LEB Ben
Arrogant A-hole At-Large
Well boys and girls, the time has finally come to get Red's steering back up to snuff. I was about ready to pull the trigger and call Redhead to get all my power assist stuff rebuilt, but then a buddy of mine really urged me to convert to a 2wd p/s set up, so I humored him and started taking a look.
Let me start by saying Redhead is going to be $650 in rebuilding my power cylinder, bendix control valve and new hoses. I've always been of the opinion that the P/A system is just fine and catches a bad rap because most guys have 30+ year old equipment and for some reason expect it to be new...and the P/A systems were replaced by a better system. But all in all, I think new P/A systems function and operate just fine and actually have a couple advantages in steering geometry.
Anyway, I got looking in to the swap and came across the benchworks conversion:
http://benchworksteering.com/F250conversion.htm
I didn't want to have to bother with putting together my own swap pieces, and I wanted all new parts. After initial shock of the price of the kit, I hopped on JBG to see what all those parts total individually, it was right at $1000 +/-$50. Could I probably piece it together for cheaper by searching other vendors, yeah...but I probably wouldn't shave more than 150-200 off the individual pieces...and my time costs something. Anyway, for $100-300 extra, I figured the convenience of a complete kit that is made for eachother is probably worth it. And if I were to go this route, I'd have all new parts from the column to the drag link, something that can be said for Redhead idea...and this system should add a little more ease to steering, and it's all bolt on. If I were to go this route, I'm already thinking I'd beef up that frame re-enforcement/bracket though.
So what says you guys which direction would you go???
Let me start by saying Redhead is going to be $650 in rebuilding my power cylinder, bendix control valve and new hoses. I've always been of the opinion that the P/A system is just fine and catches a bad rap because most guys have 30+ year old equipment and for some reason expect it to be new...and the P/A systems were replaced by a better system. But all in all, I think new P/A systems function and operate just fine and actually have a couple advantages in steering geometry.
Anyway, I got looking in to the swap and came across the benchworks conversion:
http://benchworksteering.com/F250conversion.htm
I didn't want to have to bother with putting together my own swap pieces, and I wanted all new parts. After initial shock of the price of the kit, I hopped on JBG to see what all those parts total individually, it was right at $1000 +/-$50. Could I probably piece it together for cheaper by searching other vendors, yeah...but I probably wouldn't shave more than 150-200 off the individual pieces...and my time costs something. Anyway, for $100-300 extra, I figured the convenience of a complete kit that is made for eachother is probably worth it. And if I were to go this route, I'd have all new parts from the column to the drag link, something that can be said for Redhead idea...and this system should add a little more ease to steering, and it's all bolt on. If I were to go this route, I'm already thinking I'd beef up that frame re-enforcement/bracket though.
So what says you guys which direction would you go???