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I have a 51 chevy 3100 and I have put the power disc brake kit from CCP and now I want to put power steering but not sure what is the best way. The front suspension is completely stock and I would like to leave it that way. I have restored classics all my life but never a truck. Just trying to get some ideas from people that know how and have done it already. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. The motor is an oldsmobile 350 with a turbo 400 trans.

A couple of the popular aftermarket suppliers sell a power rack and pinion setup for the straight front axle that is supposedly easy to install. I have been considering that myself after I finish the front disc conversion I've started, but have seen no comments posted here about rack and pinion steering on these old trucks.

jim

I installed a 69 chev truck power steering box and the kit that CPP offers. I had the pump from a previous rack and pinion steering installation which was attached to the frame. ( dangerous to say the least ) The CPP system works like a charm.

Good to know re being pleased with the CPP kit. I just ordered the complete kit including the steering shaft and filter. Certainly not inexpensive at $1070 complete including new pulley and shipping but Aaron seemed knowledgeable and helpful.

I fitted the CPP kit to my '50 truck about 10 years ago. Not sure if it's been changed since then but I found that there while it was simple to install there was a lot less steering lock than with the stock steering setup.

If it hasn't been changed maybe it's not a problem on US roads, but a lot of UK roads (especially in the countryside where I live) are narrow and twisty. I increased the available steering lock by making a new pivot point on the steering arm that came with the kit.
https://c8.staticflickr.com/6/5668/30636778503_20f8690325_c.jpg

https://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5722/31299539802_dcea27a6b4_c.jpg

I built up the sides of the steering arm with TIG weld before drilling and taper boring the hole. The conversion has been working fine since.

Did you anneal and normalize the steering arm after welding on it? I'd be a little concerned about possibly creating stress risers where the welding was done unless the whole piece was heated cherry red and allowed to cool slowly. It would be a real disaster if that piece broke unexpectedly on one of those twisty roads.
Jerry

Doesn't lengthening that steering arm place the drag link at an odd angle front to back? I know that the drag link needs to be parallel with the road to prevent bump steer, but I am wondering if a drag link that is not aligned perpendicular to the front axle would cause a steering issue such as bump steer.
I hope not, because I like the mod. I have the same CPP setup on my '49 and I would like to have it be a tight turning truck similar to the original steering.
I would probably have a longer arm machined from scratch rather than welded, as I have trust issues in my own welding and that of most welders. I cannot fathom the "exciting" ride it would be should that arm snap off.
Carl

Hi Jerry,
Thanks for the comments. From a spark and file test (not too scientific I know, but the available technology in my shop ) I reckoned that the arm was probably AISI 1040 or something very similar (it would be called EN8 Steel in the UK) and was clearly in the annealed state. I did three or four passes on each side of the steering arm with the TIG torch to build up metal for the the new boss, so the arm got a real heat soak. During the welding I had to stop a few times (with the Argon shielding gas still flowing) as the piece would have overheated otherwise. After leaving the arm for a slow cool, and using a file to square up my welds and round off the parent metal after sawing off the original boss and hole, I’m confident that the steering arm is still in the annealed state, so I didn’t carry out any further heat treatment —there is more material around the tapered hole now than as supplied.


Hi Carl,
To increase the steering lock with the Saginaw box, either the Pitman arm needs to be lengthened, or the (mounted at the spindle) steering arm’s length needs to be shortened. On the early trucks, lengthening the kit supplied Pitman arm isn’t an option because the wheel/tyre would collide with the Pitman arm ball joint before full right hand lock is achieved. The shortening was done by increasing the side-to-side dimension of the steering arm by TIG weld build up. The new tapered hole is bored through the arm’s original metal —the weld just adds extra material/strength.
This modification leaves the “side on” angle of the drag link unchanged, this is important for bump steer as you say. The angle which is critical with this modification is the angle between the drag link and the steering arm (viewed from overhead or underneath) in full left hand lock. Here the drag link is “pulling” on the steering arm; if the steering arm was shortened too much, the drag link and steering arm would make a straight line pointing through the king pin, with the risk of the steering kicking “over centre”. I modelled the new hole position before I started work to be sure that there is still a working angle at full lock.

As a general point, I am really keen that my steering wheel keeps it's connection with what's going on with the front wheels -the alternative could spoil my whole day as you have both kindly mentioned.

Stuart, I thought that you lengthened, rather than shortened the steering arm (my error). My question now is, why did you need to weld anything if you just drilled a new hole and cut off the excess?
Do you have pics of the final assembly?
Carl

Hi Carl,
What I have done and why, would probably be clearer if I had I had taken a close up photo of the steering arm before I started work . However, in the first of the two pictures I linked to, the hole at the end which is discoloured is the one that steering arm came with. The shiny hole in the steering arm is the one I have drilled and taper bored.

But, as the steering arm was supplied, The area around the original hole was rounded, and much wider than the area where I needed to put the new hole. IMO, for safety, there would have been insufficient metal each side of this new hole if I had just drilled and bored it. So before I made the new hole, I built up each side of the arm with TIG weld alongside where the new hole would be. Then, once I had dressed the welding back square with a file, the outline of the steering arm is as you see it in the first photo. Then I cut off the end of the steering arm, and shaped it ready to fit; this is what's shown in the second photo.

Gotcha Stuart. Thanks. Let us know what your new turning radius ends up at.