STEERING, Cowl Steering, strong, simple and affordable

[hillbillyhell]

Ok, here’s my take on cowl steering. I won’t say this is the “right”, “wrong” or only way to do it, but I’ve seen some pretty sketchy cowl steer setups here and there. I’ve also never seen a cowl steer post that really definitively points you in the direction of a useable steering box, other than the BMW 2002 box, and those don’t grow on trees. So I set out to find a cheap, plentiful and sturdy solution to the steering box problem, first of all, and from there design and construct something that is safe, simple, and attractive.



Before we get started…using these parts and this method requires reversing a steering box, and FIRST CLASS welding. If taking apart a steering box and drilling holes in it isn’t your thing, this isn’t your answer. If your welding is anything less than perfect, find someone to do the welding for you…it IS your steering after all J



Parts:

Early Ford Ranger manual steering box. Not sure the year spread here, mine was from an 85, I’m assuming anything in that first body style is the same.
1.75x.120 wall DOM tubing, about a foot max. I do NOT recommend CR tube, as it requires normalizing after welding.
A pitman arm of some kind. Dad and I had a dozen of these cut at our local laser shop, the same results could be had with some bandsaw time. The one pictured is made from ½” coldrolled plate.
Misc. plate and tubing to mount the box into the car. This is up to you, as it is gonna vary by car.


http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs1.jpg



With parts in hand the first step is to reverse the box. I’m not going to into detail on that here, because it’s been covered a million times with Corvair boxes, and the process is exactly the same. The nice thing about this box is that when you drill the hole for the input to come out the other side, the case is thick enough to hold the seal. I used a 1 1/8” holesaw after drilling a pilot, and that worked out perfect to hammer the seal back into.



http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/csreverse.jpg

Pay no attention to the size 12.

[hillbillyhell]

Once your box is reversed, it’s time for the fun stuff. Mock up a steering shaft using whatever’s handy, I used a straight coupler and a piece of tube (didn’t want to waste real steering shaft material until I knew how long it was going to be) By the way, splines are ¾”-36, so couples and whatnot are super easy to find. Grab your box and crawl around under your dash until you find a good place to put it. I positioned mine so that the steering shaft was centered on the drivers side of the cab, and angled it such that I didn’t need a U joint. I’ll add here that when I put the box together after reversing, I left out the sector for a while so the box was lighter.



Once you figure out where to locate it, figure out how to mount it. Every car is going to be different, so I’ll just post pictures of what I did to give an idea of the support required. You’ll find that it’s pretty easy to make up a plate to mount the box with. I used a ¼” mounting plate welded into my tubular support structure. You’ll notice in my pictures that I did not tie into the frame. In this truck I have a complete subframe within the cab to stiffen it, tying into that was adequate. If it’s possible with YOUR build, I’d recommend building off the chassis. The watchword here is STRONG. Most of the forces exerted on the box will be front to rear, so keep that in mind.



http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs3.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs5.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs8.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs6.jpg



With the box mounted, it’s time to drill a bigass hole in the side of your ride. Since I had the sector out, I used a 12” long ¼” bit to drill a pilot from the inside out, through the box. With that done, I moved outside, and used a 2” holesaw.

[hillbillyhell]

Once the box is mounted and we have a hole, it’s time to get a pitman arm on there. The beauty of this box is that the sector is long enough to be within 1”-2” of what most people need. I used and recommend what I call a “tubular extended pitman arm thing”. It’s an old sprint car trick, and ideal for this application. First step, saw the splined end off your pitman. Buy your buddy with the lathe a case of High Life, and have him turn down the piece you just cut off so that it fits in your 1.75” tubing.



http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs9.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs10.jpg



Get the splined bung that your lathe buddy just made you square in the end of the tube, and weld that sucker in there. I used 3 rosette welds as well as a seam all the way around the edge with the TIG.



http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs11.jpg





With your tube done, you can go ahead and install it onto the sector shaft, and figure out how long it needs to be. It’s also decision time. There’s a few different methods you can use to mount your pitman arm to the tube, ie make a flange that the pitman bolts to (what I did), or make a pitman with a hole to slide over the tube, and weld it. I think the flange method is a better bet, gives you some flexibility with trying different arm lengths and whatnot. Whatever you do, make sure you can get to the middle of the tubing to install the nut holding this whole deal to the sector.



http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs7.jpg





***Remember when your calculating the length of your extension tube that as you steer right the pitman arm comes rearward, give yourself enough room so that the tie rod nut doesn’t collide with the bodywork *** I used a combination of tube length and a slightly bent pitman arm to give me about an inch behind the arm at full right lock.

[hillbillyhell]

Once your length is decided, weld that thing on up. I used a 3” round flange with a hole to slip over the tubing, my pitman bolts to that.



http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs14.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs13.jpg



That’s more or less it, it’s *done* but not *finished*. Gotta do something with that unsightly tube sticking out the side of your car!! I had never hammered a blister before, so I decided that I’d try it to hide the arm coming out. What I’m thinking here is that I’ll make it a rivet on part. After bodywork and paint, it will get installed with stainless rivets. That also gives a chance to make a seal for the shaft from thin flat rubber and use the blister to fasten it to the body. I also considered welding a bigger piece of tube to the body and blending it into the panel with a bit of filler. Going that route would let you use a lip seal if you use the right ID on the tubing.



http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs15.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs17.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/hillbillyhell/cs16.jpg



So I suck at writing tech articles, but hey, I tried! J

[Winfab]

VERY nice work. Thanks. I'll read through it a couple times.

[Unkl Ian]

Works for me.http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif

[hillbillyhell]

VERY nice work. Thanks. I'll read through it a couple times.

If anyone has specific questions, feel free to ask. I had these big plans to write the tech article of the century, took a ton of pics, sat down at the PC....and was like "shit, how do you write directions for this" :)

[Gregg Pellicer]

WOW!! Great tech article.That sure look's alot better and easier than cutting and welding the sector shaft. GREGG

[briggs&strattonChev]

very good, thank you

[Chaz]

NICE TECH ! That setup looks real solid and trouble free . I'd trust it. I'm thinking you dont even need a buddy with a lathe.. You could probabbly grind the spline end round enough with a bench mounted disk.... I'm heading out for one of them steerer box thingies in the morning.

[Flathead Youngin']

WOW......great pics and great text......thanks!

[hillbillyhell]

NICE TECH ! That setup looks real solid and trouble free . I'd trust it. I'm thinking you dont even need a buddy with a lathe.. You could probabbly grind the spline end round enough with a bench mounted disk.... I'm heading out for one of them steerer box thingies in the morning.

The reason I recommend turning that with a lathe is to keep it concentric. if your splines end up off center, your extension tube is gonna wobble as it rotates. Not a huge deal, I guess, since it only rotates maybe 100 degrees.

[Chaz]

Oh yeah, by the way, five stars for this one !!!!!

[zman]

Nice job..... good tech.... :D

[ChuckleHead_Al]

Great tech.

[roadstar]

Nice job, Exactly what tech week is all about.

[woody]

Simply awesome! I'm thinking about ditching my vega box after that one.

Woody

[dodgerodder]

Real nice job. That ain't goin nowhere:). I also like the cover. I thought I would do something similar for a cover on my sedan, but didn't end up needing to. Nice work, looks like you're making great progress

[Chopped50Ford]

awesome tech. Nice job!

The ingenuity here is great :)

[cheaterslick]

As Shiny would say...thats KILL!

[X38]

Bashful? C'mon, that's shit hot!

And well written, take a bow.

[joeycarpunk]

Excellent tech, one I plan on using.

[Jeff Norwell]

Wicked!!!

[burger]

Would you mind explaining how to reverse a steering box?


Thanks!
Ed

[Cyclone Kevin]

Gotta say, "That's the best tech article that I have seen in a long time!"

It's a doable deal, but do expalin ther reverse proceedure & well as the seal install. I'd also like to see shots of you hammering out the blister. That work was fantastic!!!!!

[Tman]

Gotta say, "That's the best tech article that I have seen in a long time!"

It's a doable deal, but do expalin ther reverse proceedure & well as the seal install. I'd also like to see shots of you hammering out the blister. That work was fantastic!!!!!

I would say that is a better way to do it than mine!

[Django]

That's really well thought out and executed. Nice job!

Question... Is the bracket holding the steering box to your inner structure strong enough? Is there another bracket closer to the cowl that isn't visible?

[skumbag]

awsome tech post, thanks! :D

[burger]

Hey, one more question.

How do you get to the pitman arm nut? Is there room inside the "extension tube" for a deep socket?


Thanks!
Ed

PS- Great tech! I'm asking all these questions because I'm thinking about using this box now instead of the F1 that I already have

[4t64rd]

I was rooting around "The auction site whose name shall not be mentioned" and found a picture of the BMW 2002 box. I flipped it over and put it above the '85 Ranger box he used here. looks pretty close huh?

The pitman arm doesn't look as nice, but it looks like it'll clear the angle of the cowl, and it doesn't need reversing.

I like the way the blister gives the cowl a race car look, but for those with limited skills (me), the BMW box could be used in the same way.

Burger, here's a Link (http://www.nationaltbucketalliance.com/tech_info/chassis/csb/revbox.asp) for ya

[JohnnyFast]

I picked up an aluminum box from some kind of Mopar (Duster ?) that doesn't need to be reversed and, in my cowl steering application, won't have to be lengthened either.

I sit far enough back that I'll mount the box to the far left against the cowl and use a double U-jointed double-D shaft slider from the box to the steering wheel.

[fur biscuit]

this is damn good. Thanks for your time spent doing this one. i will definately save this. - doug

[hotrodladycrusr]

So I suck at writing tech articles, but hey, I tried! J:eek:

I don't think so!! It was GREAT. Very informative, well written, great photos and presented in a clear and concise manner. 5 stars!:D

[Slag Kustom]

looks great. excelent job on the blister

[elcornus]

NICE!!!!!!



Very well written.




Thanks!

[OFT]

I too add kuddos to your tech. The blister adds that "finished" look and makes the steeting look like it belongs there.

[40oz.]

damn man, thats nice. and explained well.

[rat bastad]

Hey thats fantastic tech and some real nice welds too !!

Very nice fab work....

Rat

[fab32]

I smell a potential Tech Week winner.


Frank

[Baron Von Mike]

For tech articles, good pictures speak louder than good words. You've done both. Don't be so critical, its easy to follow. Nice job.

[hillbillyhell]

Gotta say, "That's the best tech article that I have seen in a long time!"

It's a doable deal, but do expalin ther reverse proceedure & well as the seal install. I'd also like to see shots of you hammering out the blister. That work was fantastic!!!!!

It's REALLY easy. I didn't take pics during the reversal procedure, because I wasn't really planning on doing it right then. Took it apart just to see what was what, and figured out that with another half hour or less it could be done and back together.

1. Disassemble the box.

2. Mark your hole location with a punch. This is the most difficult part of the whole deal. You want to drill the box on the opposite side of where the input originally was, you're just turning it around. To locate the hole, it took four hands....ended up dropping a washer into the input bearing race, and using a punch in the middle of the washer hole. May be a few thou off, but more than close enough.

3. Drill a pilot hole at your punch mark. Once I had that done, I drilled from the outside with a 1 1/8" holesaw. The input seal now knocks into that hole, just like any other automotive lip seal would.

4. Reassemble it. You'll have to plug the original input shaft hole, a small freeze plug is the easy way.

That's all there is to it. if my quickie directions don't make sense, find a how to on a Corvair box, it's the same procedure.

No pics of the blister hammering, I just did it to see if I could really....wasn't sure it was going to turn out, it's the first thing I've ever hammered freeform like that.

[hillbillyhell]

That's really well thought out and executed. Nice job!

Question... Is the bracket holding the steering box to your inner structure strong enough? Is there another bracket closer to the cowl that isn't visible?

Let's hope so :D Nah, it's cool. The actual box mounting is 1/4 plate, is big enough to mount the box and that's all, so no extra material to flex. The plate itself is like 6 or 7 " long, and it's welded in solid on both sides, lots of area to spread the load at the joint. The tube that you can see in front of the box is 1x2x.120, so it's fairly heavy as well. The rear 1x1 tube is more of a locator than a load carrier, but it's still well tied in. the two tubes are just far enough apart to get the box in between, so again, no extra material on the plate in a front to rear direction. The thing I couldn't show in any of my pics is that there is another tube welded all the way across the firewall, in front of the 1x2. It ties into both the 1x2 and the upright supports, mainly adds additional bending resistance to the 1x2 main tube.

[peanut]

thanks !!!! nice work!!!

[hillbillyhell]

Hey, one more question.

How do you get to the pitman arm nut? Is there room inside the "extension tube" for a deep socket?


Thanks!
Ed

PS- Great tech! I'm asking all these questions because I'm thinking about using this box now instead of the F1 that I already have

Yup. Can't remember offhand what size the pitman nut is, but I did verify that the correct socket for it fits in the tube before I started this whole deal.

[joeycarpunk]

It's REALLY easy. I didn't take pics during the reversal procedure, because I wasn't really planning on doing it right then. Took it apart just to see what was what, and figured out that with another half hour or less it could be done and back together.

1. Disassemble the box.

2. Mark your hole location with a punch. This is the most difficult part of the whole deal. You want to drill the box on the opposite side of where the input originally was, you're just turning it around. To locate the hole, it took four hands....ended up dropping a washer into the input bearing race, and using a punch in the middle of the washer hole. May be a few thou off, but more than close enough.

3. Drill a pilot hole at your punch mark. Once I had that done, I drilled from the outside with a 1 1/8" holesaw. The input seal now knocks into that hole, just like any other automotive lip seal would.

4. Reassemble it. You'll have to plug the original input shaft hole, a small freeze plug is the easy way.

That's all there is to it. if my quickie directions don't make sense, find a how to on a Corvair box, it's the same procedure.

No pics of the blister hammering, I just did it to see if I could really....wasn't sure it was going to turn out, it's the first thing I've ever hammered freeform like that.
Thanks for adding the reversal instructions.

[CTFuzz]

Looks like you just changed my mind re: the steering in my truck...............great job...thanks!!

[62fairlane]

I think a nice saftey wire pattern on the arm would really set it off for that slick race look

[slamchop]

If anyone has specific questions, feel free to ask. I had these big plans to write the tech article of the century, took a ton of pics, sat down at the PC....and was like "shit, how do you write directions for this" :)
You just made my day! Using junkyard parts and imagination...turning something thats almost unaffordable and impossible to find for the real thing,into something thats plentiful and cheap with just a little work...great job

[hillbillyhell]

I think a nice saftey wire pattern on the arm would really set it off for that slick race look

That's the plan. I tend to either a: drill holes in everything, b: saftey wire it or c: both.

[striper]

Great Tech! I haven't got that far with mine yet but thought I'd throw in a link to a post showing how I reversed my box. Very similar looking box to the one used here and same process but with pics. I had to compromise with the seal on the input but it's up out of the dirt so should be right.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64204
Pete

[Shaggy]

Yea the truck boxes have that long offset I'm planning to use a 65 ford one in my T

[Paul]

note from a tech editor:

it has come to my attention that the exact original application for the steering box may not be as stated.

whatever the box came from originally, I do believe this thread contains some very good build techniques and leave it up to the reader as to how he uses this information.

Paul

[hillbillyhell]

note from a tech editor:

it has come to my attention that the exact original application for the steering box may not be as stated.

whatever the box came from originally, I do believe this thread contains some very good build techniques and leave it up to the reader as to how he uses this information.

Paul

Yeah, I got misinformed when I got the box! My apologies to everybody. From what I've found, what "Ranger" actually meant was F100 Ranger, from the early 60s. From looking around at some different catalogs, a lot of early Ford trucks used a similar box, so best bet is do some online looking before ya head to the salvage yard.

I hope this thread being wrong for so long didn't ruin anyones day.

[Junkyard Dog 32]

Thanks for bringing it back out. I appreciate the update/correction.
I had it saved and will be using this info eventually.

Great TECH by the way...



JOE:cool: