1962 Power Steering Install

[cruisermatt]

Got a Colombian 1962-tagged soft top in for power steering this week, we are doing a few things kinda differently so I figured it would be neat to post up. The truck is pretty rough and needs just about everything else on it rebuilt too, but we are just going to focus on the power steering for now as that was the owners main reason for shipping it here

This is the only pic I have so far (I was actually out sick this week, my staff received the transport from Key West where it lives)

 

[cruisermatt]

Firstly, the truck has already been converted to a floor shift so we don’t have to worry about the column shift parts.

Plan for steering gear is a FJ80 box using our latest kit we have developed in-house. We now make the frame mounts for the steering box, plates for the radiator frame where it gets notched for clearance, a column support kit for the firewall for pre-73’s, and a hybrid drag link with a 40 end on one side and an 80 end on the other. We also stock quality Borgeson U-joints and collapsable intermediate shafts

The truck still has a original F135 engine so I wasn’t really sure what do at first for the pump as I am pretty unfamiliar with F135’s. I decided to do a electric pump. More on this later.

 

[cruisermatt]

Project is underway. Sorry the pictures are super saturated.
My technician Justin is handling the installation on this project. He is 19 and has already put more FJ80 power steering setups on 40's then a lot of shops
He also had to re-route the brake line (original style single circuit MC on this one).
Last picture is the EPS pump on a bracket we had laser cut.

Parts laid out. We manufacture the frame brace for the steering box, the firewall plate to support the steering column, the plate for notching the rad support, and the drag link.

 

[clrussell]

Watching

 

[ryanwk628]

Is that the Dodge stand alone pump? I have seen the Volvo one used in other conversions. Is there a bypass or does the motor ramp down when not being taxed so it is not a huge draw unless there is a peak like the Prius EPS? I saw there are controllers out there for these but had only seen them used on cars.

 

[nabbasi]

I noticed the electric pump and the "plug" label on the box in the image you replied to me with in another thread. How did this install finish up?

I finally got around to "rebuilding" the center arm on my 1967 and replaced my TRE's, but love the idea of going with an electric pump or assisted steering in some way. I also really, really want to get rid of the center arm and have a more direct steering input. I was looking into sourcing a manual 60 series box and using an electronic power steering setup with it so that if the EPS ever had issues, I was still just left with a good working manual box.

 

[charliemeyer007]

I would love to have those machine tools and a big shop = come on big money lotto!

 

[cruisermatt]

Yes, we got this finished up a few weeks ago! We ended up switching to a Volvo pump and it is working really well. We had some issues with the Dodge pump and CAN controller, the Volvo pump is a lot simpler.
While we were in there we also replaced the radiator and hoses, and thermostat housing and battery cables and fuel feed tube which were all in poor condition. All those parts new OEM.
The truck still needs a lot of work to really drive correctly but the power steering was the primary reason for the appointment with my shop

 

[cruisermatt]

I noticed the electric pump and the "plug" label on the box in the image you replied to me with in another thread. How did this install finish up?

I finally got around to "rebuilding" the center arm on my 1967 and replaced my TRE's, but love the idea of going with an electric pump or assisted steering in some way. I also really, really want to get rid of the center arm and have a more direct steering input. I was looking into sourcing a manual 60 series box and using an electronic power steering setup with it so that if the EPS ever had issues, I was still just left with a good working manual box.

You would just use a regular 60 or 80 box.
We've had a few trucks here including this gray one where we had the box install done but hadn't gotten to the pump install and had to move around the property and a 60 or 80 power box without hoses is the same effort to steer as a regular manual 40 steering, the 40 steering wheel is a lot larger then a 60 wheel.

 

[nabbasi]

That's good to know! I guess that does it. I need to give you a call.

 

[sleepycruiser]

How much does something like that cost???

 

[cruisermatt]

How much does something like that cost???

do you mean a power steering conversion? typically they are around $4500-$5500k total for parts and labor, each one is a little bit different though.

 

[hangtight]

What a conversion! Awesome to see EPAS used in scenarios like this. I stumbled across this looking at some of our backlinks, and figured I'd offer up some of the research we've done. We're the ones behind the controller linked a few posts above.

Cruisermatt, I'm curious where you stumbled on the Dodge pump? I did notice you had it mounted vertically. The Dodge pumps must be mounted horizontally with the plugs facing up, or you will starve the pickup point and run the pump dry. Here is a rough guide:

Volvo: Vertical
Mazda: Vertical
Dodge: Horizontal, plug up.

Another thing to note is the amp draw. There is a ton of misinformation on this, so we've hooked it up to an ECUMaster PDM and did some logging/research under specific conditions. On startup, they don't draw more than 30amps on startup, and in regular daily driving, they stay between 10-25 amps. The only real time we saw significant draw was when holding it at full lock/full load (~110amps) which isn't a realistic scenario, and when moving around a parking lot at very low speed (~40-60amps). We plan on releasing a whitepaper on it eventually, but like everything... need to find the time.

The Volvo pump has been used for years in the Drifting community with success. The Dodge pump flows more, creating more assist at the box/rack. It's a far better pump and will last the test of time. The Dodge pump is used by the RTR Drift Team, and many other pro teams, as well as companies like Texas Tough Customs in their monster UTV steering conversions.

You can hotwire the Volvo pump to run in limp mode (how many have done it for years), but adding a controller like ours allows you to control assist on the fly, and helps the pump react faster to load conditions. The Dodge pump is near instantaneous in it's reaction to load state, where the Volvo/Mazda pump are a tad slow.

I hope this help!
Terence

 

[yogi1955]

Got a Colombian 1962-tagged soft top in for power steering this week, we are doing a few things kinda differently so I figured it would be neat to post up. The truck is pretty rough and needs just about everything else on it rebuilt too, but we are just going to focus on the power steering for now as that was the owners main reason for shipping it here

This is the only pic I have so far (I was actually out sick this week, my staff received the transport from Key West where it lives)

View attachment 3742072

Thank you Matt to you and your crew for doing a great job on the power steering conversion of my truck. It's so much easier to drive now. I'm more than pleased with all improvements your techs made. Would recommend your shop to anyone needing work on their cruiser.