To Power Steer Or Not To Power Steer....

I'm at a crossroads. The CJ-6 is quiet, drives at 70ish with no trouble, and feels tight and new in most respects. I like not having any power steering hoses or pump, but I must be getting lazy or old because since I decided I am going to go to power brakes, I have been thinking of going to power steering. I can wheel it all day long, but I think I'd like the less than 83 turns lock to lock of the manual, for the in town driving. What do you guys think?

 

I think power steering is one of best upgrades you can do .

 

Does it have Saginaw already? I have been driving the FC150 quite a bit lately and will end up looking like Popeye if I keep it much longer.

 

If manual Saginaw the slow manual box is 24/1 ratio.
A fast ratio manual Saginaw box has 16/1 ratio.

 

So I should have asked what motor also. Most 4 cylinders don't have any power to spare for a pump on a good day. Most any 6 or 8 is easily setup with factory parts.

 

Buick V6, Manual Saginaw box I had around. Not sure of year or ratio, just seems like a lot of turns lock to lock.

 

Brake upgrade and power steering are the two best upgrades you can do to an early Jeep. It makes them so much more enjoyable to drive (less fatigue), especially if using off road or have limited slips/lockers in the differentials.

 

I did the PS upgrade with an Ididit tilt column in '98 on my CJ and have never looked back. High winds and sloppy Ross steering going over the Coronado bridge was all it took...

 

I just put power steering on my 5. Love it. Much nicer to drive.

 

power steering and power brakes. I love them a whole lot. Do it.

 

x a billion on the power steering

 

So with the original F134, is it a lost cause due to power?

 

Yep

 

Not at all, IMO. The only time you are really taxing the pump is off-road or going slow in a parking lot when you wouldn't notice it anyway. Going down the hiway it's a non-issue. I've had PS on my 3b with 33x12.50s for about 18 years and never thought about the possibility of it robbing power till now.

The hardest part is finding a place to mount the pump. (Edit: I was referring to mickeykelley's question about the F-head, where pump location is a custom affair.)

 

Looks like I will do some junkyard hunting this weekend. With the disc brakes all around, I think I will go the new route on the booster/master with a small booster. Will just source brackets for the booster in the boneyard. For the steering, I imagine one off a J truck would work well, and there are a million GM pumps around, so no issue there. Thanks for the input.

 

The new booster/GM master cylinder setup many retailers are selling now is really a great solution without going the JY route. Kit comes with everything.. brackets, prop valve etc..
Disc Brake Conversion Kits | Master Cylinders | Brake Boosters - Pirate Jack

Power steering is a blessing and a curse..
if its not a stock setup it always takes a little fine tuning and aftermarket steering components (A1 Cardone for example) have quality control guys from Chernobyl. I fought more with my power steering than anything else and I have a theoretical stock setup. But now it works and doesn't leak, so its awesome!

 

Frank ,
For a Steering gear do your homework...........A Saginaw 700 or 800 with 4 bolt mount and 13/16" x 36 spline input shaft is the HD version of that power steering gear, the same gear box short of converting to variable ratio that AMC used for years in the CJ5's starting about 1977-78+/-..........If you have your choice typically what you want in a Jeep is a variable ratio gear box that is much easier to drive on the freeway while at it's slowest point and also quicker when your off road and turning allot. Typically 3.5 turns each direction lock to lock...........

What do you have for exhaust on the drivers side? A stock cast Iron front dump crossover manifold will require you use the factory V6 high mount............for headers or rear dump manifolds the low mount is a better choice. If your doing the Power steering and brakes together..............getting all of the correct matching parts fitment wise is important as space under there can become premium real quick..........you'll also need new belt pulleys for the water pump and crank.........

Lots of good info on this site under the Saginaw swap section.

 

wow that website got a lot more cumbersome than I remember.. I just took the link I had saved in my browser..
ill try and find the other site.. I believe its Partsdude4x4, that also has them listed..

1974-1986 Jeep CJ7 & CJ5 8" Dual Power Brake Booster Conversion Kit

its basically a new aftermarket dual diaphragm booster, with firewall bracket and rod, with a GM (corvette) master cylinder..
the prop valve with the kit you order is for Disk/Disk, Drum/Drum Disk/Drum.. whatever...

I'm sure I have more info in my build thread...

 

bought my saginaw box rebuilt off amazon shipped for around 120 bucks with warranty.