FJ55 Power Gearbox vs. Saginaw or other brand

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War Pig

War Pig

10 Year
Joined
Aug 3, 2013
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Location
Western USA
*****SEE POST #19 BELOW FOR THE CURRENT WORK******

Quick question for you guys and gals...

I am starting my research on updating the manual steering on my '69 FJ55. (switching to power steering) Primarily for street and light off road-BLM land/roads.
I have read many great posts on this already-But wanted to ask a general question first:

Is it prefered to have a "FJ55 brand" power gearbox over a third party box by Saginaw-NAPA ect?? I may have access to a power gearbox from a wrecked late model 55. Condition unknown.

Better to go with a newer 3rd party device?? Or if I can source it, stay with Toyota FJ gear?? (such as 55 or newer 60 gearbox)

Thanks much
Peter
war pig

(ps-I will be starting another thread with details on the conversion but with all the info out there, I need a good starting point.)
 
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You can do a mini truck, FJ60 or FJ80 box and stay Toyota, the other good option on a 55 is the Scout Saginaw. There is a factory 55 PS box, but its a golden unicorn since it was only an option on '78-'79s and you'll pay too much if you find one. The issue you'll run into with the first four I mentioned is the shock tower is in the way, there used to be a shock mount that incorporated the mini truck mount if you can find one or most people go with modded Ford towers or hoops with the other three.

Lots of info on PS conversion if you search ;)

Tucker
 
Thanks a ton for the reply. Follow up Q..

If I have a power gear box from a 55, who in the US can rebuild it??

Thanks again!
Peter
 
tucker74 said:
The part number for this Ford tower is E5TZ-18183-A, lots of good info for you here:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-iron-pig-preservation-society/129643-fj60-power-steering-pigs.html

Tucker
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Awesome just saw this!! Thanks Tucker.

And another cool link if I'm brave enough to attempt a 55 box rebuild.
https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/241212-steering-box-rebuild.html
But then i just saw that shims and gaskets are not available anymore to rebuild the '79 power gearbox. Dang it!!
So I will pass on the sweet deal of a FJ55 power gearbox and opt hopefully for a 60 series if it can be mated to a ealry 55.
 
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War Pig said:
Thanks a ton for the reply. Follow up Q..

If I have a power gear box from a 55, who in the US can rebuild it??

Thanks again!
Peter
Click to expand...
If you've got a stock 55 box it's definitely worth rebuilding, the guts are the same as the mini/40 PS box. I've had West Texas Offroad rebuild two boxes for me and would highly recommend them ;)

http://westtexasoffroad.homestead.com/hydrosteering.html

They charge $140 for the rebuild (parts are $100 from Toyota), download the form and mail the box to them. Will come back good as new -

Tucker
 
Delancy said:
I'll take the 55 box if you don't want it....

Just sayin'
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Right on thanks folks. So I took a few photo's from below of the gearbox. This thing looks like a real monster and no where near the photos I have seen on line. In fact the replacement manual gearbox looks totally different. But that is the Pitman arm I am looking at correct?? My shop manual on CD should have arrived by now I ordered online.

Looking at the pics, this seems like a different mount than the other 55's I see. (mounting inside the frame instead of outboard of the engine as I see in other cruisers.)

(Oh and the PS box turned out to be manual.. back to square one :) )

So as I am learning from other threads, the Saginaw pumps (and maybe Toyota mini set ups) don't work as they are mounted on the inside of the frame and the steering column (even if lengthened) will run right into the motor mount of my F2. ( https://forum.ih8mud.com/showpost.php?p=1728145&postcount=17) The set up works great on the 40's, but the cross members on the 55's will need some major cutting and welding which I am just not prepared to do. (and a huge risk if it fails)

The other option I am checking into if the late 60's frame doesn't line up with the current power steering ideas is a powered rack and pinion system that might have a better chance of working with my 55.
Lucky there is plenty of room in the engine bay!

steering01.webp


steering02.webp


steering03.webp
 
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War Pig said:
So as I am learning from other threads, the Saginaw pumps (and maybe Toyota mini set ups) don't work as they are mounted on the inside of the frame and the steering column (even if lengthened) will run right into the motor mount of my F2. ..!
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I don't believe that is correct. Check out this thread https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj55-iron-pig-preservation-society/719714-scout-power-steering.html

Are you planning a lift and bigger tires? If sticking with 31's or so, I personally wouldn't bother with PS. But, it would be practically essential if you're going big.
 
89GASHOG said:
Are you planning a lift and bigger tires? If sticking with 31's or so, I personally wouldn't bother with PS. But, it would be practically essential if you're going big.
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Hey thanks GASHOG - Yeah I might be upsizing tires down the road but more importantly, I want my wife who loves these rigs too, to be able to easily drive her when she wants. (lucky she likes Cruisers too!) And power assist brakes will be next after the steering mods.
 
Gashog, Tucker I owe you both some beer for sure sometime... (I'm ordering that brake adapter once I find a master that will mate up to it. Nice!!)

I went and got a few more photos from above on my current set up next to the F2 motor. I haven't read of anybody having to rip into the inside fender wall and cut away to make room for the new steering gear. So wondering if the '69 is a slightly different configuration than the later models.

The other thing is that the former owner (Hosemedic-Brian) did such an outstanding job with everything he did to update the motor-Trans-front end ect. that I certainly feel the pressure to maintain that level of quality with any work I do. If a rack system does not prove a better option for the moment I may focus on updating the brakes to a duel line/assist config. I am going to do the steering for sure, but want to make the direction I start out going is the right one (FJ60 pwr box) and have all my parts together before starting work.

steering10.webp


steering11.webp


steering12.webp


steering13.webp


steering14.webp
 
and a few more of my current setup. Thanks all!!!!

steering15.webp


steering16.webp
 
War Pig said:
Gashog, Tucker I owe you both some beer for sure sometime... (I'm ordering that brake adapter once I find a master that will mate up to it. Nice!!)..
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I'd just buy a new booster, since they're not much more than 100 bucks. http://www.partsgeek.com/gbproducts...1983+Toyota+Pickup+Brake+Booster+A1+Cardone+5

Many toyota masters would mate up to it, but you might just want to go with the stock size for that generation of Toyota pickups. Again, a new one wouldn't be much. Then brake lines would need to be bent to fit, or redone perhaps. Since you're upgrading brakes, might want to change over to discs in the front.
 
89GASHOG said:
I'd just buy a new booster, since they're not much more than 100 bucks. http://www.partsgeek.com/gbproducts...1983+Toyota+Pickup+Brake+Booster+A1+Cardone+5

Many toyota masters would mate up to it, but you might just want to go with the stock size for that generation of Toyota pickups. Again, a new one wouldn't be much. Then brake lines would need to be bent to fit, or redone perhaps. Since you're upgrading brakes, might want to change over to discs in the front.
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Thanks Gashog. I may then pass on the two line system if there isn't much to gain from it and certainly go with the vac-assist unit. Will definitely get a new master and keep the other as a back up too. I may just replace all the lines and locate the connectors that take 9mm fittings. (tuff to find these but hope this is a good store: http://coolfj40.stores.yahoo.net/brakmascylfj.html )

Will look at the disc conversion too. Meka and others aren't carrying 55 stuff (I checked with them) but maybe another outfit has the kit I can go with. I researched JTO but there seems to be some bad reviews out in internet land so may reconsider. Also not sure if I can pair a system with both 9mm and 10mm fittings.

Not sure if I want to upgrade to FJ60 stuff either if I need to grind down the axles a bunch. ( https://forum.ih8mud.com/showpost.php?p=6691879&postcount=4 ) I think staying with drums if the extra power via the booster doesn't wipe out each of the wheel cylinders.
I looked at several past posts on Disc Conversions but not sure on the direction yet as there seems to be a lot of pros/cons with the Toy mini swaps/FJ60/3rd party parts.

I drove my Cruiser today and did it ever make my week!! Great way to start the weekend. :bounce:
 
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Warpig,

I wouldn't let the grinding of the knuckle housing, slow you down. It doesn't take much and you have a better system. A cheap grinding stone and die grinder is all you need.
 
scrapdaddy said:
Warpig,

I wouldn't let the grinding of the knuckle housing, slow you down. It doesn't take much and you have a better system. A cheap grinding stone and die grinder is all you need.
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Thanks Ron-Appreciate the info. And great to know that I don't have to blast away at the axels as much. Are you talking about the better system being the referb'd FJ60 gear?
I know that if I go with an FJ60 PS Gear box, I might as well stick with it when it comes to brakes as well perhaps.
And if a 9mm to 10mm JIC adapter is available out there, I can stick with drums in the rear-replace the lines and update the master and front brakes.
Thanks again,
Peter
 
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Peter's Power Steering Conversion. Or...How I developed a Re-Mod drinking problem

************steering conversion******************
 
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