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1969 Steering questions

So I bought a 69 f250 highboy a month ago. Previous owner said the steering box blew up. He had a new one in the box. I helped him kinda half-@$$ put it on so that I could drive it home and figure it out later. I decided that I would send it to my friends shop. See what all it needed. Apparently the steering box that we put on isn't the right one. I texted the previous owner and he said it was out of a 79 bronco.

Is that fairly common?? My friend at the shop said that things were cut and welded so that they were shorter. (Center link or drag link cant remember) Steering shaft. And they said when you turn, the pitman arm is hitting the frame. The steering wheel has like a whole half turn of play. It's insane trying to keep it to go straight down the road.

I have been looking online for a new steering box. I hit the junkyards already. Every ford there is missing is steering box lol. What I am wondering is....I cannot find a steering box for a 4x4. Every single one I look at is for a 4x2. I was told by the shop to get the right box for the truck. 69 f250 390 4 speed. It has a power steering pump in it. That is another thing. When I look at the steering boxes for sale, none of them are for power steering applications. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Would love to drive this truck how its supposed to be driven. :beer:
 

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Fellro

Moderator
Staff member
The proper box will be a manual box with power assist. A common swap is one from 78-9 F250, but is by no means a direct swap. I did it to the 75 F250 I had, and while that was over 15 years ago, I recall having to build a spacer for it and do some minor modifications to get things to work. No cutting drag links or such though... The original was on the inside of the frame, as would be the 78-9 power steering box.
 
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Mine is a 4x2 and this is probably not helpful but just in case... This is mine... I got it from o reilleys for a reasobable price. 130 - 150 if memory serves. Mine is power.

661ed7a6f22f59900d2e1832ea674c59.jpg


Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
 

Fellro

Moderator
Staff member
That would be the original equipment type. It is a manual box, then there is a cylinder that is on the drag link with a controller on the drag link that attaches to the pitman arm. . Chevy actually uses kind of a similar setup if I recall as far as the box itself goes, but was power steering. It also mounted on the outside of the frame as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYLlcVOyWWM
 

BKW

Ford Parts Guru
Power Assist P/S was not available for 4WD's until 1973.

With Power Assist, the manual steering box is used, because it has nothing to do with the Power Assist system.
 

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