Power Steering?

Lightshow · Post by **Lightshow** » October 21, 2010, 8:49 pm

I've got a 1965 F-100. Gearbox needs work anyways so i'm contemplating a power steering upgrade. What's the community's widely accepted kludge for a power steering conversion on this year?

*i'm still a little new to this so feel free to point out pertinent info i've left out =D*

banjopicker66 · Post by **banjopicker66** » October 21, 2010, 9:28 pm

Lightshow, this is probably the second easiest upgrade, the first being power disc brakes.
For both, your best bet to save a whole lot of time and frustration, is to get a '73 - '79 truck as a donor truck.
To upgrade to power steering, you will need:
PS gearbox with Pitman arm
PS pump, hoses and a cooler
Engine brackets and pulleys
A '70 - '79 PS steering column, with the PS firewall support bracket - these are needed because the PS gearbox is about 2 inches shorter than the manual gearbox.
You may hear references to a Bendix system - it will bolt up, but the system is not as good or long-lived as the Ford one. Ford abandoned it in '68 or '69, only using it for 2 or 3 years.

If you want power disc brakes, the donor truck you choose should have them - it will have all the parts you need to use, or for cores.

And, if you want to change the drivetrain, as in from stick shift to automatic, you can do this also more easily if your donor truck has all the comfort options you want.

Hawkrod · Post by **Hawkrod** » October 22, 2010, 8:28 am

A caveat here, 77-79 does not have a firewall bracket and 78/9 columns do not swap as cleanly as they "redesigned" them. They work but require different steering wheels and are big and bulky. Hawkrod

Lightshow · Post by **Lightshow** » October 22, 2010, 12:41 pm

banjopicker66, your the man! not sure what i'll do with a cannibalized 70's pickup after i'm done with it, maybe part the rest out.

and hawkrod, thank you for the clarification. i've had quite enough surprises with this project, any i can avoid are highly appreciated =D

65 66 Ford · Post by **65 66 Ford** » October 23, 2010, 10:18 am

banjopicker66 wrote:Lightshow, this is probably the second easiest upgrade, the first being power disc brakes.

A '70 - '79 PS steering column, with the PS firewall support bracket - these are needed because the PS gearbox is about 2 inches shorter than the manual gearbox.
.

The PS gearbox is about two inches longer than the manual gearbox.