NEWB... to power steering or not? 68 fj40

[zstrange]

hello all...
im new to cruisers but have wanted one forever. heres my story...
i recently bought a 68 fj40 for a pretty good price. its basically stock and complete and in pretty good unmolested shape. i am torn between keeping it totally stock or doing a few upgrades to make it more driveable/capable. not into a restoration.

BUT, the steering is F'in awful. so, i replaced all the tie rod ends and rebuilt the idler(?) arm. still bad, so i removed the steering box (good lord!) and dissassembled and the gears are both bad, big chunks out of the smaller gear and the worm gear is a mess too.
so i am trying to decide whether i want to upgrade to power steering or rebuild/replace the stock box. it is column shift now and id like to keep that if at all possible.
has anyone done any type of power steering swap and kept the column shift?
it currently has 33x12.50s(worn out) and will prolly not be going any larger than that, maybe smaller.
not going to do any heavy wheeling with it, some light duty though.
how bad is a stock manual box if its in good shape? with 32s or 33s?

thanks for any input/opinions

flame away......

[JB740i]

Replacing my gear box was a huge help. I did it after replacing the tie rod ends, front and rear bushings and a stabilizer. The gear box made the biggest impact.

I'm starting to feel a little more slop in the steering though and it may be due to one tie rod end that had rubbed against the tire and been ruined, or maybe it's the box.

I'm currently collecting parts for mini truck steering. I found a BIN PS gear box on ebay for $25 this month. Which was cheaper than I bought the manual box for off of here. But they normally go for about 180 on ebay. Good deal for me.

[rabid]

Mini truck if you plan on those tires. I have run mine for many years, and it has been been flawless. I paid $100 from a boneyard for the pump, box and hoses (which you will want). Great upgrade if you plan to stay under 35" tires.

I have stepped up to much bigger tires now, and the 60 series steering goes in mine next week. That is another option, but the mini PS is an easier conversion.

I would offer to sell you mine, but I think it is spoken for.

[zuluzeugma]

IF you can find a solid axle mini-truck PS box, its almost a direct bolt in for your stock manual box. Theres a very good thread on EXACTLY how to do it in the FAQ in this 40/55 section. I just sold one of these boxes for $40 bucks; meaning, you should be able to set yourself up with PS steeing pretty cheaply.

Good luck and welcome.

[zstrange]

yeah, the mini p/s seems like a good bet... ive got some of the parts already, but the column shift is still an issue. anyone ever worked that out or is it out of the question?

[MDH33]

Fix the manual steering correctly and put some tall skinny tires on it.

Old school original rigs are cool.

[zstrange]

"Fix the manual steering correctly and put some tall skinny tires on it. Old school original rigs are cool."

that is exactly the argument i am having with myself, old school coolness vs. "upgrades"

hmmm.

[MDH33]

Originally Posted by zstrange

"Fix the manual steering correctly and put some tall skinny tires on it. Old school original rigs are cool."

that is exactly the argument i am having with myself, old school coolness vs. "upgrades"

hmmm.

I still have armstrong steering on my '73 and I don't mind it. I like the simplicity and there are fewer parts that can fail (I just replaced the PS pump on my 60 $ouch$). Sure, I struggle on some obstacles and my arms get tired after a long day of wheeling, but it's all about driving an old rig. If I wanted it to be easy I would drive an 80.

[rabid]

you can keep your column if you weld a rag jioint in line. Can you keep the linkage for the column shift?
my 67 has a factory column in it.

[Fryedaddy]

If your interested I have the complete front setup from a 77 model. - Just removed to install a saginaw ps setup. I have from the box down to the idler arm $35.00 plus shipping pm me if you are interested. I'd go ps though, if your worried about keeping it stock save the parts and put them back on later.

[Bodean]

If you do the mini truck conversion, remember a p/s cooler. It'll save your pump.

Later,

[NeverSummer]

Those of you with armsrong steering do you know what size tires the manual box from a '70 FJ40 can handle or does it just matter the size of the arms doing the steering?

[65swb45]

I have been rebuilding manual gearboxes for about 15 years now, and IMO, the pre-72 gearbox does not hold up well in the long haul with 12.5 width tires. 11.5 seems to be about the limit.

The sbx in my '64 is still as tight as when I overhauled it 10 years ago. That's over 80k miles [daily driver] running 9.5s.


zstrange, I would NOT recommend running ANY power steering conversion that involves using the stock early center arm system. I just went over that with Kurt from Cruiser Outfitters at Cruise Moab [comments in his build thread in the 45 section]

Best

Mark A.

[rabid]

I agree with that. I have run that with mini PS for a bunch of years, but the early center arm is a pain, and has broken twice on the trail. The woodruff key is next to impossible to get in there right, especially while sitting shin deep in muck.

[MDH33]

Originally Posted by NeverSummer

Those of you with armsrong steering do you know what size tires the manual box from a '70 FJ40 can handle or does it just matter the size of the arms doing the steering?

Running skinny tires isn't difficult with manual steering and shouldn't be more than the stock steering box can handle (it's a 40 afterall).

I'm running 34x10.5 width and think they're pretty good. The only down side is that you lose the stability that wider tires provide.

[zstrange]

" I would NOT recommend running ANY power steering conversion that involves using the stock early center arm system"

so... no mini truck box then? saginaw looks like more than i want to tackle right now. any way to improve the old style center arm? what exactly goes wrong?

hmmm. stock/manual looking more attractive.

[CruisinMT]

run 33 x 9.5 you can always use spacers if you want to widen your stance

[slickrock]

Originally Posted by CruisinMT

run 33 x 9.5 you can always use spacers if you want to widen your stance

A mini truck box will work jsut fine but keep in mind, you will still have all the same joints that will eventually wear and get sloppy. But if you replace everything but the box with OEM ends, you are good fr another 40 year

If you go mini, I would have choosen LTB 34 X 11.50s. (or is it 10.50)?

[yotawheeler]

if your not going to wheel it hard then i would stay armstrong..i wheel my truck pretty hard (i can usually keep up with guys who have 35's and 1 locker) and im just in the process of putting in sag because im jumping from some 32" tires to 35" boggers...

[Trollhole]

Originally Posted by MDH33

Fix the manual steering correctly and put some tall skinny tires on it.

Old school original rigs are cool.

What he said.

[missipboy]

Originally Posted by 65swb45

zstrange, I would NOT recommend running ANY power steering conversion that involves using the stock early center arm system. I just went over that with Kurt from Cruiser Outfitters at Cruise Moab [comments in his build thread in the 45 section]

Best

Mark A.

i just rebuilt my early style center arm (pita) and had second thoughts about the strength also since i'm using a mini truck box and running 33x10.50 tires. have you seen frames bend under this situation?

[slickrock]

Not arguing with anyone for or against mini steering. My personal assumption , not worth squat really, when I had that type of steering, is that mini steering is not for wheeling. It will bend or break at some point. but if you want larger tires and drive forest logging roads and around town, it would work great for that.

IT worked great for the time I had it, but now with 35s, 2 lockers, and flipped springs, it was time for an upgrade.