34 steering box swap for 37,38 or 39?

[trevo]

Hi Ford Men, I have Coker tyres and kelsey Hayes style wider wheels which look good gives good handling but provides for heavy steering over twisty winding roads not good for my shoulders and neck. It has been suggested that I fit a 37, 38 or 39 steering box with the better 17.1 ratio and maintains the light switching is this an easy one if so does anyone have a LH box I could purchase your comments please.

[FlatheadTed]

Trevor you need a F100 Box but this has it problems . outlet at the bottom of the box to long steering rod ,chassis mounting flange mod , I may have a LH one ,Others may shime in .

[richard crow]

34 ford is side steer 35-48 is cross steer your best bet is the f100 box. you will have to get one off a right hand steer. as far as shaft lenth you can press the f100 worm gear on the 34 shaft there is a booklet on the market that shows how to do the whole mod but remember the sector shaft is didderent on a right hand steer speedway sells the booklet item number 910-85208

[Mart]

34 has push / pull steering. 37/39 etc are cross steer.

Like said above you need to consider f100 / f1 or even the 37 Hudson as in Neal's thread on the hamb.

Things are tighter on RHD cars due to the starter, so it is difficult.

I was advised that the earlier boxes can be improved by fitting the 35-36 style roller bearings, I did it to my 32 box, but it was still dreadful, but probably due to the poor state of the worm and worm bearings.

I put a 37 Hudson in my rhd 30A on 32 rails and it is great.

Mart.

[JM 35 Sedan]

Trevor, I am a little confused as to whether you have a LHD or RHD vehicle? Anyway, there is a guy here in the US who makes a direct replacement steering box for Model A through '34 Ford. This box has the roller sector type gear like you would find in Ford f1/f100 pu's and '37-'48 Ford passenger cars. This is called E-Z STEER by John Kovar. www.ezsteer.net his address is 7609 Carter Road, Saga more Hills, Ohio 44067, phone # 330-468-3027, email: hotrodjohn@wind stream.net (and no...I am not on his payroll )
Now some who post here will bad mouth John and his steering box but we have done some addition research on this subject and found more good than bad info on him and his steering boxes. You can easily do a search to read some of these bad mouthing posts here if you like.
A friend just recently bought one of these E-Z STEER boxes from John and is presently installing it in his '34 pickup. I am awaiting feedback from him now on installation and function of this new steering in his '34, and if you would like, I could pm you with his results once I know them.
If you are extremely lucky enough to find a '37 (not sure about other years) Hudson steering then that would be another possibility to consider.

[Vic Piano]

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Just to chime in, here's a question; are your Coker tires bias-ply or radials? I run radials on most of our Flatheads, with the stock steering box however, I inflate the radials to 40 psi and that makes the steering easier without having a negative affect on the ride. Vic

[jimTN]

Why not go to the 15-1 late 34 worm and secter, shorten the pitman arm 3/4" to 1" and have everything fit? Vic brings up a good point about tire pressure. I had 16s on my 32 when I bought it and took them off to replace them with current oversize 18s and it steers real well, 80% better than the 16a.

[richard crow]

radial tires are designed to work with certain pressure make sure you don,t over inflate them thus lousing the benfit of the tire designe . always check with tire maker for proper pressure

[richard crow]

gentlemen the man lives in new zeland.whitch is right hand steer. so what ever he decides to use it has to come off a right hand steer car .whitch is not e z to find .there was a book printed by a man in n.z that showed how to mod. steering on a right hand steer car .

[JM 35 Sedan]

Originally Posted by richard crow

gentlemen the man lives in new zeland.whitch is right hand steer. so what ever he decides to use it has to come off a right hand steer car .whitch is not e z to find .there was a book printed by a man in n.z that showed how to mod. steering on a right hand steer car .

Sorry to inform you Mr Crow that not all early Fords in New Zealand are RHD. There were cars manufactured in countries with LHD that were exported to New Zealand and other countries normally having RHD.

[Vic Piano]

Originally Posted by richard crow

radial tires are designed to work with certain pressure make sure you don,t over inflate them thus lousing the benfit of the tire designe . always check with tire maker for proper pressure

Richard, you are correct however, I can tell you that the 40psi has had no ill effect on any of the radials on our cars, with respect to wear or performance, I have over 10,000 miles on a set of radials on our '47 Rag Top and at least 3,500 miles on a set of Coker Classic 6.00x16 on our '39 CS and I use both cars on the highway at sustained speeds of between 55 and 65mph and enjoy the ride. Vic

[richard crow]

jm 35 sedan if he is good with left steer then it,s much ezer i thought he wanted right hand steer old proverb assum nothing

[jimvette59]

I used a reversed Corvair stearing box on my 34 just welded a plate inside the chassis, the hardest part was welding a coupler together Corvair to Cadilac tilt and telescopic steering column, I'm sure it could be done with the 34 steering column. Just a thought.

[johnny]

I have a RH sreering ass. from a 38 Ford it yours if you could some how convert to cross steering John.

[trevo]

Hi There, thank you all for your advise just to clarify the roadster is a Left Hand Drive US model I dont want to alter the lighting switch just shows nothing is easy my tires are radial it states on the sidewalls not to exceed 35 psi so I run them at 30 psi.Its a tricky one thanks again all

[FlatheadTed]

Your option may be to add rollers to the sectore . And needles bearing in the upper col-um to your stock box .Ted

[Ol' Ron]

Streetrodder mag has an article on modifying this box for better steering. Might be helpfull for those that want their cars to look stock.