Power Steering Upgrade Question.

[green68250]

I just got my '69 F-100 4x4 and I am starting to think about my power steering upgrade. I was reading in here that you can take a '77-'79 4x4 power steering box and drill new hole and mount it in the same location as the current manual steering box. Is it true that you also need to take the internals out of a 2wd power steering box and put them in your 4x4 box? I read this was due to the fact that the stock pitman arm faces rearward and the '77-'79 faces toward the front and if you were to just turn the pitman arm around you steering would be backwards. Correct? What else is needed to do the conversion this way? Is there another alternative?

Thanks for the help,

Corbin

[F100camperspecial]

Yes, check out West Coast Bronco, www.westcoastbronco.com/tech/diyrockcrawler.shtml ,they have an excellent tech how to do article about this including a list of usable part steering boxes.

[green68250]

Great, thanks! That is a good tutorial on how to rebuild the box. Am I able to connect it directly to all of my old steering components or do I need to find anything else?

Thanks again of the help,

Corbin

[F100camperspecial]

Don't know as I have yet to do this mod--but I wanna! Maybe others can chime in. I just finished converting to disc brakes so the bank is busted. Also check WCB for the kit they sell. It has a bracket so you don't have to drill any holes or weld anything, but you do need the indexable pitman arm they sell to make up for the thickness of the bracket. For a totally different approach check out www.broncofix.com/viewtopic.php?t=273527 using the Nissan box.

[green68250]

That bracket and kit look like they would definately come in handy. I assume there is nothing different between a bronco and our trucks that would cause that bracket to not work, right? I can't wait to get this done, its hard driving this thing in a parking lot and its only going to get worse with 33's and a 4" lift.

Thanks for the help,

Corbin

[F100camperspecial]

As I understand it the only difference is track width. The short side of the axle is the driverside, while the difference is in the passenger side. This allows the same steering box setup between the two. I don't know about the track bar length, but everything else should be the same.

[green68250]

Are there any differences between the '78-'79 power steering boxes and a '76? I found a whole '76 half ton 4x4 for $250 and was hoping I could use the box off of that truck. It has an HP 44 and power disk brakes. I was told that to do the conversion you had to have the '78 or '79 box? Any ideas? Does anyone know of any differences between the two. I would like to take this truck but don't want to get something I can't use.

Thanks for the help,

Corbin

[F100camperspecial]

The West Coast Bronco write up calls out '78-'79 Bronco and '76-'79 F150. I think you would be good buying that '76 1/2 ton.

[green68250]

Well i bought that '76. I'm thinking about just doing a body swap. Put the '69 body on the '76 frame. That way I don't have to do much fabricating. I got the whole truck for $200 and the running gear is all there I can make most of my money back on the body parts that I sell.

Corbin

[F100camperspecial]

Better check with Keith and others here, I could be wrong, but I don't think a straight body swap will work here--Keith??

[green68250]

Me and my buddy, whos building a '78 crew cab with an '07 F-150 interior on an '02 superduty frame, were out at my place measuring things up and there are only a few differences. After the cab the '76 frame widens out to the back so the bed mounts will have to be modified somehow. The cab mounts are all the same as well as the core support. Other than that I don't see any other issues with the swap. I can swap my 390 in and bolt it up to the np435 and 205 that is in the truck now and put the trans tunnel top in my '69. At least I think my 390 that is already bolted to a np435 in my '69 will bolt up to the np435 in the '76. I didn't measure that out. If anyone knows of any differences I missed let me know. I haven't started yet and I could still change my mine. I will be taking more measurements tomorrow aswell as trying to fire the 300 thats in th '76 now. I have a lot of work ahead of me, the question is why do I love it so much.

Corbin

[F100camperspecial]

That's what I remember--something about the beds. Dang, sounds like you guys are not afraid of project or two! The reason why you do this stuff is that they never build what you want and you have do it yourself to get what you want. That and the fact that the best toy you had as a kid was an erecter set! If you can, post pictures--this sounds interesting.

[mljjones67]

Everything bolts up in the stock location other than the bed. I am doing the same swap only onto a 79' f-250 4x4 frame. The way I decided to remedy the bed problem is to make it into a dump bed. But really all you have to do is move the bed mount holes around a little and reinforce those spots. Also the rear tires will be set back 2" which most people wont even notice. good luck
Read my thread it has a lot of the swap info in it