Re: More on 800 power steering conversion parts

["Bill Thebert" <bthebert@domain.elided>]

-----Original Message-----
> From: Doug Rasmussen <76075.2276@domain.elided>
> Date: Tuesday, November 03, 1998 7:45 AM


> I notice the FAQ mentions " Power
> steering gear box to steering column shaft from 1968-1972
> IH Pickup or Travelall".  I assume that means the actual
> steering column?

This is referring to just the *bottom half* of the steering shaft.

The Manual steering gears had a metal "cup" affair making the joint where
the steering gear input shaft meets the steering column.  The splined
portion of this "cup" is too small to fit on the larger input shaft of a
Scout II *power* steering gear.

Pickups and Travelalls of the specified vintage used a larger-splined
version of that same "cup" -- which just happens to be precisely the proper
size for the splined input shaft of a Scout II power steering gear.

Actually, all one needs is that cup -- and then you can use the stock Scout
800 steering shaft.  But since that joint is sometimes both a pain and a
mess to disassemble and re-assemble, it's a real simple shortcut to just
slide the bottom half of the steering shaft OFF of the pickup (cup & all),
and slide it ONTO the upper shaft of the 800.

Semi-related tangent:
--------------------------
On my 1971 Scout II I also converted from manual steering to power steering.
Simple bolt-on project utilizing stock parts, right?  Except that I wanted
to use this metal "cup-style" joint that was already at the bottom of my
manual steering column.  I had heard too many stories about folks ripping
rag joints to shreds with big tires, deep snow, etc.

I was unaware at the time of the happy coincidence re: 1968-72 pickups &
Travelalls mentioned above.  So I simply cut the splined portion off of a
rag coupler, and welded it onto the manual gear "cup" (after cutting off the
too-small spline, of course).  Finding the proper pickup/Travelall simply
saves you this minor inconvenience.

As for some folks' concern about welding on any steering-related parts:
anything between the steering gear and the driver will never be subjected to
more torque than the driver's own arms can produce.  Safety is a non-issue
with a quality weld in this location.
---------------------------


Regards,

Bill Thebert
The Binder Bulletin
http://www.binderbulletin.org