Posted by Charlie on Thursday, December 07, 2000 at 03:48:20:
In Reply to: Power steering posted by Rob Rose on Wednesday, December 06, 2000 at 23:39:50:
I installed a 2" hydraulic ram on my 48 B1PW attached to a welded up bracket which attaches in turn to 4 of the 12 3rd member studs; the other end attaches to a big hunk of steel (1" thick with a 1" hole drilled in it for a 1" pin) which is welded to the tie rod. There is a Saginaw pump that runs off a belt. Two hoses go from the pump to an orbital valve and another 2 hoses go to and from the valve and the ram. The orbital valve ("brain") is part of a replacement drag link, originally part of a F700 Ford truck. The tapered pin hole in the steering arm had to be enlarged. The pitman arm was straightened so the ball end points straight down and goes into an orifice in the drag link which amazingly is the correct size for the ball end. The drag link was shortened and made adjustable length with a length adjusting setup (with normal and reverse fine threads and a big nut type deal) just like a normal adjustable tie rod. The stock steering box is used. There is very little stress on the linkage till the tie rod. If the pump fails or oil leaks I still have normal manual steering. The caster was increased to +5 deg. to improve center feel.
Ray Suiter has or is working on brackets for integral PS boxes on civilian type 46-68 PWs. I believe these use the same box as the M37, a reverse rotation mid 70s W1-300 box. AGR's with variable ratio and good feel (not excessive boost) is highly recommended. He's also working on a very similar setup for WW2 3/4 tons, I requested one for my WC53.
So both integral and ram assist PS is possible for your WDX. Ray even makes brackets for certain pumps for the flathead and Chrysler small block V8s. PS is a great upgrade especially offroad; remember to consider the caster increase especially if you are using radials which will increase road feel. Use only steel wedges to increase caster, NOT aluminum.
Charlie