Ok I am going to do a Chevrolet Power steering conversion. I am starting with a 1985 C20 2wd PS Box. (Sorry it's my garage and I get messy when I work)



I am using a rag joint off the same C20. But only the lower part of the steering shaft and rag joint. (I still need to trim it up a bit.)


I made up a plate for the box to mount it to the frame. I use 402 material for the plate and some extra chromoly I had sitting around. What looks to be a grind spot on the plate is where I made room for the box housing to fit the plate. I want the box as tight to the frame as possible. (Still working on the plate and have some more fabben to do.)


And plate mocked up on the frame. That is it for the day...Too Cold and started to rain. (Once again it is only mocked up.)


I will update this thread when and as I move threw this process.

 

Looks good and I look forward to seeing your progress!

Will you be using the stock power steering pump?

Will you be doing a cross over setup?

 

Looking good. Nice fab work on the mounting plate!

 

Good looking welds.

 

I look forward to this one. What are the plans? Crossover, hydro assist, etc.

 

I am going to start with a push pull system then switch it over later to a crossover or Modifried "T". I also have a dodge box that uses the same mounting plate as the Chevy box, But the Dodge box is Reverse Rotation.

I sure hope the welds look good, as it is my living. Do it everyday and it's even fun at home.

 

This makes you the most fortunate man alive. Getting paid to do your hobby is the best thing ever.


Now get back to work and post up more pics

 

Just wondering ? Why the Chevy box ? It's not the boxes that are junk with Fords, it's the pumps. What are you going to use for a pitman arm ?

 

They are dirt cheap and are available on a veriety of ratios.
Pitman arms are the same for dodge trucks, so if the dodge 4wd arm is used, it will accomodate the large chebby 1 ton TRE, and can be indexed any direction. This is important if the OP is planning on running the push pull design now, and decides to upgrade later. The same hardware can be used.
Clearance is tight there, and the spring will not clear the drag link if x-over was considered now.

You are right though mark a, this would also be a good time to upgrade to the saginaw pump as well.

 

The chevy and dodge boxes are the same configuration, with I believe the chevy being 12:1 and the dodge being 15:1. Also - the reverse rotation is a 2wd to 4wd thing - not chevy to dodge from what I have seen/heard.

The 2wds are one rotation and the 4wds are another.


I am doing this swap as well. I'm using the 2wd box that came out of my dodge/cummins in my 74 4wd crew. The frame on the crew was previously HACKED by the old owner to put a 2wd ford box in (who knows why - it was a horrible choice). Since my frame was hacked anyways and the dodge was getting parted out and cut up I just took the frame section from the dodge (contoured for the saginaw box) and will graft it in.

I will then box the inside of the frame and use .188 wall DOM tubing for bosses to run LONG bolts. These things have a tendency to want to rip through the frame.

Are you planning on boxing the inside of the frame and running longer bolts on your setup? If not - how long are those bosses you are running?

Crappy frame notch for 2wd - from previous owner


Old 2wd box in the truck (yes the leafs hit the end of the shaft)


Dodge frame hunk (pre sandblast)

 

As 74F350 noted I will be using the Dodge pitman arm. And later will be moving over to a Crossover with the addition of SD springs. I got the Dodge Reverse rotation box because I was going to go another direction in the conversion but went the Chevy Box route, but the Dodge Box came with a pitman and at $25 with shipping on the Dodge Box I could not pass it up. And now I can always regear and rebuild the Dodge Box with Chevy guts.

And I am going to run the Saginaw Pump, not a Rebuilt Cardone. It came out of the C20.

*******
ChaseTruck754 the bosses are 3 at 55mm and 1 at 57mm. As 1 hole sits alittle further than the other 3. The tubing is 1.000 x .250 wall made out of A 313 85/24825 Material. I will be adding a inside plate also that will extend past the outer plates ends. Along with gusset on the inner frame, for later mods. It wide open now that is why I am going to gusset the frame at the box plates.

And yes I will be running longer bolts at Grade 10.9.

 

On my 76 I ran the original pump with no issues . The drag link from the chevy truck just needed a ford tie rod end to fit the truck taper ..

I also shortened the steering arm on the truck 2 ' to shorten the turning radius..

 

Finally got a Weekend off so I got to do some work on Friday and Saturday morning.

This is the PS mount plate in it finished state. Round and formed to fit the frame.


These are the stud bolt I use. Only 1 of them. The one on the left is the 1 I didn't use and the one on the right is the I weld onto the mount plate. (pay no attention to the scar on my index finger. First Boy Scout knife lesson.)


This picture may seem that it is not needed but if you note the location of the bolt hex on the plate you will understand when you weld it on the plate and when you then weld it onto the frame. This way you get more welding area and less grinding area.


The stud welded onto the PS mount plate. Note the color burn on the spacer. I love a good weld burn.


Stud welded on and ground down to match frame.


PS mount plate welded onto frame. (Welded it with stick to sink the heat then covered it with Mig to dress it up.)




PS mount and frame coated with underbody paint. I used what we use at work. Mix and spray at 35 PSI.

 

I would consider some bracing around there if you are going to run big tires and run it hard in mud, etc. My '79 F-250 frame has cracked a bunch of times around the box and it has a lot more frame than you got there. That was the one reason I added the hydro assist to mine, to relieve some stress in the steering box area.

 

No off road, no big tires. Just a simple restore to better running. And maybe more down the road. But just want to get it back to driving every once and awhile.

But I have not installed the 3 gussets inside of the frame yet.