Power Steering Gear Box

I recently converted to a manual saginaw steering box and now thinking of going to power steering. I found one for sale from a 1985 CJ-7. Anyone know if that would be a good choice?

 

Good choice on model but 1985 is 28 years old. The seals are probably worn or rotted and unless a very low mileage unit probably worn out. May be a good core if cheap enough. I'd purchase a new or reman unit from a reputable source.


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Would a power steering box from an 85 Cj7 even work in 59 Willys without major fabrication?

 

The Jeep would need converted from Ross cam and lever steering g to Saginaw steering.


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Anybody have photos of a power steering setup on an early Cj5? I would love to do that conversion. Will do the forum "search".

 

Check the build thread. It's pinned at the top. It's literally pages of this.

http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/showthread.php?17911-Saginaw-power-steering-(pics)-please-add-yours!!

 

85 use the O-ring style hoses so you'll need to keep that in mind too.

 

That's a good point. Not sure what to look for. Would a new or reman unit from a 70's cj be a good option?

 

Or you could just convert the existing manual box with one of these
http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corvette-power-steering-control-valve-remanufactured-1963-1982.html

and add a power assist cylinder of your choice. One thing that does is it takes almost the entire loading off the sector box mounting. Down side is two extra hoses to maintain and the control valve seals don't last as long. But they are close to dirt cheap and the job only takes about an hour.

 

My p/s box came from a running 73 Wagoneer.
No leaks, no issues.
Still works just fine.

 

The Manual Saginaw is a 3 bolt mounting box whereby the series 800 steering gears found on the Jeeps were a 4 bolt box marked with a large 6 /7 cast in the housing.........the overall length front to back is different so the steering shaft coming from the column will be a different length unless you have a double D shaft that might extend..........but also the input shaft size is different as well as the Pittman arm/ sector shaft size so new parts are needed there...........last but not least since the box sizes are different it's doubtful that the location of the pittman arm on the Power steering box would be in the correct location in relation to the tie rod and spindle arm, normally the Power box has to move forward a little along with the mount............can be done but lots of things to measure & consider.........

 

Here's a side by side comparison of manual and power boxes.
Input and pitman shafts are identical locations.
Overall box length is different.
I only used 3 of the 4 box mounting bolts as my mount design was from 1975 and I didn't want to redo the whole mount.
We could argue the pros and cons of 3 bolt vs 4 bolt all day long.
3 bolt works for me.
The bell coupler was changed due to larger input shaft diameter.
The pitman arm was changed due to larger pitman shaft diameter.
The length of the intermediate steering shaft did not change.
The front bumper lower lip was notched for the increase in box length.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e121/348Win/powersteering001-1.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e121/348Win/pitmanarm-1.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e121/348Win/powersteering003.jpg

 

Bending the power and return lines was tight, but very doable.
I didn't have to relocate the winch or winch mount, didn't have to rework the grille of front xmember.
A CJ5 may have more room than I did.

Port openings with box mounted:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e121/348Win/powersteering1006.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e121/348Win/powersteering1001.jpg

Finished bends:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e121/348Win/pslines.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e121/348Win/pspressurefittinginstalled.jpg

 

http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/showthread.php?17911-Saginaw-power-steering-(pics)-please-add-yours!!

 

Thanks everyone! This has been a lot of good information. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

I think i would like to go this route. Anyone have any write ups?

 

They have an additional $130 for a core charge. That makes it rather pricey if you don't have a core. My advice is, don't try to re-invent the wheel. Thousands of people have converted Early CJ's to power steering using Saginaw boxes. It's relatively easy and a great improvement.