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Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 5:58 pm
by Chgr1
Howdy Steve Cass (chgr1) here from Cedar Creek Texas. I just finished the installation of power steering in a 64 D100 225 /6 with a manual column shift using the toyota power steering gear.

All parts were ordered from Mid 50 http://www.midfifty.com
Part Number 94620 - Conversion Kit - contains mounting bracket, pitman arm, sector nut, bolt kit (gear to bracket & bracket to frame) and universal joint adapts 11/16 36 spline to 3/4 inch round steering column shaft.
Part Number 4628 - Hose Kit - contains pressure and return line, clamp and pressure fitting adapters.
Part Number 4621U - Used toyota power steering gear

Power steering pump & engine bracket- 87 Dodge 100 /6 - purchased from salvage yard

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 6:05 pm
by Chgr1
The 64 already had a multi groove crank pully. The pump and bracket from the 87 Dodge /6 mounted up perfectly to the 64 Dodge /6. The belt was purchased from Advanced Auto.
The hose kit I got from Mid 50 had the correct adapter for the pressure line to attach to the pump.

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 6:13 pm
by surfnuke9
I assume more pics are coming showing the box install?

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 6:24 pm
by Chgr1
Next I removed the old Dodge pitman arm and the manual gear. I took the new toyota & the old Dodge pitman arms to a machine shop. The new toyota pitman arm in the kit is good flat steele and it is easy to weld on an additional piece.
The machine shop cut off the ball used with the fords and welded on a piece at the end to make the toyota pitman arm the same length as the old Dodge arm. They also drilled the bottom hole and tapered it for the Original Dodge drag link to connect.
See the picture in my eariler post and you will see the new toyota arm as it came in the kit next to the original Dodge arm. This picture is the original dodge arm beside the new modified toyota arm.

Look at the top of the toyota arm. The top has an extended round piece welded on it. This is important. This side goes against the frame and will keep the arm away from the frame so that it will not hit the mounting bolts for the conversion bracket.

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 6:43 pm
by wally426ci
Sweet man! Thank you for posting. :Thumbsup Let us know how the outcome is.

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 6:50 pm
by Chgr1
I bolted the bracket to the toyota gear box and set it in the frame. I had to open the hole up a little for the sector shaft to fit through properly. This took several trial fittings because the bracket did not want to sit flat against the frame with the toyota box straight aiming at the firewall hole. I was able to get it done by spot welding washers on the bottom of the bracket used as spacers against the frame.

The toyota box is a little wider than the bracket so I just sanded off a little of the gear box to match the bracket width. Take your time here and get the box located where you want it with the best alignment to the frame and firewall as possible. Once I got the box located where I wanted it I traced aound the bracket on the frame so that I could drill the new mounting holes through the frame.

The toyota box is wider than the Dodge box at the sector shaft so the toyota power steering gear will set in toward the motor about 2 inches more than the old Dodge box. but I'll fix this with the sterring shaft universal joint.

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 7:20 pm
by Chgr1
Once the gear was in and I had the hoses attached (the kit had everything I needed to attach the hoses), I trial fitted the steering column several times. I used the top of the original rag joint that was sticking out of the bottom of the column to center the column on the toyota power steering gear input shaft and test fitted the column mounting brackets back on the dash. Then attached the transmission shifting rods to the steering column. I hooked everything on the steering column back up to scope out the alignment. Again the steering column top of the rag joint was holding the steering column on the gear input shaft but it was not attached.

The column was at a slight angle toward the inside because the toyota box is a little wider than the old dodge box. But everything connected back together even the shift rods without binding against the firewall. The original column mounting brackets used the same holes as before under the dash. Again, take your time here, take measurements and look at everything, test fit everything on the column to the truck. I could also see that I would have to make a new floor board cover plate, it would have to be bigger because the column set over to the inside more. I did not have to cut the firewall.

The universal joint would fix the alignment problem. See the column shaft in the picture where the top of the old rag join is welded to the shaft. I can cut the shaft right at the top of the old rag joint cap and slide on the universal joint and end up with the steering column the same length as it was before. The shaft is a solid shaft 3/4 inch round.

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 8:29 pm
by Chgr1
Next I took the column shaft out of the tube. May sure you take pictures of your individual shaft and the pieces and the order that they go back in. On this 64 there is an inside snap ring then a spring, then a centering collar that goes up against the column bearing, then a washer and then an outside spring.
I had to take the shaft out of the column to attach the universal joint because the top of the universal joint will be inside the tube just a little to get the same overall steering column length.

I cut off the steering shaft right at the old rag joint cap. Then slid the new universal joint onto the shaft so the shaft was all the way through the upper collar on the universal joint, and spot welded it. Then I drilled a hole through the upper universal joint collar and into the steering shaft and inserted a roll pin. I then carefully finished mig welding the upper collar to the shaft a little at a time so as not to over heat the new universal joint. this sucker is not coming off.

I then cleaned and greased all the steering column pieces and the internal bearing and put it back together.

the u joint is 36 spline to mate with the toyota box and comes pre-drilled for a set screw and jam nut which is included with the joint.

I put the steering column back in and bolted everything up. I made a new floor board cover out of sheet metal to close up the firewall.

Put in new power steering fluid, purged the system by turning lock to lock and took it on a test drive The conversion works great! No binding, smooth turning, What an improvement!

I have right at $1000 in parts including the pump & engine bracket and machine work, some time and patience. What I liked most about the conversion, was that I got all the parts I needed from Mid fifty except for the pump, engine bracket and belt. You can get a rebuilt toyota power steering gear from mid fifty for about $100 more but they warranty their used boxes.

The modified toyota pitman arm was the only thing I had to farm out and it worked great and only cost $37.

I had completed the scarebird disc brake upgrade to this truck a few months before. I also installed a dual brake master cylinder and proportioning valve at the same time.

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 9:17 pm
by Chgr1
Here's another picture of the box mounted to the frame. You can see the bracket between the gear and the frame.

Man I must be more tired than I thought. It's 10:11 PM here. I was reading through my posts and saw all the misspelled words, sorry about that.

I hope this helps someone. It's not as bad a conversion as you might think.

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 4:37 am
by wally426ci
Great job man. This will help alot of people.

Did you need a longer drag link to reach back from the axle to the gear box arm which was closer to the firewall?

:salut

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 6:33 am
by Txas2step
Tech. Thread once complete.Great job! :Thumbsup :clap

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 6:38 am
by Chgr1
The drag link is the original piece. The toyota sector shaft that goes through the frame is in the same place as the original box

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:02 am
by moparbay
Sweet job, i like it. thanks for the hard work. i am sure we will take advantage.

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 8:17 am
by PwrWgnDrvr
Do u have it on the road yet?
What u may not know, is that the number of turns lock to lock in the box is not enough to move the swept axle fully lock to lock. However, that is also dependant on the length of the pitman arm. A longer arm will move axle further, but steering effort will be greater.
Ive had this setup on a D100 for 6 yrs now. To compensate for the increased turning radius, it is setup to make sharper left turns than right. This is to facilitate U-turns. Right turns can sometimes be a *#%^$. But like all *#$%^&#, u get used to it, ignore it and don't think about it.
The power assist is nowhere near as great as the stock swepty 2-finger system. It is more of a sport style power steering. This is with a pitman arm too short to turn the axle lock to lock. I would not want it to be any harder to turn. I am very satisfied with the performance.

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:34 am
by Chgr1
Yes, the length of the pitman arm is critical to the orverall turning radius. A new pitman arm has to be exactly the same length as the original one.

I inspected the toyota box before I started the installation and noticed the number of turns in the box is slightly less. I can't say for sure how much less because I didn't measure it, but if I had to guess I would say maybe less than half a turn of the wheel?

I had the truck out this morning on a long drive taking various turns at corners right and left and didn't really notice a difference. I even parallel parked it and didn't notice a difference. In normal driving and turning corners a person will never know the difference. It's that slight of a difference. The ease of driving and turning with power steering in these old trucks far out weighs a slightly smaller turning radius.

But as you said, in turning in a circle or a tight U-turn you will notice the smaller turning radius.

I added a couple pictures of the truck. She's a grand ole lady!

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:45 am
by Daddiojoe
Great thread, Steve. Can't wait to see it in person. Does the collar on the upper part of the pitman arm (the part that attaches to the steering box) keep it far enough away from the frame that you didn't have to grind the heads on the bolts holding the box to the frame?

Impressed as usual,

Joe

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 1:24 pm
by PwrWgnDrvr
Another thing that will affect steering effort is diameter of the steering wheel. I have a smaller, sport style wheel so it is harder to turn than the stock bigwheels.

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 3:27 pm
by Chgr1
Hi Joe, That's correct, lets call it a spacer at the top of the pitman arm keeps it away from the frame so no grinding off the bolt heads.

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 1:37 pm
by jayabbas
Nice work - I think us Swepty guys have a bit more true hotrod blood flowing than the C and F crowd. This conversion shows it elegantly. Grafting parts from different makes and models to make it all work is an artful skill. :Thumbsup

Re: Power Steering Conversion Finished

Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 4:56 pm
by RH62
nice job! I sure wish they made a conversion that was a bit more of a bolt on though.