I just bought a 69 Bronco It has the 351 swap with an F100 Power steering box with twin stabilizers. The Power steering is so powerful that it can easily be turned with your pinky finger very smoothly.. I would actually prefer to just have manual steering, But instead of doing a swap right now I have been told that there is an adjustment on the p/s box. There is a nut on the top of it with a stud that seems adjustable. Which way should I turn it to tighten or back off the power of the steering pump?

 

That adjusts the sector shaft to worm gear play in the steering box. It doesn't have anything to do with setting pump pressure. Adjusting it will tighten the steering feel, but you don't want to over tighten it. To tighten, turn the screw clockwise while having someone turn the steering wheel across center.

Why would you want to go back to manual steering? Is the box seem to sensitive as far as steering feel? Does it tend to steer too fast with light input? It is a common problem with the pickup steering conversion that the steering geometry is incorrect causing some ill handling.

Jason

 

What exactly do you men about turning the steering wheel across the center. also how would I know if I turned the screw to far? Maybe Ill just try turning the screw a 1/4 of a turn every time... It not really too sensitve just to light , its like my old caddy you could basically spin the wheel like on the price is right. What should I check for in the steering geometry??

 

Using the steering sector mechanical preload adjustment for anything except what it is designed for (as previously noted - to take up mechanical lash in the box) is a bad idea. You will know when its to tight because your steering wheel will be tight/hard to turn,..even feel like its hanging up..if that preload is too tight. Leaving it like that will wear out the box very prematurely. The steering box is always loosest when the wheel is centered...so its when you turn it away from center, to either side, that having the preload too tight will show up. Nothing you can do with the preload adjustment is going to reduce the 'power' of your steering setup in any way shape or form.


I own 7 EBs and go to great lengths and expense to get the steering upgraded to work as well as you described yours.

 

Actually, the tightest point in the steering box is when it is centered. This is why you want to adjust it at center. If it is tightened anywhere else but center, the steering will be too tight going across center.

With a non factory steering conversion, the steering box is not necessarily centered when the wheels are pointed straight ahead. The best way to find center is to remove the drag link from the pitman arm and counting the steering wheel turns lock to lock and then going back half of that amount. You may find that your draglink won't connect now. If your Bronco is lifted, the front end may be shifted towards the drivers side and never corrected.
This can be adjusted by a track bar lowering bracket and/ or an adjustable track bar. This may cause the draglink to be too long. Since you have a F100 steering box on I will assume that you have an adjustable draglink to take up the difference.

As far as the steering geometry, you want to match the angle of the drag link and the angle of the track bar. The long pitman shaft of the F series steering box causes many problems in this geometry. Depending on the amount of lift you may have, there are a few ways to correct it. But I've found that every Bronco reacts differently and there isn't really a set formula on what works with what setup. Its a little trial and error to find the best steering feel and road manners.

Jason