60 series steering column into a 40 (1 Viewer)

[Henry James the 47th]

Having done most of this, I was insterested in the difference between how a late model FJ40 mounts the column to the firewall vs. my 1969. It looks like you were able to adapt nicely. That said ...

- My column is too low in my lap and needs to be raised. And that is after I installed a mini-truck steering wheel which I believe has a smaller diameter.

I gather that you didn't modify the dash to allow the 60 column to come up in height? That would explain the low steering wheel position.

I looked at it, when I hummed and hawed about this conversion, from the point of view of getting the centerline of the 60 series steering column, ie,. the steering shaft, to the same original position to which the 40 mounted. The only way to do that is to section about 0.75" or so off the bottom of the dash lip so as to bring it up. That 3/4" or so at the dash is all the difference.

I found that sitting in the seat with the normal large steering wheel held in position, that the clearance was fine - with a mini-truck steering wheel the clearance would be plenty.

 

[cyrilward]

i wanna see some more pics of the completion of the project with a steering wheel installed please !!! i have pondered this since my 60 p/s conversion tilt would be cooolll

 

[Henry James the 47th]

I will be doing some more work on the steering conversion tomorrow. The cab is off my chassis and in the welding area. I'll take pictures as I go.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

made some progress on the dash sheet metal changes under the instrument cluster. First I had to cut a patch piece to fit in.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

after bending to tab bit over and tweaking of the fit a few times, I welded the patch in

 

[Henry James the 47th]

The patch getting a bit of grinding, after getting the 'ears' trimmed a bit narrower.

The pedal box needed a little modification to allow it to more easily be put in and out without too much pushing and pulling on the sheet metal under the instrument cluster

 

[Henry James the 47th]

another set - now filling in the 'nose' bridge under the cluster. This opening is a vestige from the days of three on the tree shifting, which I don't foresee using

 

[Henry James the 47th]

tack tack tack, grind grind grind

 

[Henry James the 47th]

eventually I got it into primer. Not finished with the dash yet - next I need to fair in the new tilt column dash cut out, getting the lower dash edge connected smoothly in (I hope).

 

[Henry James the 47th]

Made some more progress today. Used the crushed glass media to prep the column parts, then put them into primer. Then repositioned the column and welded the junction.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

Pulled the column again, finished the welds and ground them down. Then primer-surfacer on the column and it's ready for paint.

 

[grant5127]

I dunno Man, that looks like its settn kinda low in relation to where the seat will be........ also the 40 column is 15" from mounting bolts on the dash to the tip of the shaft nut that retains the steering wheel and a 60 is 12"

 

[Henry James the 47th]

Well, I must admit I am not sailing forward with total confidence myself!

I realize that the column sits further in, by @3", and I'm fine with that. I thought the column on the stock 40 set up sticks in a bit far anyhow. I put the seat in and sat there with the wheel in my hands and it seemed fine. I asked some other people on the 45 forum what they thought of a column that put the wheel further forward, and the three people that replied all thought it would be fine. In a 45, there is very little room to put the seat back, so the fore/aft of the wheel is dealt with mostly be moving the seat forward. So, I think it will be fine in that respect - if need be I can slide the seat in a little.

Another point about the numbers you give for column length from the bolts - there are different lengths out there - I have measured two of them from differnt BJ60's , and they differ by about 3.5". Check out post 15 again please.

As for the height, that seemed okay at the mock-up, with the column in the neutral tilt position. So, even if it were to end up a tad low, I can always tilt the column up a bit anyhow, AND I'm probably going to put a smaller steering wheel in, possibly out of a mini-truck, and that will give me more room as well. I can go to the smaller wheel since I'm putting in power steering and don't need the leverage of the larger wheel.

Well, proof will be in the pudding as they say. Maybe I'm up sh*t creek without a paddle and just don't know it yet. IF at the end it doesn't work out, I have only some sheet metal to repair and a new pedal box to find and all can be returned to stock. Hopefully, that won't be necessary. I am taking a risk here, and i know the stakes and can live with them.

I'll post pics as I go along, including ones of the finished install with me sitting at the wheel, and you can be the judge then if you like. And, if it doesn't work out, I'll have learned something by trying, and others here on the forum will have a good idea about what NOT to do. That alone makes it worthwhile for me.

At least wish me luck!

Got the column into paint tonight anyhow.

 

[grant5127]

Sorry, didn't want to bum out this project but you need at least 7" clearance between the top of the seat and the bottom of the wheel to have a smooth entrance and exit. If you have to leave the wheel in the up position all the time that kinda defeats the purpose plus there will be a issue of hitting your knee on the big bulky section of the column. The 3" shorter maybe livable but I think a 4" rise would be cool Anyway your doing really good work and good luck

 

[Henry James the 47th]

It's taken me a few days to get back to the column project as I've been welding up other areas of my cab. I thought I'd mock the steering column into place, using both the stock 'Cruiser wheel and the mini-truck wheel, comparing clearances off the seat in various positions.

First off, here's the stock wheel in neutral, highest, and lowest positions. As you can see, in the highest position there is more than 7" of clearance, and in the lowest it probably wouldn't work.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

Now here's the mini-truck wheel, in the neutral, highest, and lowest positions. this gives ample clearance at the highest, and would work fine in the neutral position. Once I'm behind the wheel i find the range I prefer is from one click above neutral to one click below.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

here's the two wheel side by side for comparison. I was checking out a couple of 80 series wheels at the wreckers yesterday, and they are pretty close in size to the mini-truck wheel.

I guess it could be said that this conversion, as I have done it so far, would best suit power steering and a smaller wheel than stock.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

Finally, here's a picture from the driver's perspective through the mini-truck steering wheel. It gives me adequate line of sight to the instrument cluster, as well as the tach I will be fitting to the right side of the cluster.

Also, I took a picture of the seat clearance to the back of the cab - allowing 1" space, which gives me about the right amount of leg room. Obviously, in a 40 series, there is more room to slide back if necessary.

When I sit in place on the seat with the mini-truck wheel, the driving position feels good to me. I haven't yet a taken a serious look to see what other steering wheel options are out there. For more leg room under the wheel, a steering wheel out of a Toyota sedan, or perhaps some after market product, would always be an option.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

The column install has progressed a little, along with the rest of the truck.

I've got the tach installed into the dash - here's a picture of the view through the mini-truck steering wheel. The install is a little further along now than in this picture, and the dash is nearly complete.

Then I scooped up an HJ61V steering column, a RHD unit, and spent most of a day getting it, cannibalizing it and in the end finding that most of it wasn't usable in the conversion. anyhow, I did gain a nearly new (the donor vehicle had less than 90,000 miles on it) upper steering shaft and bearing, along with most of the tilt head. It was a non-collapsible type of column, so everything from the tilt hed on down was different and unusable to me.

 

[Henry James the 47th]

After taking apart and rebuilding three of these columns now, I have them pretty much figured out. The difference in column lengths i noticed earlier was due to the inner lower shaft being pushed up (as it is designed to do when the column collapses in an accident).