steering box relocation thoughts

[rickoner]

Hey guys. I'd like to hear some of your thoughts on the proper way to position a p/s box on my '65 to keep proper geometry. I sectioned an '86 crossmember 2" and mounted it 1" forward. That was easy enough. Now I'm looking to install the p/s box out of the same donor truck. I laid out all of the center lines for the steering shaft, sector shaft, mounting locations, and where the pitman arm lies for both boxes. I've read that you can only move the box up 1" because the drag link starts to interfere with the crank pulley? Anybody have any experience with this? My thought is that I should try to move it up the 2" and then space the motor/trans up to clear. If it makes a difference, the truck is going to be Lsx swapped. Now I've been going back and forth on the right way to locate the new box. First, I thought to align the steering and sector shafts. Make the move and transfer the mounting locations to position the new location compared to the old location. Then I got to thinking more and decided that going off of the pitman arm (taper side) would be best. I laid out an adapter plate based on that, but now I think that taking measurements from the '86 from of the where the box is in relation to the crossmember would be best. Then make the move based on that.

Maybe I'm over thinking all of this, but this is going to be a driver that gets a lot of miles. I definitely would like to keep the bump steer and death wobble to a minimum. So, what's everybody's thoughts/experiences on this?

[NEWFISHER]

Sector to steering shaft should be your last thought. That can always be compensated through the rag joint or use a universal. Keeping proper geometry and alignment of pitman arm would be my first goal.

[rickoner]

Thanks. That's my thoughts now too. I'm going to forget about comparing one box to the other. I'm going to lay out the new box's location based on the '86 crossmember mounting location. I still have the frame cut off from that truck so I'll be able to take pretty good measurements. I'm still concerned how much you can move it vertically, though. What's the most anybody has done? I'm sure that if I do move it up 2" I'm going to have to get creative on the bottom of the frame rail to clear the drag link/pitman arm/tie rod. Maybe Z'ing in a portion of the '86 frame would be a good option to consider? Does anybody have any pics from people that have moved their box?

[NEWFISHER]

Capt fab's conversion bracket may also aid in layout. It's slick and works really well including the offset from the frame to the ps box as well as locating it in the proper spot. I have a few pic's in my "crossing over 65" thread

[rickoner]

I thought about doing just that actually. But when I was really checking out the builds that used them it looks like it positions the box using the steering and sector shafts since the box ends up inline with the steering shaft. Maybe there's more to it?
I did get around to taking measurements off of the '86 frame tonight tho. It seems like just measuring off of like points is going to be the easiest way to ensure it ends up where it needs to go. I won't know for sure until I get to check out my '65 frame. Unfortunately, it's at a buddy's place getting the patch panels finished up (hopefully). I'm basing all measurements off of the three mounting holes on the bottom of the frame rail. I figure that will keep the box/linkage/crossmember/spindles as they were originally designed for the '86 truck. The plan is to lay it all out and clamp it together at 2" raise and see how bad it really is.

[tinydb84]

Move the engine up an inch.

[rickoner]

I hope it's that easy. I hope that by doing that, that the trans and tunnel play nice together. If not it's to be expected I guess. Once I get my truck back to my house, I guess I'll see if what's in my head will actually work.

[tinydb84]

My 66 has a sectioned cross member 1.75. Body dropped 1 inch and the engine is up an inch and forward a bit. It was done that way when I got it.

[rickoner]

Is there a thread on that truck anywhere by chance? Or do you have any pics of it? Did they move the steering box too? Thanks for the heads up.

[tinydb84]

I'll grab some pictures for you this weekend.

[tinydb84]

Steering box side

Raised up motor mount.

I'll make some changes later but this project is for after my 75. Engine isn't in there now but everything clears fine.

[rickoner]

Thanks for the pics. Scabbing another piece of frame is a different approach that I didn't even think of. Hopefully I get my truck back within a week now. Then I can get to it.

[rickoner]

Figured I'd update this thread with the approach that I did. The steering box is in the exact location in relation to the '86 crossmember (basically 2" up and 1" forward.) I had to make some pretty gnarly notches to clear the draglink and idler/pitman arms. I'm not completely done with it. Everything is just tacked for now. I'm going to box the frame and brace the top part of the adapter plate. Anyways, here's the pics in case somebody is looking to go this route when pancaking a crossmember.





There's a few more pics in my build thread if you're interested.

[tinydb84]

Looks a lot like mine. Good stuff. I am going to box mine too. Luckily the front of the truck doesn't support a whole lotta weight. The only downside is if you hit something you know what is going to fold first.