Steered Wrong, cont': Getting it Right

Out with the old, right?

The new system will include the following:
1) 1980-1987 Toyota 4x4 Power Steering Box
2) GM pre-1966 power Steering pump
3) TWO hoses: One pressure side/ One return side
4) Fabricated Pitman arm
5) Fabricated mount for steering box


Finding the Right Box
Toyota used a push/pull steering setup common to early cars/trucks on it's little 4WD trucks from 1980 to 1987. Some Late '84- up trucks have an IFS and use a different box, so it's important to distinguish between the two boxes.

This particular Toyota box is popular for rock-crawlers and street rod applications, and remanufactured units are BIG $$$, so they are getting increasingly harder to find. There are, however rebuild kits available.

After visiting BAP Import parts and hitting the local yards here in Mesa, AZ, I was forced to resort to the "internets" to locate the right unit.

I should have known better- but the price was right. After a lengthy phone conversation about "custom application, and late 1984/ early 1984"--for about $100, a yard in California shipped this to me:


I have no idea what this thing even is-- "TOYODA"??
"Hrrrmm-yes- wrong steering box you have. Yes- but stop trying, you cannot"
It has a weird, staggered mounting pattern that would require some amount of weeks for someone like me to fabricate a mount for- SNAP!!




A call to a yard in Thatcher, AZ and a nice lady with knowledge of the internet, got me this box from an '83 4WD:


This is the correct box. Notice the single, flat mounting mounting flange and LH side Pitman arm mounting. That''s cash-money.

_______


Making it Work
The correct Toyota box will bolt right up to the '57-'60 F100 frame...with some help. A company called Mid Fifty, just outside of Kingman, AZ, makes a kit that mounts allows use of the Toyota box.
The kit sells for $285.00, and comes with four parts:
1) A fabricated BOLT-ON steering box Mount.
2) A fabricated pitman Arm that connects the Toyota splined output shaft to the Ford steering linkage.
3) A Flaming River universal/coupler joint that mates the Toyota (11/16" -36) splined input shaft to a typical GM style/aftermarket (1.0" DD column)-- (they also have couplers that fit the original steering shaft).
4)New Sector Nut.















This is the parts collection before starting-- I included a shot of the old (Toyota) Pitman arm for reference. Note that the mounting bracket is a bolt-on unit, and is very heavy duty.





























Tech Links::
http://www.ford-trucks.com/article/idx/5/218/article/Toyota_Steering_Box_Swap_For_19481960_Trucks.html