I was going to put this off until winter, but the leaking has voted to make it a RFN situation so my truck is down until I get it fixed. I have a '76 4wd FE, with the power valve assist mess... and im going to keep it that style, yes I know it could be converted to a gearbox integral.... I have done some reading and really looked at the mess and figured the biggest challenge will be in the steering gear box itself and Pittman arm that connects to the power valve

Gear Box

The manuals make it sound like a walk in the park, but after a year of working on this truck i know better . Will I have to take out the radiator to get clearance for the gear box removal ? is it just as simple as loosing the clamp bracket that connects to the steering shaft ? The pittman arm itself goes from the gear box thru the frame and then connects to the power valve, im assuming that is the tru PITA ? any insight from you veteran dent wrench-man is appreciated.... My plan is to piece meal this as I get components off and send them off to Lares,RedHead or Blue Top for rebuild..... Hoping to have this done while there's still some Fall driving weather....

 

Yes the steering shaft comes off that easy. Loosen the collar clamp nut, remove it and the bolt. Take a flat tip screwdriver and prey between the collar and the end of the box. It should slide right off the input shaft. The bell shapped part should let the shaft slide in enoun fto get the splined part off. Then same for the other end.

FYI that u joint is not replaceable. Flaming River and or Jegs or Summit have steering shaft u joint assemblies with the D shaped ends. Borgeson has complete steering shafts.

Mark all your connections before you disconnect them.

Rent a pitman arm removal fork (much like a tie rod fork) and or gear puller.

 

Rich, you are the man... Thank U for the detailed response, I will surely be referencing this thread for guidance... Its huntin season now, so my time is cut in half for the ol'e truck , hope to start disassembly of the box,valve and stabilizer this coming week....

 

Things are actually going remarkably smooth with the steering components, had to use a pickle fork for the cylinder ball joint, but it wasnt bad and it cost me $6 for the fork, so thats okay.... Getting my parts back from Blue Top as the paychecks pass by.... taking out steering box today (i hope) and the cylinder is in the mail to Blue Top... heres the control valve....

Purrrrrdddy

 

Just want to make sure before I look silly, that’s a bendix setup? If so and you don’t mind me asking how much did it cost to have blue top do the work and what all did they do? This is (should be) the last leak I have on my truck and I too don’t really want to convert to a Saginaw pump at this time. I’d love to get my bendix setup going properly. Thanks

 

Yes that's the bendix control valve, Ryan from blue top called the day mine showed up and offered to just send one off the shelve that was already rebuilt, total OTD in including shipping was $240 ish.. lares was slightly cheaper but more shipping for me, and I liked the rural America shop that Ryan runs......also came with new Castle nuts and cotter pins.....

 

Thank you! I’ll be giving them a call soon. I have an trouble getting responses from redhead... and I don’t think I’ve heard of lares before. Please keep us posted on how it holds up

 

And I must say, it too was not very difficult..... I was expecting a jammed up seized mess, but came off fairly easy with little impact torque drill a pry bar and some strategy.... the original manufacture markings are pretty neat, not sure what they all mean, but cool non the less ..

Old School

 

With Power Assist P/S, the manual steering gear box is used, because it has nothing to do with the Power Assist!

Two P/S hoses, pressure and return, route from the pump to the control valve. Two P/S hoses, pressure and return, route from the control valve to the hydraulic power assist P/S ram cylinder.

Garrison Power Assist: 1973 F250 4WD; 1974 F250 4WD before serial number T80,001.

Bendix Power Assist: 1974 F250 4WD from serial number T80,001; 1975/76 F250 4WD; 1977 F250 4WD before serial number Y20,001.

Parts catalog pic shows the two different types of Power Assist systems. Your truck has the Bendix system, since it's a 1976.

 

Yeah, I seen the manual box was listed on rebuild sites as P/S with proper control valve.... Oddly enough it seems to be the most uncommon to find on rebuild sites also and not cheap..... and dam is that thing heavy... Cant wait to see that shipping quote

At the rate im going, I may have'er back together in a few weeks... that would be super..