Herms Manual Steering Upgrade

I didnt even know that was possible.....

 

Im still in need of a nut for the pitman arm, and the radiator is in the shop to get altered, but other than that its coming together. I had to move the spring keepers (not sure if thats what they are called) forward, out of the way of the tie-rod. Also moved the steering column U-joint as close to the firewall as possible to reduce the angle.

 

Its all installed and looks great. I can already tell its going to be a huge imporvement over stock. There is absolutely no slop and i can even turn the wheel fairly easily while the jeep isnt moving. Still waiting on my radiator to get finished before i can take it for a test drive

 

Gotta show us some pictures!

 

Pictures would be nice for all to see and help others.
Thanks

 

Saying that this kit is a straight bolt isnt quite true. The radiator needed to be modified because the outlet was directly in the way of the steering box. Sent mine to the shop, buts its so old and has been repaired so many times, i opted to go with one from a junkyard. Also, I mentioned earlier how the welds on the bracket were crap. Well when test fitting the box, one of the welds broke. So i proceeded re-do all the welds and then some. And, instead of bolting the box to the frame, i welded it.

 

Stinsonj,

What did you take you box off of? I have found a few manual steering boxes off of Ford Rangers that are listed to work but have not picked them up. I really like the idea of a manual box for simplicity.

Thanks for the write up, will help me make the choice to move forward.

 

I found a rebuilt one that came from a 1990 ford ranger on Rockauto.com. Feel free to PM me with any questions as you start the project.

 

Stinsonj,

Looking at your box and the manual boxes on Rockauto, it apears their is a long shaft that comes out of the stearing box toward the stearing wheel shaft? Does this sound correct?

RVSwisher

 

Yup, that sounds right. Without measuring it, im guessing its about 6-8" long

 

Do you have any pictures of this intallation yet???

 

I dont have any pictures of the installation in progress, but I already posted some not so great pics of everything installed on this thread. Just let me know if you have any questions on how it all went together

 

You might consider q dropped pitman arm if you have clearance for it that drag link angle is pretty steep and you most likely will get bump steer

 

Sorry, I missed the pictures. So, is that as far forward as that steering box could go, that drag link looks like is should be more parallel with the tie rod, and I agree with nickmil, that maybe you might need a dropped pitman arm. Looking forward to hearing how it all works out.

 

Thats as far forward as the box will go without removing the stock shock mounts. I mentioned to Herm that i have a 3" lift and probably needed a drop pitman arm but he sent me a straight one and insisted it will probably work...... So ill give it a shot and if i have any problems ill be giving him another call

 

New problem....I mounted the box as far forward as possible to create more clearance between the tie rod and drag link, not thinking to wait until i got my radiator back before welding it into place. Soooo, even after switching the outlet on the radiator to the other side, it still wont fit (its about 1/2" too wide at the bottom). Cant move the radiator forward because the crossmember is in the way and cant more the box back because then the drag link/tie rod will hit. Going to have to find an aftermarket radiator thats not as tall. Im starting to see why the saginaw conversion is a much more common steering swap.....

 

Finally got it all together this weekend and took it for a test drive. Here are the Pros and Cons of the whole set-up:

Pros:
-Huge improvement over stock steering
- Absolutely no slop in the steering and the jeep tracks correctly now and returns to center after a turn
-I really think that power steering would be overkill for my application (32" tires)
-I suppose that if you were planning on doing some rock crawling with larger than 35" tires, power might be necessary
-Bump steer did not seem to be an issue
-I like how the box sets behind the front crossmember, seems more protected there rather than behind the bumper

Cons:
-After a couple of hours of easy trails, the upper U-joint on the steering column is already making some noises
-Im worried that the angle of that particular U-joint is too great, and the best way to fix that problem would be to add a double U-joint, which would apparently require another bearing to be installed...i think.
-The welds on the steering box bracket are beyond crappy
-Had to re-weld them
-The instructions that come with the kit are also beyond crappy
-Very indescriptive and could use some pictures
-The stock radiator would not work
- The outlet for the radiator was directly in the way of the box, so i thought i could just move it to the other side. Being an idiot, i didnt measure everything to see if this would fix the problem. When i got my modified radiator back, i realized it still wouldnt work because it was too thick at the bottom and there wasnt enough room between the cross member and steering box. So i opted for a small, pro-stock aluminum radiator that measured 22x13. It fits great but was an expense i wasnt planning on when taking on this swap.

In conclusion, due to all the headaches, i would not recommend this swap, and if I had to do it all over again, I would do the saginaw swap instead.