New to the SS!! I MUST have power steering!!

[TheBuggyman]

Hello!
Let me begin by saying that you guys have a GREAT forum with alot of information. I did read the new members section and even tried a few testing posts!

But enough of that. Last week my wife and I went to pick up our '72 M35 and drove it home 235 miles. I will be converting the original bed to a dump with 1-3/4" tubing above the front side to just over roof height and about +24" above the standard sides. The truck will be used to haul debris to the other side of our land to facilitate building the pond. I will be painting the unit the original green and lettering it with the R. Larsen stencils as I want the truck to appear as close to original as possible.

I've searched the forum for power steering options (I do not like the air unit, especially the placement as the truck will be used in rough terrain). I am seriously considering going full hydro with a balanced cylinder and a load reactive orbital as I had this setup on another vehicle that I could drive comfortably at 65mph. Has anyone else done this and to what result? I've got the orbital displacement to cylinder volume calcs down pat to get the proper amount of turns lock to lock without feeling "twitchy". For a vehicle that rarely exceeds 50mph I think that this may be a viable alternative, and yes a hose can break but a ball joint can also so I suppose that is my way of justifying not having a mechanical link to the axle. (DOT who?) I want a smaller steering wheel! Another option could be the Bendix style control valve that mounts as a drag link and controls fluid flow to an assist cylinder like in some big rigs.

BTW, thanks for the tech on turning up the fuel,
AWESOME site,
and being easy on the noobs.

Eddie

 

[Opie]

Welcome from the Old Dominion contingent of Steel Soldiers to out flatland brethren! (Full disclosure: I'm a Sovereign Republic of Northern Virginia refugee relocated to the Roanoke Valley...)

Maybe you could carpool people to the Virginia Railway Express station for their commute to/from DC to support your heavy metal habit. (And hide some political skeletons in that pond you're building as well!)

Best (twisted) regards,

Opie (formerly of Fairfax & Arlington Counties)

 

[ken]

Before you spend that kind of money. Make sure all the kingpins and tie rod ends are greased. If you have a bad u-joint in the knuckle it will also be hard to steer. After installing lockout hubs i can steer my truck with one hand. Ask Desert Rat, He has driven it.

 

[FSBruva]

ken-

Do you have the new Ouverson lockouts? Do they really look gooney sticking out?

Matt

 

[clinto]

ken-

Do you have the new Ouverson lockouts? Do they really look gooney sticking out?

Matt

I just saw a set on a deuce and they definitely look odd. I don't know if I would say "gooney", but they're out there. I should have taken a pic.

 

[gringeltaube]

Welcome Eddi,

yes it is (again) the best forum! To bad we had that server incident and some valuable info and all the pictures got lost! Just when it ocurred I had posted an article about adding PS to my singled deuce. May be it's time to try again now.

Have you considered replacing the original st box with an hydraulic unit? I installed a Ross Hydrapower HF 54 in the same place. It's not a bolt on but fairly easy to do.
Since I have the LDS 427 multifuel I just added the pump from a 5 ton LDS 465-1A and it worked well.
The truck now can be steered very precisely with the palm of one hand with only 3 1/2 turns lock to lock !
I could send you complete info and pics if interested.

Gerhard

 

[Recovry4x4]

Sweet setup Gerhard. Did you chop down a deuce steering column or is that one out of a later 5 ton?

 

[M1075]

I have had good success with the air-assist setups in aggressive (rocky) off road situations. No damage to date (of course I have a little more clearance with the 46" tires!).

 

[Stretch44875]

I would be interested in more pics and info. What trucks use that power steering box?
Dennis

 

[ken]

Matt. No i've got those crappy leaking selectro's. They look like they belong there, but i wish i had bought the OV's

 

[ken]

Matt. No i've got those crappy leaking selectro's. They look like they belong there, but i wish i had bought the OV's

 

[gringeltaube]

Thanks Kenneth. Inside the cab I wanted column and wheel to look original and also there was no access to newer model 5 ton parts at that time so I did cut the column.
Still need to install the horn contacts like the old 5 tons have.


Dennis, that box comes in medium duty Ford and International Trucks and and also buses with pitman arm varying depending on application They are quite popular at truck salvage yards.


Gerhard

 

[TheBuggyman]

Gerhard,
That is a great looking installation. I would be grateful for any info you could give me on your conversion. You could e-mail it directly to THEBUGGYMAN@adelphia.net. What is driving the pump? It looks like it is bolted to the front of the engine and possibly driving off of the timing gears. The rest of the fabrication looks pretty straight foward. Is the drag link M35? I really like this idea the best because it gives you the power steering with the redundancy of the mechanical linkage.

Thanks in advance,
Eddie

 

[ken]

Matt , Na i got those crappy selectro's. They look like they belong there but they sure leak a lot!

 

[BigWheelBob]

I am very interested in this conversion also, Looks very nice.