The short story is that I recently broke the after market GM 800 series power steering kit that I bought from Brother's about 5 years ago. I was never happy with it, primarily because the drag link was so short that it caused big time bump steer and the outside of the frame, forward mounted box interfered with the left front tire, limiting hard right turns in parking situations. When the bolts pulled out of the steering arm with a BANG a month ago as I was leaving home I thought "this is my chance to put in the mid 80's Toyota 4x4 power steering solution" that mounts in (almost) the stock location. When I put in my on-line order with CPP for the Toyota kit I added a note at the bottom saying something like "I plan to put this kit in a '57 GMC 1/2 ton truck equipped with its stock 347" V8 engine and Hydra-Matic transmission. If you have any reason to think this kit will not work for me call me at ****** before filling the order." No call received and about 10 days later the package arrived. After much weeping and gnashing of teeth I finally realized that there was no way the Toyota box was going to fit. There was about 1" of interference between the box and the starter on the 347. Starters on small block Chevies, Chevy sixes and GMC sixes are all on the passenger's side of the engine. Not so on the Pontiac engine. Called CPP back and basically they said "first we've ever heard of it, send it back". Now it seems there are two solutions, back to the original steering box/column which I still have or the rack and pinion solution that I've seen a magazine article on about 5-7 years ago, but have never heard of anyone who actually installed one. I think I'm going back to the stock box.
I was wondering how that was going. I'm sorry to hear that it didn't work.I hope your other options work out. Bobby
Sorry To Here That Bill,I have been Reading The past Threads on the Toyota Box and was hoping For Smooth Sailing For You! I too, Hope your Other Options Will Work For You! Keep Us Posted. Allen
I had investigated the No-Limit rack & pinion solution when it first came out a few years back and was not happy about the way that the rack mounted to the front axle. Last night I went back to No-Limit's web site and found that they had changed to a mounting method that I like a lot better. I did some hunting around and found a few references on the web that were happy with the new kit and none that were disappointed by an actual installation. Once I get the refund from CPP, I think I'm going to call up No-Limit. Documentation here:http://www.nolimit.net/it01/PS-SA_Instructions.pdf
I finally tossed my toyota box in the garbage can, weak junk, exhaust is so close boils the pump, bumb steer and more. I switched to a much tougher GM steering box mounted outside the frame. I have better control and its one finger steering. CCP sells the kit to do it and you can get the gm box at your local parts dealer. My truck is a 57, however I have a 4x4 front axle this really would be simpler if yours is stock than mine was to install. Only drawbacks are you need to cut a small hole on inner fender for shaft and mount shock to same angle rearward as to stock forward angle, this has no effect on handling that I have ever noticed.
I guess you didn't read the first post in this series. This is exactly the type of kit that I started with that failed loudly at the end of the driveway.
I had an issue with the PS fluid getting hot and put a cooler on it and cured the problem.I didn't like the GM conversion it just looked to hokie to me and after hearing Bills horror story i'm glad didn't use it. Bobby
I read his bad experience however when I got the parts from ccp I was a bit suprized at how whimpy they looked. I ended up moving my GM box further forward to help with tire clearance and this extra distance allowed me to use a much longer tougher real GM Blazer drag link (the one ccp sent I wouldn't use on a go-cart) this helped eliminate bump steer. I then used a steel backing plate behind the box when mounting because that section of these old 50s truck frames is not very thick and the box will cause flex when the steering is in a more stressful situation. I also had to try about 4-5 different angle pitman arms to get the correct drop hence my geometry the best I could. I get a very slight body lift on one side when I turn right to fully lock. I know I have a little different front axle than stock (mine is a corporate 10 bolt 4x4 from an 82 Blazer) however the set up is very similar to the stock axle in the way the half circle steering arm is set up. Out of the 2 set ups I like the GM better as I had serious bump steer with the toyoda box and trying to turn the wheel when stopped was not really possible as the pump/box just didn't have the power to turn the wheels. I also run a chevy 350 engine and as far as I know there isn't a set of exhaust manifolds on this planet that will fit without customizing the #7 tube up and around which caused a great foot heater because there just is no room. I agree as per their instructions (ccp) and their parts its quite hokey as is but it was a good place for me to start. I run bigger tires because of the 4x4 and wanted to make sure my steering wouldn't fail off road or on the freeway. The worst part of going further forward mounting the box is the crossmember gets in the way of sticking Grade 8 bolts into the box.
Quirt, take a look at some of my previous posts, I also have a 350 small block with Heddman Hedders in my 57 2 wd. Now the conversation i had with Bill we determined that his kit was probably a 2nd or 3rd generation design,i know mine was a 1st gen design,Mounting bracket was made of solid steel not stamped steel unit,long pitman arm they sent was to maintain a level draglink.(helps with bump steer) the drag link was a little long but was able to cut down and not compromise grip length on coupling. The only thing i had to change was the valve in PS pump.The steering was too sensitive and i needed to slow the fluid down. Lee Mfg in Sun Valley helped me with that problem. Guys wanting to do the conversion i warn them of problems that guys here are having and to just beware of current issues. Take a look at my previous post to see what i did.I've been driving my 57 for a year since completing it and have had no problems. Bobby
