1968 f 100 steering box

[1968_ONEHUN]

Hi guys,first post here.I finally dragged (DROVE) the ford home tonight.Got some steering problems (BOX).How to repair or replace?Is their a kit,or just a new one the only answer?Got some serious play in it.Also any one ever added a brake booster to one?Scarry stuff.thanks,many more posts to come i'm sure.

[cobraF100]

Hello and Welcome,

Yea it's really easy to do.

1- There is a Nut on the Top of the Steering Box that you can Loosen the Nut the Srew the Stud down and that will take out some Play,other wise you will need to rebuild it.
-A New Power Steering Box can be gotton for around $80.00 Bucks thats after the Core rebate of about $70.00.Other words with out a core to trade in it will run right at $150.00
-You can get a rebuild kit but for the Price of a New one I'd just go that way.

2-Yes,You can just add a Booster to your Truck and it will work.No other Mods needed.
-I just bought a New one for around $130.00 for my Truck.(I just needed one smaller then what I had in it)
-I'll sale the one that I just took off.Right at a Year Old.


Hope I helped

[FORDification]

Swapping a power booster into a truck not equipped with power brakes has got to be one of the easiest swaps going. The following procedure pertains to installing the booster to give you four-wheel power drum brakes. If you opt for swapping in disc brakes, you'll also have to replace the master cylinder with one set up for a disc brake vehicle.

1) Disconnect the master cylinder pushrod from the brake pedal
2) Remove the two nuts holding the master cylinder to the firewall (do not remove the brake lines from the MC)
3) Carefully pull the MC away from the firewall and remove the pushrod that held into the end of the MC by a clip.
4) Insert the power booster into place between the MC and the firewall and bolt it into place.
5) Reconnect the MC to the power booster.
6) Reconnect the pushrod to the brake pedal.
7) Run a vacuum line from the booster to the intake manifold.

The power booster will have it's own MC-to-booster pushrod and booster-to-brake-pedal pushrod.

Here are some pictures:

PICTURE 1 - Here is a comparison shot of the manual brake MC (foreground) and the power brake setup (background).
PICTURE 2 - In this shot the MC is removed from the booster to show you the built-in MC pushrod
PICTURE 3 - Here's a closeup of the clip holding the manual brake MC pushrod.

As for the steering, you'll have to check to see where it's binding. Is it manual or power steering? If you're sure it's the box, I'd just replace it with either a good used one from a parts truck or even a new replacement. I just checked the AutoZone website and found that a new box is only about $150 and those come with a limited lifetime warranty.

[1968_ONEHUN]

thanks guys.I take it the booster is a noticeable improvement?

[cobraF100]

Yea,,,,You can STOP better.......

[1968_ONEHUN]

o.k. then.What year ford trucks will fit? 67 to 79 the motor in the 1968,is a 1979 300cui.6cyl.

[cobraF100]

What part are ytou asking about?

I'm not sure about what Braket you will need for the Power Steering Pump to fit your 300ci Engine.Someone else will have to answer that.

Booster can come from any of the 67-79 Ford Trucks as far as I know..You just need Vacuum off the Intake or the Carb. for the Booster to work.
The easyest way is to get the Carb. Plate that goes under the Carb. and between the intake for your Vacuum..

[muchtomydelight]

DO NOT tighten your steering box until you check out your tie rods and drag link. If this is worn, you have to replace it- 100 bucks for a full steering linkage set. If you overtighten your box because the slack is still there, you WILL ruin it. I also heard that the shop manual says to jack the front end up so you can tighten the box without any pressure on it, and to get a good feel for how tight you have it. This will also make it easier to see if your ball joints are worn.

[1968flareside]

I had a lot of slack in my steering back in '96 when I got it. I think the loose nut was acutally the pitman? arm nut. This one is located on the bottom of the steering box. I tightened that down and it was much, much better.

[lobuck76]

A good place to find the power steering pump, pulleys and brackets for the 300/6 is the late 70's van. The last one I got was from a '78.

[1968_ONEHUN]

do the late 70's vans have the bendix box also???

[FORDification]

The Bendix box was only used for a few years in the late 60s. It was replaced with the Ford/Saginaw box, so it's VERY doubtful you're going to find a Bendix box in a late-70s van. While I've never messed with vans, I'd be willing to bet that it just bears a resemblance to one, but is really a van-version of a Saginaw.

[lobuck76]

I've never really looked at the van gearboxes, but now I'm a little curious. It might also be worth taking a tape measure to the steering column on an old van. Could be we're walking around some good doners and don't know it.

[FORDification]

Keep in mind that vans are front steer whereas our trucks are rear steer. At the very least, the Pitman arm would have to be spun 180-degrees...if that's even possible (I don't know). I would also think that because of the confined space of the front of a van and the differences in steering column angle to the box, the box would almost have to be different to accomodate that different angle. The engineers couldn't just rotate the box to compensate, because then the Pitman arm would be at a bad angle.

Of course, this is just armchair speculation, so....

By the way, there's a Bendix box on E-bay right now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... egory=6755

[cobraF100]

Here's a Braket on eBay........

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... egory=6755