Power Steering Conversion

[Evongelo]

I've been reading several articles about this and it seems to be a common procedure. I just wanted to see if I understand it or if I am over simplifying it.

I'm about to buy, if everything goes right, a 71 F100 4x4. The seller says the steering box needs replaced and sugested I upgrade it to a power steering. I probably won't. I've driven manual steering before and I got used to it very fast. It was a car though, so maybe a truck will be much worse. Any way, I also found a 78 F150 4x4 being sold for parts. It has the same 351 engine (I think that is important). If I understand the conversion process correctly, could I not buy both trucks and get all I need out of the 78?

[FORDification]

Converting to power steering on a 4WD is very different than on a 2WD. On a 2WD, you simply replace the manual box with a power box...it's a straight swap. But there isn't such a straight-across swap for the 4WDs. The mid-'70s 4WD trucks had a power-assist option (not actual integrated power steering) but those were clunky, didn't always work well, and were prone to leaking...and parts for those set-ups is getting very hard to find. However, starting in '78, integral power steering finally did become an option. For someone wanting to convert a bumpside 4WD to power steering, the '78-'79 boxes are definitely the ones to use, but some fabrication to the frame is still required.

Here is a link to a page I started putting together when I was researching power steering for my F100 4WD, but never got around to finishing it. However, there might be some info there to give you some ideas.
http://fordification.com/tech/powerstee ... 00-4WD.htm

There are some people who have used 2WD power steering boxes in their 4WDs. One member here did a write-up showing what was involved:
http://fordification.com/tech/powersteering4wd.htm

As for the pump and mounting brackets, be sure the donor truck has the same engine. The 351M in the '78 won't be the same engine in '71, unless someone's swapped one in. The only V8 available in a 4WD during the bumpside years was a 360 FE, and the parts won't interchange.