Ford Manual Steering Upgrade

Today I ran into a local Jeep collector and our conversation was about Herms Ford Steering box upgrade. He said that’s a great upgrade. Never being happy to leave well enough alone, I considering the project.

Has anyone done the job and was it worth it? It does not appear to be especially hard.

 

I did it. I gather these fit better and worse on different vehicles. Give a fraction of an inch here and there.

That bracket is well made. Herm makes a good product IMO, but mine interfered with both the exhaust and fuel pump after setting it where it wanted to fit. Perhaps someone more imaginative/talented could do a better job than I integrating it.

I will say, steering feel is significantly improved. Box checked.

Would I do it again? Dunno. My Ross was hosed, so the improvement was immense. If I had a line on a decent one at the time, I’d keep it Ross to avoid collateral damage.

 

The final sell for me was replacement parts. After Herm’s bracket, everything is cheap and normal FLAPS/Jegs/Summit stuff. I think I’d still put it off until the Ross supply dried up and mine was roached.

 

We rebuilt the Ross and it is about as good as new as possible. Did you buy the tie rods etc from Herm or on the open market? It seems that whenever I do a project like this, the collateral issues cause the greatest problems.

 

I had Herm build me a drag link, cut to length, since this swap was paired with a NT D30 and crossover steer. TREs are from FLAPS.

I used a manual Ford Steering gear for a 85 Ranger from FLAPS, and a pitman arm from AA for a manual Jeep steering gear.

 

Not sure if I want to take the project on. There always seem to be collateral issues with these type of projects.

 

The best thing I ever did for drivability was toss the ross box, go power saginaw and power brakes. That with the v6/holly4 barrel/HEI modernized my jeep to the point of not only keeping up with city traffic, but also allowing power enough to pass when I must and stop inside the distance of other cars with zero effort and one finger steering with 35" tires.

If I had not done these things, I would be pretty unsafe on the roads and at the mercy of the crazies who drive stupidly insane.

 

But you also know to back off when the plates are diplomatic. Those folk should NOT generally be given keys to automobiles.

Always thought it would be a gas to do a couple laps ‘drifting’ around dupont circle... almost is that way anyways iirc.

 

Those people stay out of my part of town. I generally have to be careful because I am the only guy driving around in an open top jeep. I don't think people drive any more or less nuts here than anywhere else. Everyone just drives insane everywhere as far as i can see.

 

Almost like I wrote that post myself. Preach it!

 

Not many people where I live - 4.X per square mile, so the roads are rather forgiving lol. That being said disc brakes and tight steering were immense improvements.

It really comes down to needs and wants for your use case. In my area neither mod is required to make a good working early 5 a daily driver. Here, it’s worked that way for 60 years, it can do so for another, and there is something irreplaceable about originality.

The other side of the coin says keeping the Jeep alive, relevant, and useful is the highest form of flattery to it’s original designers. If to safely operate your Jeep in a crazier road environment, you need more power, brakes, and precise steering, do it! Keep em alive and clocking useful miles/hours.

 

I put 11” brakes on the front and it made a huge difference. What mods will have to ge done to the steering shaft if I take on the steering upgrade?

 

Herm talks about the ability to reuse the stock steering column, but I didnt wanna mess with that. I swapped mine out for a generic Summit tilt unit. I then got a couple borg joints and some rod and rigged it up. I have more angle in my setup than I’m happy with. I gotta play with that a little. I might end up with a CV joint and a brace off the frame.

 

The big advantage of the Ford setup over the Chevy style is the steering gear is behind the crossmember. The mount is therefore a bit more boxed in and it’s a bit more out if the way of rocks.

EDIT: I should add, the Ford style is also a hell of a lot more in the way of engine compartment stuff.

 

I did the 11" brake upgrade on my first 2a 20 plus years ago and it was night and day difference.

The steering upgrade is much more advanced and if you do as search you will see pretty much how to do it.