple.All the other things bolted right up. If 360 is same as 390 I have every thing you would need. I have a 1972 ranger as a parts truck ( 3/4 ton) I will beat that price on ebay. If you respond to this I will give my E-mail

 

Custom 69, I've never actualy done this, but I have heard that this is the way to fix your problem. The bracket that has a bolt hole on each side that holds the collum to the dash board is tack welded on. I had an old timer tell me to cut that bracket off and move it to the correct place and weld it back.
Personaly I find trying to jury rig something is always more trouble than it's worth. I would highly recomend just buying the correct collum.
As far as your brackets are concerned, check out my gallery. There is a 390 on an engine stand with the power steering brackets on it. See if your brackets look like the ones in the pictures. If so, just bolt them on the way they are in the picture and that will have you set up.
Do you have any way of posting a picture of the plug that's on the collum?
Mike

 

Guys 2wd to 2wd exchange requires nothing to be cut welded or moved. It is a direct bolt up replacement. A big hurdle to overcome by many is most pre 73s were manual and most post 73s were automatic. I changed my 3spd to C6 with the same upgrade and simplified things. There are a few 3spd ps columns out there if ya look for em.

Good luck

John

 

richmc54, i WOULD LIKE TO LOOK AT THE TRUCK, IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE A DONOR TRUCK.