I'm doing a 28 roadster on 32 rails, traditonal style. Lets hear some opinions on steering boxes. I'm leaning towards the f100 box or maybe even the f1, do you guys think the frame will be severly weekend by drilling a hole through it? Are these boxes reliable to todays standards. Or should I go with a vega and try to hide the box....This is a highboy, so no fenders. Maybe a hood when it rains.......lets here from some of the experienced guys...here is a pic to visualize my project.
F-100 in a stock Deuce frame. It looks like your frame is fully boxed. Some of the boxing will have to be removed to fit the F-100 or F-1 box in the traditional location which is where the original 32 box came trough the unboxed original frame.
any opinions on what would work well in an unboxed 31 frame? i have a 31 box, a 48 tudor box, a 54 1/2 pick up ton box, a 53 pick up 1ton box.
by traditional style, do you mean with a '50s look? if so, don't use the Vega what years are your F1 and F100 boxes?
I wanted to run f100 but with a nailhead I ran into problems with starter clearance. So I opted rite now to go with the vega type. It is still period correct except all the borgeson joints it will have. I believe it was 1938 that the cross steer came into affect and by 40 alot of the cars were coverted to lincoln front endes with Lincoln columns. So I would say that it would still look traditional with the vega, but with that said it you are running a flatty, sbc, or sbc, caddy, etc with plenty of room I would run a f100 style box. Just my two cents
fwiw, I may be using a Vega box on my A too it looks like a much better fit... and I'm building to a little later style so I think a touch of St. Rod shouldn't be the end of the world
I guess it may be traditional for y'all, but us F100 guys are all trying to get rid of that crappy steering box! Just as a FYI: The replacement box of choice for us is a Toyota 4x4 pickup box in either the power or manual flavor. It is about the same size as the F100 box, is a recirculating ball design rather than worm and sector that wears so badly and is strong enough to easily handle our truck's weight and are a little quicker ratio to boot. They are cheap to buy used and are even available rebuilt off the shelf for less than the cost of an F100 rebuild kit. Bolt-in adapter mounts, column u-joints and pitman arms are available from the F100 suppliers. If anyone's interested in it, I have a good F100 box and column sitting in my "ebay" crate.
That's interesting, have both a f100 and a -32 roadster for which I was thinking of using another f 100 box. What year toyota, and model? Do you have pics?
You can always use a 32-34 steering box? I run them all the time with no problems.... Just my 2 cents. Matt
all 80-84 and some 85-87 4x4 pickup. Should be the compact box with a 4 bolt mounting flange under the piman shaft, NOT the one that looks like a 2' long cylinder. Mid Fifty www.midfifty.com has the best mount and all the rest of the parts. Put the PS box in your F100, you'll thank me after! It looks and works like it belonged there. I have pix.
I was going to use this one 'til I found a cowl steering gear from a sprint car. Then I swapped it for a Hossfeld bender setup. It's from a VW bus ('67?) and it bolted right up to the guy's 2" wide frame rail. Plus, it has a 15:1 ratio, puts the draglink level to the ground, and is adjustable for column angle.
An old rodder came up with this solution for the Studebaker's drivers side starter motor on my 34 P/U. This is the F-1 box. It works great. Maybe not for a highboy but I've seen worse. I don't think there are enough anti-rejection drugs in the world to keep a Toyota box in my hotrod.
Tommy now that is the best looking offset I have ever seen. Thanks for sharing. What did it do to your steering wheel placement?
I do not know how traditional it looks but I used a 67 Mustang box mounted under frame rail. It works quite well and has lasted 115,000 miles so far with a little adjustment. I think Total Performamce or Speedway still sells the bracket to mount it to your frame. Hope this helps you.
Mike Bishop did an fairly extensive write-up on how to install the F-1 box in a highboy and it oughta work for a full-fender. The info is in his book, "How to Build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod." Available at Amazon and other book sellers. I know I recommend this book from time to time, but I honestly don't know how some of you guys build this style car without this book.... (Only two more recommendo's and Mike owes me a beer.... )
My dad is running the '56 F100 box in his full fendered A. Just clears the flatty headers. The mounting hole is no bigger than the one for the stock model A box, but it's a hair further or back, I don't remember which. The pitman arm needed a serious bend to clear the split bones.
Well if any traditionalists are interested I have a 56 box column and wheel with built in turnsignals (custom cab feature) I took out of my F100 Panel Truck, or I'll be ebaying it soon. I also have the optional ram type power steering setup from the same.
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