[ihc] David's audible direction

["Jim Grammer" <jgrammer@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 23:25:51 -0500
From: David Bongo <dbongo@domain.elided>
Subject: [ihc] RHD power steering questions

I've asked about this before, but I figure I'll kick it back out here
one more time.

I've got a '74 RHD Scout (used daily for mail delivery) that was
converted to RHD using a LHD power steering box mounted inside the
frame.

Yikes, can o' worms. First off, with this setup your draglink is undoubtedly
custom, couple-three inches shorter than stock(LHD or RHD). I'm at a loss
for what the difference would be in drag links, LHD vs. RHD. IIRC and the
RHD install is a mirror image of the LHD, there should be no difference.

Vibration or noise or both? IME most power steering noises are from the
pump, low fluid and/or contamination being frequent culprits.

The only FS IH truck steering gears that use the 'down the framerail' design
were in the torsion bar IFS rigs, models 100, 1000, 1010. Early boxes are
Ross manual, then Ross slave cylinder PS were available, finally going to
Saginaw manual and PS units in '68. Never checked to see if one fits in a
Scout. Without looking at them side by side, I'll venture that the FS gears
are no heavier duty than the SII units. All IH's seem to have the 'up-spec'
Saggy gears as compared to, say, GM trucks.

IH used 2 basic styles of slave cylinder PS. Live front axle trucks
typically used a control cylinder in place of the drag link, and put the
slave(assist) cylinder in a similar location on the passenger side. No
reasonable way I can see to adapt this to your rig. IFS trucks pre-integral
PS used a control valve in the steering box and positioned the slave
cylinder to act on the center link. I could see getting this to work on a
SII, with the slave cylinder acting on the drag link. BUT, you'd have to
engineer a mount that let the slave cylinder act in unison with the drag
link motion, and the control valve equipped steering boxes aren't exactly
common.

Have you tried Coonrod's for a RHD PS box? If it was me, I'd try to get a
correct unit and send it off to Benchworks for a rebuild.

Jim

Who still knows where there are 2 overpriced RHD Terras