mainePW

I aquired a used '85 non-IFS box from a salvage yard- seemed to be in good shape, no visible leaks. Flushed it out with the proper ATF, done with the front tires off the ground, using the starter to crank the engine briefly as I cycled the steering lock to lock while adding fluid periodically to keep the resevoir up. Went for a drive, found it pulls left- let go of the wheel, and you're at full left lock real quick. I jacked the front axle off the ground again, started up- same thing, steering wheel turns all by itself at idle. I do have power steering in both directions, no unusual noise or leaks. I assume I'll have to rebuild the box- haven't found any rebuild info on the push-pull type box. Anyone know of a writeup on this box- is it similar to the IFS internally?

83

I know when you take a steering box off you've got to mark the shaft so you know where center is. Are you sure the gears in the box think that straight ahead is the same as where the rest of your truck thinks it is?

I'll be very curious because I've got a power steering set-up I'll be installing on my truck soon and I didn't mark anything when I took it off the donor truck.

mainePW

When I set the steering up, I found the number of turns lock-to-lock, then came back 1/2 way when I mounted the Pitman arm. In theory, it should be centered. I'm getting full power assist to the left- don't want to take your hands off the wheel in traffic! Looks like a port is either closed or open when it shouldn't be. The 1st Gen IFS box looks VERY similar to my box except for the long sector shaft housing, which is why I'm wondering if the internals aren't pretty much the same.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

There are, or at least should be, alignment marks on the sector shaft and pitman arm:



http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...html#Alignment

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

the IFS box mounts entirely different..if you go that route might as well go full high steer but you will need about 3" of lift...





what you don't want to have happen when you install your high steer:

EWilson

Originally Posted by 98taco4x
oh and make sure that your drag link clears your tierod

So what if you do have that problem?
It does hit and I was wondering if there's any way to fix that without having to re-mount it or get new springs.
Maybe a pitman arm with a little less drop???

mainePW

In my case, the Pitman arm position doesn't appear to influence the leftward action- I tried cranking in various amounts rightward bias to see if the box would center with the tires off the ground, but it keeps steering left- like it's owned by Obama. At idle, the assist is not sufficient to turn the tires when they're on the ground. There is assist to the right, just not as much as to the left.

With respect to the IFS problem mentioned above, I have seen either All-Pro Offroad or Trail Gear (can't remember which) markets a flat Pitman arm that might solve the problem.