update and question
 

Hey folks,
Haven't been on in a while just thought I stop in and give a quick update and then ask a question.

I have been really busy but I have mostly sanded then primed then painted black alot of small parts jsut to get them out of the way. And then this sunday I am having my buddy come up and see if i have to rebuild my 302 or what. So not alot done but it is getting there.

Ok now my problem, I DON'T FIT IN MY TRUCK!!! I bought some bucket racing seats from Summit i but them in my truck and then found out that my legs hit the steering wheel and i was wondering if i could run the coloum through the floor to get more room in the cab? I am about 6' even and i am going to grow to about 6'3" the truck has power steering so I don't know what I can do.

any help will be great

thanks,
alec

Racing seats usually have very low mounts on them and little to no bottom cushion, so I can't picture why your knees would hit the steering wheel unless you put something under them when installing them? What PS does the truck have and what column are you using? Changing steering geometry by moving components around is a recipe for disaster since it could make the truck unsafe to drive. Some ways to increase leg room might be to use a shorter column drop at the dashboard and/or a smaller diameter steering wheel, but I'd first start with the seats, how about some pix of the installation and possibly with you sitting in the cab.

I am pretty sure that the PS and the Coloum are from a '94 Ranger because that is what the frame is from. The seats are mounted about 4.5" off the floor and that makes the seat hight about 7" off the floor. I also have a grant steering wheel which I think is about a 12" dia. Do u think i souyld spend the money on an Ididit coloum?


Thanks,
Alec

How does that height compare to the stock seat height? since you are tall, can you lower it any? Does the column tilt?

Ax take a look at his gallery, looks like the column is modern Ford and maybe upside down.

I will post some more pics of the column in my gallery in about an hour. and I will try and have pics of it with seats in by sunday night

From looking at the pic of the column, I would say you have the column hanging way too low and not far enough back. With a setup like that, you would be driving with the steering wheel between your knees.

Jeff

Column is in the right way, (ignition is on the right of column) but MAN! What a column drop! Looks like 4 to 5 in. of drop. I think the wheel would be in MY lap in your truck! (I'm 5'-8" and DONE growing!)
You need to get your steering wheel up off the floor!

The way that picture looks. The edge of the wheel would be layin gon the stock seat edge.

A local in my town has a 48 f1 on a ranger frame also. His is 4x4, and a plow. Looks stock. Sorry, I don't know what seat and column he used. Looking in your gallery, I'd try to move the column up.

Whom so ever installed the Steering Column must have been a Midget, As @ my 5'9", even I wouldn't be able to drive your truck in comfort or be safe doing so.
Shorten that Mount up, it's suppossed to be 3"-5" inches, from the bottom of the dash.

Is the 3 to 5" from the column to the dash?

I believe 4TL8 is correct, or halfway so; the bracket is upside down, the column is correct. At least compared to the similar Fords I've dropped columns on. I'm not sure it matters. The column is too fat to fit under the dash.

In addition to the column drop being a bit too long, you are suffering from too shallow an angle on the column. It looks like the column penetrates the firewall in the vertical section of the firewall rather than in the sloped section of the floor like the original would have done. The shallow angle contributes to the very low steering wheel. Try disconnecting the column and putting it thru the original hole (square with rounded corners) and mock it up in that position.

I think that changing the angle at the firewall would involve a difficult to engineer Z bend back to the gear box. I would avoid that if at all possible and try to move the column up at the dash with a shorter drop or even modifying the dash to allow the column to move up. Changing the angle much from stock angle in the original donor (don't know how close to the original angle it is now?) is likely to require switching to a universal joint from a rag joint as rag joints are not designed to operate at much angular misalignment but are more to isolate the steering wheel from road vibration. Even small changes will often snowball down the hill, when you do something as drastic as a frame swap there are hundreds of details that need to be worked out.
Changing to an aftermarket column may be a consideration if the current one does not include a tilt option and the current one has a bulky housing that cannot be simplified that is the source of the problems with moving it closer to the dash.
I might also suggest you find a later model vehicle that you are comfortable sitting in/driving and measure it up as far as pedal to seat front distance, steering wheel diameter and height above seat cushion, distance from seatback to face of steering wheel etc and try to duplicate those relationships as close as possible in your truck. That's what I did to decide I really needed to shorten my aftermarket column 2" to make everything feel right and be comfortable.

last night I took out the column (took forever) and then mocked up the seat and mocked up a column using a broom will post pics later tonight...it looks alot better and with the seat of the ground morew and the column almost touching the bottom of the dash it will fit very nice.

Now that I have no column do u guiys no of any columns that will fit in my truck with out alot of tinkering around? i was looking at the IDIDIT's I don"t know what I am looking for. Any help will be great

posted new pics of my mocked up center console idea..tell me what you think

What is going into the console? is there a reason for the V shaped section after the main panel coming down from the dash? What are you planning on making it from? Will it be painted, upholstered? It loks like you picked up the character lines from the dash for the width? Personally I'd like to see some curved shapes in there to reflect the Deco dash styling. Let me see if I can sketch you something to show what I mean.

well it was kinda hard to curve it with cardboard, but ya that is what i am thinking lots of smooth curves. I am eather going to paint it or leave it brushed steel, the very back is going to have cup holders the downward part from the dash is going to have steel toggle swiches for things liek lights, choke, cab light, ect and the middle part is going to have my ignition and then I am going to have a spring toggle swich start (like in nascar)

Depending on how much curve you want you can build the framework out of 1/2" electrical conduit or 3/8" steel rod and cover it in sheet metal. If you use a conduit bender it's easy to get smooth curves. For tighter curves fill the tube with dry sand packed tight and plug each end, bend around the groove in a pully. Don't try to bend a complex shape out of one piece, bend it in 2 halves or multiple sections, trim and weld together. If you mess up a bend, you don't have to start all over. I picked up a set of 2 siamesed cupholders from some GM product (Camaro?) off ebay. They are a rubbery material with a lip around the top so they will drop into holes in the console top and can be removed for washing.

Well, the massive grant wheel you put a pic of is not the right size if you have this issue. I am a very nice 6' 7" and I have a wee little MoMo steering wheel, and a steep angled column, and I fit just fine (well almost, I need to adjust the brake height, it is running VERY high, I need to start a thread to get help with this.) I also opted for a custom home made column (2 inch galvanized steel piping) braced right to the bottom of the dash. My steering is a rag joint, but I adjusted the angle of the steering box and am going to compensate with an adjustable drag link. Funny how it goes from not fitting to drag links. Try with a smaller airbagless wheel, and if you are good at fabricating advanced mechanics, try AX's Z bend idea, otherwise you will need to get into the dangerous business of adjusting steering geometry.

I decided on a 15" wheel as a compromise between the large stock wheel and the 13" ones for the import tuner market that look like they belong on a gokart rather than in our trucks.

I also used a 15 inch wheel (Grant) on my F-3. With a different column and PS it seems to be the best compromise on these old trucks...not too small and not too large. :-wink

What kinda column did you guys use? does ididit have a column that workes?

Yes, I used an Ididit tilt paintable steel column with my Toyota PS box conversion. My wheel is also a Grant banjo style, but ordered a Grant specific adapter from Ididit rather than stack the Grant on top the Ididit universal adapter. I bought a 32" column but found it too long to suit me so I shortened it 2".

what was the price for that colunm and the diamiter?

2 1/4" diameter without shift. 289.00 from Mid Fifty.

I used a column out of an 87 Chrysler 5th Ave that was the donor for my front suspension. The length is perfect but I would not use this column again and don't recommend it. The shifter linkage is on the outside which has to be cut off and welded to the inside, it has non-integrated brake/directional signals so I have to run separate lights for directional signals, and no neutral safety switch (it's in the transmission) so I had to fabricate one out of an old brake light switch. x(

Other than that it's golden! :p

Knowing what I know now I'd definitely go with a GM or Ididit paintable like Ax did... :-wink

I could not tell if you were staying with a column shift for the automatic like a Ranger has. With a floor shifter columns that can be used are more plentiful (and cheaper). My F-1 is set up with a highly modified late 70's T bird column shifted tilt column. I have more work to do to use it with the AOD. What are your shifter plans?

I was going to get a floor shifter to put in my console, as with the ignition, so i need the most basic column i can get will a straight column from ididit work?

alec

There is a guy on ebay selling ididit tilt columns. I believe they were $265.00 for 30".