according to wikipedia...

1965 cj-5's with the dauntless had a power steering option. I can't imagine how. Anybody know if this is true?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_CJ-5#cite_note-gunnell-2

 

Knowing the history of the components (Ross steering, Saginaw steering), I don't see how it's possible before 1972.

 

The Jeepster Commando of the V6 era had a power steering option. Manual steering on the Commando was the Ross box just like a CJ. But apparently if you got power steering it meant a switch to the Saginaw power box, with a whole bunch of different components required to make it work, including a different exhaust manifold on the driver's side. Seems a lot of work for the company to go through to offer a power steering option.

So maybe Jeep prototyped the same setup on the CJ series but it never actually reached production? Or was produced in such low volume that few surviving examples exist today? At the time the CJ was among the lowest priced vehicles in the Jeep lineup, and power steering would have been a significantly expensive option, so I'd be surprised if it ever happened.

 

Hmm. I thought that Saginaw steering was only offered in the Jeepster in 1971. I'd guess this could be power or manual... once you have the mounting for the gear, adding the pump and hoses is simple.

 

There's a 70 Commando on Ebay right now purported to be an original Hurst model. It clearly has a power steering pump. Unfortunately there's no good shot of the steering box: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1970...rs_Trucks&hash=item4165af46ad#ht_35110wt_1079

And a 68 Commando on Hemmings, where you can clearly see the PS pump on the engine, but again no shot of the steering box: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2011/12/16/hemmings-find-of-the-day-1968-jeepster-commando-2/

Another 68 with PS but no shot of the steering box: http://www.vantagesportscars.com/showroom/jeep/1968-jeepster-commando-by-kaiser-jeep-corporation/

I'm assuming all of these must have had Saginaw steering unless there was something like a PS Ross box, but I've never heard of that. I've seen build threads on the net where a guy was converting his 68 Commando from Ross to Saginaw, so unless 68 was the transition year I'm assuming Jeep built them both ways.

 

the hurst has a saganaw box you can barly make out the round cap under the front bumper

 

No Jeepster before 1970 came with P/S, option or not, just wasn't available. A lot of owners convert pre 70's to Saginaw though, some rather poorly.

 

The two primary pieces needed to convert a Ross box (or manual Saginaw) to PS are readily available. I think you could mount the control valve on either end of the drag link or perhaps modify one of the tie rods off the bell crank and the assist cylinder can be mounted directly to the axle if desired. There will be some fabrication required so probably going to be about the same amount of work as adding a power box-just messing with different pieces.

http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corv...wer-1963-1982.html?crosssell=MODEL_LANDING_C3

http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corv...red-1963-1982.html?crosssell=MODEL_LANDING_C3