I am a tall and somewhat large old geezer. I have discovered that my fat belly won't let me sit conveniently behind the wheel of my '49 ton and a half flatbed and steer. Also, my arms are rebelling at the punishment. If I go to a smaller steering wheel it will make the problem even worse. Therefore, I am considering converting to power steering. I very much would like to stay with as much of the standard hardware as I can on the front end, and I don't know anything about how to go about this. Does anyone have any helpful advice on what I may need to do to make it safe and reliable? I am very leery of trying to use 1/2 ton pickup parts on a truck this size. I'm not afraid to build brackets and adapters, if necessary. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Power Steering & I - Beam Axles ...Is a poor mix , the truck will tend to skitter . Typically the P.S. on this typ of rig uses an assist cyinder that connects to the tie rod . You'll need some typ of spool valve to control the pressure . Maybe it's time to upgrade the front end ? .
Thanks, Nate, and Happy Thanksgiving. I was hoping to be able to keep the running gear as stock as possible. That's just a personal preference. If I have to change the whole front setup, then I will have to think some more about it.
235 Power Steering Pump ...Was mounted on the back of the generator and there's lots of them coming off old Chevy passenger cars that are being Hot Rodded so at least that part is simple . Making sure you have the correct , narrow tread tires reduces steering effort sharply as does jacking & blocking the front end then testing for resistance , there should be almost none with the wheels off the ground , often the steering box has leaked dry and / or been filled with grease instead of gear oil or Pennrite lube , it can be incorrectly adjusted too leading to excessive effort being required , the king pins can partially sieze up , if they won't take any grease , scrape off all the old 1/4' thick dried grease & mud then gently heat the Zerk fittings and knuckle as needed untill you can inject fresh grease ,inject the grease slowly as you slowly turn the front wheels from lock to lock to ensure proper distibution of grease in spite of totally work out king pin bushings etc. ~ there's quite a few Zerk fittings i the front suspension so have at it , binding can be found in any pivot point .
Early power steering diagram Here's a diagram I found showing a typical ps set-up in early '50's chevy cars. Shows the generator/ps pump that Nate was referring to. https://talk.classicparts.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=821&ppuser=5385
Perfect ! I dunno where you find all this stuff . GM used to print reams of it and gave it away to schools etc. . I wonder if an early junker would yeild up a P.S. conversion kit ? . Remember too : Pontiacs , Caddys and so on , all used these systems .
Massive library of grease stained book! That came from "The Chevrolet Complete Owner's Handbook of Repair and Maintenance" by Floyd Clymer covering all models 1929 thru 1955. It sits on my desk next to the computer. Awesome "hand me down" from my dad with grease, pencil marks, turned down corners. It's a jewel!
Thanks, again, Guys Nate and Ken... Thanks for the excellent info. This looks like the kind of thing I will have to start scrounging for. I am still running a 6 VDC system with a generator, so that setup would be ideal and closer to original (even though they probably didn't have PS in 1949. I will take Nate's suggestion and jack up the front end and check the King Pins. I can see a lot of play in the connecting rod which makes directional control quite a challenge. I haven't had a chance to service the steering yet. I was waiting to see what direction I needed to go before tearing it down since I need to move it around the yard occasionally. It does have the correct rubber on the front and back according to the shop manual.
Steering Play I always recommend working on it and making it go perefectly -before- you take it apart as this way you don't get blindsided . Chevy cars had power steering by 1949 and Caddys & Pontiacs were heavy cars and so just might have used tie rod ends etc. that could be fitted to your truck , GM was very clever thata way in days past . 12 volts didn't come in untill the 1955 year model so there should be no problem finding a 6 volt generator with P.S. pump attached and if said generator came from an up market car with power windows or V-8 , it'll have a higher rate of charge and so work like a heavy duty generator in your truck and still use your original voltage regulator too , a good thing al in all . The first place to look for play is in the Drag Link , it's the beefy fore & aft rod thing that connects the steering box's drop arm (called the Pitman Arm) to the left steering knuckle ~ it's ends have adjustable , removable plugs , there's springs inside that maintain pressure on the pivot balls . these springs are often broken , resulting in exess play ~ the repop springs tend to be the wrong stiffness (too stiff) and so cannot be assembled , I got good used springs for my '49 . the balls inside often wear egg shaped and this means very stiff steering , there are replacement balls that require machining & welding to install , that is journeyman work but you can take it all apart and clean and inspect , replace broken springs & ball seats , re-lube using long fiber white grease to excess and adding the long missing dirt shields , adjust to slight pre-load and replace the safety cotter pins with big honking snugly fitting ones (or die) and reduce much binding and play . Remember too that proper tire inflatio makes a HUGE reduction in steering effort , truck tires will always require higher pressure , over 40 PSI in all cases and more if the truck is loaded . Plus , the steering effort drops dramatically as soon as the wheels bein to rotate so never try to turn the steering wheel whilst sitting still (IEarking) but keep the truck (or car) moving even if less than 1 MPH to ease your arms and not beat up the steering gear . Did you remove the fill plug (often looks like a Zerk grease fitting) on the top of the steering box and fill it with gear oil ? they're usually bone dry and drip dry in a month or so but keeping it wet in there (NO GREASE !) keeps the effort low and prevents rapid wear too . If you allready BooBoo'd and shot it full of grease , not to worry ! just fill it up with gear oil and (wheels off the ground) turn it lock to lock a few times to work the oil into the grease , then top it up again , keep doing this untill all the air is worked out of the grease and the oil level is to the top of the filler hole . I hope this helps .
Drag Link I was tired last night and couldn't think of the term "Drag Link". I knew there was a common name, but the shop manual labeled it a "Steering Connecting Rod" on page 3-4, so that's what I went with. I will follow your tips and see if I can service it without having to rebuild it. I was lucky with the steering box and it had a small amount of fluid in it when I checked it last year so I didn't make the grease mistake. I topped it off with good gear oil and it doesn't leak but a tiny bit. Not even a spot on the asphalt after a year. I know about moving the truck while steering, but I still have had to climb out on the running board to get enough pull to turn it a couple of times in the driveway while repositioning it. I call that pretty stiff. I could just drive it straight ahead and in reverse, but that would make a trip to the farm store a real chore. It's not ready for the street anyway.
O.K. Then , Like I said : raise and block the front wheels off the ground and use a fsh scale to test the amount of pull required at the spoke , 90° angle ~ no more than 12 # is acceptable , if more , get busy and find the tight spot .
Hey Bossman, "Jim Carter's" sells a power steering conversion kit that fits to the stock front end. According to description in catalog, it allows you to use the power steering box from a '69-87 Chevy 2WD pickup on your vintage truck. Also says it is ideal for aftermarket GM tilt steering columns, but I bet you can cut and attach your original column to it if you want to retain the original look inside the cab while allowing you to spin the steering wheel with your pinky. Andy
Thanks for the lead. I'm not familiar with "Jim Carter's". I will do an internet search and see what I can find. I will still do the detective work that Nate suggests before I whip out the torch.
Please To Remember : As Chevy said in their sales brochures : ' If It Steers Like A Truck , It's Not A CHEVROLET ! " . this isn't advertising hype , it was real as many farmers back then were skinny little immegrants who didn't like to wrestle a stiff steering wheel through a plowed field fully loaded... So _do_ take the time to identify any stiffness , I always find some small overlooked thing .
Proof that they exist! I searched long and hard for this old thread. Bill Hanlon and I were at the weekly "Klein Show and Shine" tonight and Bill pointed out the ever-elusive combo generator/power steering pump! Here's a couple shots of it. There are 3 people on this forum that I know will appreciate this! Me, Nate and Coilover!
I wondered why Ken took those pictures. He can remember some insignificant detail from 40 years ago and I can't remember what I had for breakfast.
That's It ! Like I said , these are in all the swap meets , just go digging through the milk crate the seller says is " just old junk "
