HELP needed: Late model FJ40 power steering conversion issues (2)

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Can you post pictures of what you ended up with? I'm struggling with the same issue exactly. I'll look at the bearing you suggested, but am also curious about your "Poly spring eye" ??wth is that? I sent you a message, if you could call it would be great.
 
PMed you back. Lmk when is good time to call.



I had to weld up may bearing again since I underestimated the forces transmitted from bouncing around on the rocks and high speed running on rough trails. The spot welds were not enough.

This time I pulled the column shaft out of the column housing to weld it up properly. It was not difficult since the column has to come out anyway. In hind sight, this is what I should have done in the first place and would have saved me trouble and time.
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So what steering box are you using? Mine is PS out of an 85 4runner..36 spline I think. Are you using a rag joint? There isn't, or doesn't seem to be enough room to use one on mine.
 
I used the bearing because it was guaranteed to be centered and didn't require fabbing a piece of steel and hoping it would be centered. A 52mm bearing is too large an OD. I wound up trying a few sizes and the 50mm was the proper OD. The bearing will stand proud of the bell, bit this allows for a good surface to weld.

As for the polyurethane spring eye bushing, I only theorize this could be an option based on the thickness and outer diameter of the shoulder. The center would obviously need to be bored out to fit the stub shaft. I didn't try this since I already had the bearing and had ground the retainer groove flush with the inner diameter of the bell.
 
I'm also in the process of doing the same thing and I went with Cruiseroutfitter's column bearing. Really easy. What I did was push the rag joint all the way into the column and cut it 2" from the bell. Pulled the shaft all the way out (but still in the bell) and grinded it down to 3/4" dia to slip the bearing on. Pushed the bearing and shaft into the column bell and placed a couple of tack welds on the inner bearing race to shaft so it won't slip off and done! I went with IPOR's partial kit using a 1/4" wall tie rod and drag link, a flat pitman arm, 80 and 40 TRE's, Borgeson telescoping shaft and U-joints.
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When the bearing is pushed into the recessed cavity, the rubber boot holds it all together. Remember the bearing doesn't spin at all when steering but the bell does. The bearing just keeps the shaft from flopping around (picture your wrist).
 
I get it, just based on my latest experience, I don't know that I'd trust the rubber boot and I found that the steering is much smoother with the shaft perfectly centered.
 
Also it's not just a rubber boot suspended with no sides supporting the bearing. There's an inner wall there and the boot takes up some of the wall space. I'm confident in it.
 
Cool, another elegant solution then. I'm wondering why you tack welded the bearing if you ground the shaft down. Wouldn't gravity and the larger diameter of the shaft above the bearing keep it from falling out?
 
I ground the shaft down in order to slip the bearing on. The shaft towards the box sits downward of the bearing. The tack welds hold the bearing up there on the shaft. Any slight off-centre rotation of the steering at this area should be negligible as the u-joint is there plus it doesn't rotate with high speed at any length of time as in the rear driveshaft for example, unless your slalom driving the 40! The system is still in mock up stage but my quick test steering the wheel left to right feels pretty smooth....
 
I see what your talking about. The friction of the bearing pressed up into the rubber is what is holding the bearing up then?
I am not trying to be argumentative, at all, but I caution you not to rely on the friction of the bearing and the rubber to keep the shaft within the cross of the bell. That steering shaft wants to pull the shaft out of the bell and the shaft itself has some weight to it and wants to fall out as well. Add the vibration of driving on a rutted or washboard road will cause the shaft to hammer on the bearing causing it to fall out. even if the rubber boot keeps the shaft from falling completely out of the bell, it will fall far enough out and tip way forward when the pin is vertical and will partially lock the steering. This is NOT something you want to risk with steering.

I was fortunate enough to be going pretty slow when my tack weld let go, the shaft fell out of the bell and I lost all steering. I severely underestimated the forces transmitted to the stub shaft. My thinking prior to the failure was that the whole bell turns, so there would be no stress on the bearing at the bell. There was no lateral stress, but there was a lot of linear stressors that pushed and pulled on the shaft.

Double check the position of your steering box before you drill the holes. Check for rivet head interference with the plate sleeves. I ran into this issue. It looks like yours is positioned far enough rearward to not have this issue. Also, check that you don't have it too low where the sleeves will not line up with the holes for the box.
 
Yeah I understand what you're saying and appreciate it. For sure I wouldn't want to have the shaft come out of the bell nor the bearing fall out. I'm learning here too.... What do you recommend for my application? Place more welds? Add a washer in front of the bearing then weld it? Wouldn't the steering shaft hold the stub shaft with bearing from falling out?

And thanks for the tips on mounting the box as well!
 
I initially thought the shaft would hold it up, but the the shaft is collapsible and if left to gravity, the shaft compresses. If you were to install the shaft fully compressed and leave some room for the stub shaft to move up and down, this would provide the cushioning that the stub shaft was designed to create when attached to the stock steering box. However, this isn't practical because to install it you would have to either disconnect the steering box or pull the column a bit and connect the u joint then re install the column.

I like your idea and I'd like to see a solution that allows us to use the retaining clip and not weld on the bell.
How about using a the bushing as a template to create large washer? I was thinking that maybe a piece of plastic cutting board since it is cheap, easy to work by cutting with a skill saw and a belt sander to get the right dimensions. it is probably as thin or thinner than the rubber seal and could be retained in the bell. I thought if I could find a hole saw blade that was close to the 50mm dimension of the bell, it would work perfectly to create the center hole and the dimension for the bell fit. Then it is just a mater of reaming the center out with a stepped drill bit or a 3/4" bit drilled carefully. I don't think perfect centering is critical since, as you said, we aren't turning the wheel at 100 rpm. You could also ream it enough to fit the bearing in the hole for the flanges to hold it in place, but i think if the bearing doesn't interfere with the inner bell castings and you still have room to attach the u joint, you could leave it as is.

What do you think of this idea? I wish I hadn't ground my bell at the beginning of this process because I'd like to experiment with this unique problem.
 
If that bearing flange were just a bit bigger, it would fit right under that retainer clip. Could you cut a thin piece of steel (18 or 16 gauge maybe) again, using the rubber seal as a template to fit in there between the bearing and the clip?
 
Yeah, I may be a bit paranoid, but since my steering fell apart, I would not be comfortable with anything less than something that is 100% positive to retain that stub shaft in the bell.

I'll also tell you that the FJ60 power steering is one of the best mods you can do to a truck. I swapped my OEM FJ40 steering for this set up and it works flawlessly. You will not be disappointed.
 
Hey Stump, I finally wheeled the truck last weekend and man was it awesome to have the assist off road! Drives great on road too!

I have an issue though. The inner bell at the firewall seems to have come out about an inch from where it initially started from. I actually installed a small flat bar with a slight bend in it to use as a safety back up in case any part was to come out and it helped because when the inner bell started to contact the bar, it was evident right away with the steering wheel feel. It was still driveable and it seemed nothing was loose.

I know my steering shaft that's connected to the box is a collapsible type so I see where wheeling will allow that section to move but the inner bell? I don't have a pic of it right now but just wanted to hear what you thought. The steering wheel feels solid, and the inner bell isn't popping in and out loosely....

I ended up towing the truck home after wheeling because of an overheating issue (rad caked with silt), and felt better to do so with this issue too.
 
It is a great upgrade, isn't it. I'm glad to see you got it done and posted your experience here as well.

Your saying the entire bell dropped down from inside the sleeve? Did you use a telescoping steering shaft from the bell to the steering box? The only thing that would allow the bell to drop is if your steering column shaft got jammed or pulled and broke the plastic plugs that hold the two piece shaft together inside the steering column.
 
Yes I'm saying that, but not the entire bell, just about an inch of it or so. And yes I'm using a telescoping shaft from the bell to the box.

The plastic plugs that you're talking about are the ones that you needed to remove in order to get the shaft out of the inner bell, correct? The same shaft that originally had the rag joint fitting to be cut off? Or are you referring to something else?
 
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