Willy, Heres the pictures i told you about.The first photo shows the toyota gear box coming thrugh the origianal sector shaft hole of the frame rail. I had to take a dye grinder to sector shaft hole to add a little extra clearance. Note the 2 bolts on the side of the frame rail and the 2 bolts on the bottom of the frame rail, These hold the bracket that the gearbox mounts to. The second photo shows the bracket. The gearbox was bolted to bracket first ,then set on the frame rail and clamped in place. One of the origianal bolt holes was used and i had drill a new and tap threads into the bracket on the rail. Then i drilled the two holes on the bottom of the rail and through bolted through the bracket and the frame rail per CPP's instructions. The third photo shows the U-joint attaching the gearbox to the flaming river steering column. Note, i put a cooler for the power steering since the gearbox was close to the headers this did help to keep fluid temps down. The fourth photo shows the column mount and floor board. I hope these help.Give me a call if you have any questions and good luck. Bobby
Boy, it sure is quiet around here lately. I thought I would give an update on my power steering conversion and attach a couple of photos. I would also like to say thanks to Bobby and Steve for providing help in PM's and to Chris Drum for providing 6 cylinder pump brackets at a reasonable price. I'm very satisfied with the results.
Info please! I bought the Toyota-based power steering kit from CPP and could not get it to fit because the box interfered with the driver's side mounted starter on my stock 57 GMC. When I look at Bobby's steering box in his pictures above, his steering box is very similar to the one I was trying to install. Specifically, in his picture 2 of 4 you can see the cover that has the sector shaft adjustment screw extends about 3 inches towards the center line of the truck from the part of the casting the houses the worm gear. This is why that box won't work in my truck. Then I look at Willie's picture # 2. His steering box doesn't seem to have anything sticking out towards the engine. What vehicle was this box removed from Willie? It is very possible that this box WOULD fit in my truck.
Bill, I got my gearbox from a 1981 Toyota 4X4. I just ran out and put a tape measure on it and measured the farthest point that the gearbox extends toward the engine from the frame to be 5 inches. Good luck!
Just for clarification, that 5 inches that I refer to is from the edge of the frame. Measuring from the inside of the frame channel would be about 7 inches.
Thanks Willie. I'll look at mine some day his week and let you know. Was the 81 Toyota 4x4 a pickup or a Land Cruizer?
Bill, we have used the electric p/s column on several that there was no room for anything attached to the frame rail. The motor is about the size of an electric wiper motor and everything is inside the cab. We got rid of all the "garbage" and just used the part of the column with the working guts. Also rotated till the motor points straight up and is out of site. These units are widely used now but we get them from 2005 and up Malibu's. The 2005 Malibu Classic used the hydraulic but the others are electric. Starting to see some at the swap meets now and since they have been around for eight years or so some are showing up in junkyards. You might do a search on this and see what others have done. Our first go-around caused some head scratching and words not often heard in church but it seems to be a decent system and the ONLY thing in the engine compartment is the steering shaft.
Evan, You Are Talking Electric Power Steering???? Can You Show Us Some Picture's Of It Under Dash? Thanks,Allen
Yes, electric assist with no fluid, pump, or hoses involved. Google "cars with electric power steering" and you'll get a raft of info. Wikipedia has a history and one place for kits is http://www.carsteering.com/electric-power-steering-kit/ in case one wants to refresh a unit before installing. They also have a brief article on the EPS. The first time it is NOT a saturday afternoon install. I didn't take pictures during the installation but will try to snap one the next time I see one of the trucks at a show or meet.
