[ihc] RHD Power Steering

["Robert Weber" <robertjw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dave,

My parents are rural mail carriers and we have several RHD Scouts (both
Scout II and 800s).  Here is what I know about power steering on a RHD
Scout II.

To my knowledge there was never a factory power steering on a RHD Scout,
at least not on any postal Scout sold in the US, Aussie versions might be
different.

My first question, is your scout a V8 or a 6?
Our experience has been that a 6-cylinder (258 AMC) RHD Scout can use a
regular LHD power steering box, just mount it on the inside of the frame
and shorten your steering linkage appropriately.  I didn't see anywhere in
your posts where you mentioned an engine, if you have a 6 I'd reinforcing
the frame as needed and sticking with the same kind of steering box that
you have.

If you have a V8 it gets a little trickier.  There is no room to mount a
power steering box on the inside of the frame on our Scouts.  Finally,
after years of terrible manual steering my Dad found a solution.

A power steering box off of a late 1977, 1978, or 1979 3/4 or 1 Ton 4x4
Ford pickup has a case that is a mirror image of a LHD Scout II power
steering box.  It will fit on the outside of the frame on the right side
of the truck, but there is a problem.  The Ford steering box turns the
wrong way.  To correct this we purchased a steering gear from an 82 1/2
ton Ford pickup (not sure if this year is critical) which turned the
opposite direction, removed all of the internal parts and put it into the
3/4 ton steering gear.

We had a steering arm welded together using the old manual arm and the new
Ford arm, but a LHD power steering arm might work correctly.

The problem with this solution is that the 3/4 Ford gear is very difficult
to find.  It is a popular gear to replace the slave cylinders on older
Ford pickups, but if you can find the parts it works like a champ.  We
have two Scouts that are setup like this and they deliver mail every day.

If you'd like I can try to get some pics this weekend.

If you are looking for a manual gear, let me know.  I may have one I'm
willing to part with.

Hope this helps.

Bob Weber
robertjw@domain.elided



> Date: Sun, 01 Feb 2004 15:43:26 -0500
> From: David Bongo <dbongo@domain.elided>
> Subject: [ihc] Power Steering (again)
>
> So, what is the best way to go about fixing this?  I've had no luck
> tracking down the mythic Travellall box, so that's not exactly looking
> good.  Any ideas/suggestions/etc.?  I'm working to track down a stock
> RHD gearbox, but I hate to put manual steering in, especially with what
> I do.  A sentiment echoed by Terry.  It's kind of a last resort type of
> solution, but one that's not totally off the table.
>
> Any help/suggestions/moral support would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Dave