Hey guys, been a very long time since I posted, still lurking though, was in college so didn't have time or money to even drive the truck let alone work on it but now I do.

So the thing I was wondering is what years of what vehicle used the same manual steering gear box as my truck- 1985 f150 300I6?

When I look in the Haynes manual it doesn't specify there being different steering gear boxes, so dose that mean because the manual is for “Ford Pick-ups and Bronco 1980 thru 1996 2wd and 4wd, full size, F100 thru F350, gasoline engines”. that all 1980-1996 F100, F150, F250, F350 and Bronco’s will have the same manual steering gear box and be interchangeable onto my truck?

Now for those who will ask WHY?
Because I want to restore to what it originally had witch was manual steering and my power steering pump died a month back anyway. So I have been driving around with manual steering using a power steering gear box.

Thanks for any and all help.

 

NO....that does not mean that everything from the years covered in the manual is completely interchangeable. The Haynes manual covers general instructions on how to do things, but does not mean all the parts are the same.

You could have 2 completely different parts, but are removed and installed the same way. Take a manual transmission for example. You could have a T18 Warner or a Clark 4 speed OD. The manual is going to give you instructions on how to remove and install both of those pretty much the same way (those actuall have different shifters so they would be a little different) but that don't mean they are the same part.

Best thing to do, go on a part store web site and look up the part for different years and see if they give you the same part number.

I will look in the Ford Master Parts Catalog and see what I find.

You are saying it originaly had manual steering? I wouldn't have thought any of these trucks had manual steering from the factory.

 

80 thru 96, f100 thru f350 and Bronco did all use the same steering box. I would have thought by 85 that power steering was standard and a manual box would not have been available, but the junkyard site does show a manual steering gear as a choice.

 

I think it was mainly the F100 and the F150's that were getting the manual gear box.

I wouldn't want manual steering in an F350 dually with a heavy load behind it.

My reasoning is that if your truck has a power steering pump, just replace the pump and keep rolling with the power steering.

How do you know that the truck originally came with manual steering? The presence of a pump kind of contradicts this...

Also, what caused the power steering pump to go out?

Two things to check are the steering gear shaft that sits just above the pitman arm, and your pressure hose and return line connections to the reservoir on the pump.

I bought a new power steering pump for my truck just recently. Hooked it up, filled it with fluid and turned it by hand until the system was full. Hooked the belt up and fired the truck up and it was blowing PS fluid all over my steering components. I've got to do the pitman shaft seal on my steering box, and if the box is worn out enough, the 8$ seal won't fix it and you'll need a new power steering gearbox.

 

I agree, but it would fit. They all have the same pattern and would bolt up to the frame, 2wd or 4wd. One thing I am not sure about is the pitman arm. I know some old cars I have worked on had different size splines on the output of the box depending if they were manual or power, and you had to swap the pitman arm with it. Not sure on these though.

 

Parts catalog shows several different M/S box part numbers thoughout the years with several mid year changes. Not sure what the difference between each part number would be.

 

All I know is that manual steering boxes have different gear ratios than PS boxes. Without the hydraulics to help, the ratio is adjusted so the wheel is easier to turn; the side effect is more turns required stop to stop.

Trying to park a PS-equipped vehicle where the power part has stopped working is doable but difficult. Just like trying to stop a vehicle with malfunctioning power brakes.

 

Yep. My belt left this world about 20mi from home the other night. Even at 35+ steering required a bit of shoving and cursing.

 

I'm remembering all the issue we had looking up ball joints and king pins on some of the 81/82 models and now I see some of those same notes for the steering boxes in mid year. So I'm wondering if when they went from stamped to forged I beams in mid year, and changed from King Pin to ball joints, that may have also required a slightly different MS gear depending on the geometry of the steering....or simply a different bolt pattern for mounting it. Could have also been a different ratio or spline count as well

 

Thanks for all the help guys on my way to the wrecker now.

I know it came with manual steering becouse my grandpa was the original owner, then my dad and after 15 years he had the ps installed. when my grandpa got the truck it was as base as you could possibly get, no AC, manual, 2wd, manual steering, I cant remember 100% but I dont even know if it came with a radio from factory, I know he had one put in at some point due to the 3 different sets of wires that were heat shrunk together (since been redone when I replaced the broken radio)

The second WHY is becouse this is my project mileage truck, I want to take old truck and push it as far as I can for mileage by sacrificing comforts I can do without. On the highway over 500km I had an average of 24.88mpg 2 weeks ago when I was running without the power steering. I dident mention this becouse people tend to say I am full of BS when I tell them a 26 year old truck gets better highway mileage than there 7 year old car and as I cant realy prove it...

 

Also Ranger and Bronco 2 used the same box. Might have a different pitman arm, but the box itself is the same. Most interchange catalogs don't list it this way, but compare reman steering gears for an F150 and Ranger of the same year, and you come up the same part number......
My 95 B2300 doesn't have PS. The bracket is there for mounting the PS pump and A/C comp, but in place of the PS pump there's just another idler pulley. Pump, hoses and box, and I could add it, but it doesn't need PS.

There may be numerous different part numbers, but they will all physically interchange.