Hi...
Have looked at the extensive threads regarding the toyota manual steering box swap. Ive done a lot with cars, and although one link says it is easy, i am not so sure. Seemed a little overwhelming. I will tackle anything however and would like to get in touch with someone that has actually done a real world swap. I have a 51 merc that i am thinking of doing this on. The good, bad and the ugly, parts, etc would be awesome.
Looking forward to hearing from you..
Rick

 

I did the swap in a 55 it should be about the same for 48/52. It was really an easy & simple installation however, I have the power unit so I had to hook-up power steering pump & hoses which was still fairly easy. I can't remember who however, someone on the board installed the manual one and documented it very well.

 

Rick,

The swap is fairly straightforward. The toyo box will mount in the original location with a simple to fab bracket. There are 2 basic styles of brackets, I think I drawings of both styles in one of my galleries.

If you are retaining the original steering column you have to cut it down to size, its not complicated. Power steering hoses can be an issue depending on what pump you are trying to run. The toyo box will obviously have metric fittings and one of them is a goofy oddball size (17mm). There are a fittings and/or hoses available from some vendors.

On my 49 I had already fabbed my engine and trans mounts before I decided to go with the toyo steering. Once I got the box where it needed to be I realized that the hoses would be a bit close to my exhaust. I ended up mounting my toyo box up ahead of the front axle instead of raising my engine a bit....lol

There are several tech articles available from vendors the manufacture the mounting bracket. Typically these articles apply to the 53-56 trucks but they can be easily applied to the 48-52 trucks. A google search should turn up some interesting reading. A serach of this site should turn up some reading also. When you search this site, go to search, then "advanced search", then you can specify the search to just look in the 48-60 forum.

Good luck
Bobby

 

I have done two of them in trucks with a SBC engine. I made the mounts from 1/2" X 2" flat bar. I used Corvette rams horn exhaust manifolds. I moved the engine 1" towards the passenger side and everything fit real well. If you set the angle of the steering column input shaft @ 39-40 degrees, it will mate up with the steering column almost perfectly. I used a 30" flaming river tilt column. Use a 2"-2 1/2" column drop. The bottom of the column will go out of the floor at the top of the hole that is there. I made a one piece plate to fit where the original plates were, and put the hole for the column where it needed to be. I bought the pitman arm from MF. It hooks up to the original drag link just like the original box did. When you get a box, be sure and get the hoses that connect to it. You will need the ends that attach to the box. If you have these, it is no problem to get some hoses made that won't break the bank.
If you have any other ? let me know.