Figgerin’ Steerin’

I’m changing steering from “OMG did that even work” to “Old steering column” to “modern-ish” steering box and crafted drag link and tie rod. As scary as that sounds most of it is pretty much done. All that I haven’t figured out is the link between the steering column and the steering gear box (mounted to the frame). You can’t quite see the shaft coming out of the back of the box (bad angle) but it’s tucked in the front-driver corner of the frame.

Basically, I need to replace this black thing from the donor truck:

To be the right length and reach the end of the steering column … which on the Gladiator was a “rag joint”. Well, I’m not going to go with the rag joint, but you can see it in the image above.

Think of the rag joint as “eating the slop” in the steering. It operates as a universal joint, but also has just a wee bit of give. It’s not strictly necessary and the likelihood of matching the splined thing coming out of the rag joint is pretty low. So, I measure the chevy steering gear box shaft size (double-D shaft) at 3/4″ and do some shopping. Here is what the double-D shaft looks like. The steering box is mocked in (earlier) in this pic but it clearly shows the shaft. it basically is just a rod with 2 flat sides.

Doing this on your own, be aware of a few things:

• Modern steering columns are substantially safer as they have airbags, and the steering is meant to collapse.
• This old-school simplistic approach means the steering column can ram up into the driver’s face in an accident.
• The accordion looking thing on the black shaft which I’m not using would likely collapse in an accident where the “shaft” I’m buying will not.
• Using the old steering columns is a bit dangerous as the old steel centered steering wheels were famous for messing up faces/heads in accidents.
• I’m not advocating you do this kind of steering on your vehicle. I’m just showing what an idiot like me might do.

Now to figure out what to do on the steering column end… Let’s get the rag joint off. 😀

Taking off the 2 nuts:

It looks like if I clean this up and trim off (grind off / cutoff) the flange I can easily get a 3/4″ post.

Forgive my crappy sketch, but basically this is what I’m thinking:

Coming out of the steering box there is a 3/4″ double D shaft. I’ll put a new 3/4″ double-D u-joint (both sides double-D). I’ll attach the “front” u-joint to a new 3/4″ double D shaft which will lead to a new double-D u-joint where one end will be welded to the Steering column. The front u-joint I will weld to the shaft and the rear one will be welded to the steering column. This leaves the steering box and detachable and the shaft detachable. from the steering column u-joint.

A quick bit of searching at Speedway motors, crack open the wallet, and parts are ordered!

…and they showed up! A couple of u-joints and a shaft…

Mmmmm hmmm

This bit feels a bit tight. Crap, I think they made the leap to metric and my u-joints are imperial.

Yep, not gold. Mostly poopie. So, it just means I’ll need to somehow sleeve part of the old steering onto the new 3/4″ shaft. So first I’ll guess a little then mark and cut the steering shaft. If I’m going to do any sleeving I’ll need to know what kind of thickness of a sleeve if this is going to work.

After some clever use of a sharpie and zip disk:

So for this to make sense, I’ll need something like a bushing to eat that gap yet keep this centered. If it’s off center the steering column will be trying to move as I’m turning the steering wheel. That’s not the plan.

Pitter patter, time to get at ‘er!

So I cobble-fab’d something together… let’s put it in place. On the steering box, that little indent is a relief for the bolt that goes through the collar. Looks to be a pretty good design to be honest. Even if it gets some slop the bolt detent will help hold it on.

Bolt go vroom right here.

Here’s where it’s gonna go. You can see my imperial to metric sleeves that hold the bar in the center of the tube. One part ordered, one part made, three parts together make steering centered and weldable.

I feel like I’ve done a lot of sketchy things in my time. This is one of them. I’m convinced it’s the best path but I wouldn’t want to be my first passenger going 75 down the interstate.

It’s kind of a round peg square hole problem.

It’s round in there. Maybe if I just grind away the non-round bits…?

This still has some adjustment in it. They all overlap a little but are pretty snug. once I get the final lengths, I’ll do whatever adjustments then cut some slits and do some hard/hot welding.

The length looks pretty good, I think with some of the non-round bits ground away this might actually work.. maybe…

I just used this pair of vice grips for keeping the steering from steering while I trimmed and ground down the flange.

I used the vice grip jaws to get a consistent grind.

What’s the chances I can get this welded on here “straight enough” so the steering doesn’t lop?

I did wire brush all the gunk off. WCGW?

Figuring out how to ground for welding was tricky. This was all I could figure out. Anything else would send an arc through either a bearing or a seal or a u-joint.

The first attempt actually failed. It was lopsided. I broke the tacks and ground them off and retried… here’s the result.

I think it’s actually pretty centered and straight. TBH I think the steering wheel is more lopsided than this.

You can see a short video of me testing it here. Free wordpress doesn’t allow vid uploads.

Of final note (and entertainment)… while I was testing, I didn’t realize just how much power steering fluid I was puking out. At least most is in the coffee can! 😀 Sheesh…

This one may have gotten warm…just don’t look at my crappy welds.

The final product on this link wasn’t as bad as I worried it would be:

All that’s left is to cut the drag link to length and tack it in… oh yeah, should probably hard weld the u-joint too.

Before measuring/cutting the drag link, a few prep steps:

• Run the steering lock to lock and then center.
• Make sure every joint which can be adjusted is like 3/4 of the engagement in so that there’s plenty of adjustment.
• Turn the steering wheel all kinds of ways to be sure you like it. Then after you walk up front and step in the steering fluid, clean it up.
• Remember that it’s gonna puke fluid going forward as you turn the steering wheel.
• The drag link should be adjustable by twisting the link in place later (to get your steering wheel straight).
• The tie rod should have already gotten your wheels roughly aligned.

Once it’s all centered and threaded where you want it…

Here’s the steering box end with the threaded bung put on.

Get her up there and close before you mark it… last chance for adjustments… run through all the bits in your head… ready?

…then commit and do some welding…

For a freehand cut, I think this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to exactly lining up…

I committed the other end too… it was just tacked before.

And just like that the steering mechanical system is in essence done. Maybe some fluids, etc… but I did add some primer to cover up my crappy welds.

It’s come some distance from where it started…

Heater box

Heart shaped box — Nirvana

Man in the Box — Alice in Chains

What’s so hard about a heater box?

• Send air through a heater core
• Send air into the cab
• Done right?

Not so fast.

It also has a diverter so that it could send just fresh air into the cab.

It also has to fit in a smaller space than the stock (old) original one.

It also has to accommodate a larger (donor truck) heater core.

In another post here I showed the start of the buildup of the heater box. Let’s finish it out.

Here is where we’ll start…

Noice fit. Now let’s get the flapper in there that diverts to the heater core or straight to the cab. When it’s oriented this way, the air is diverted through the heater core.

When it’s this other way it’ll go straight to the cab. Let’s make that happen.

Start with some steel. ha! These will support the heater core inside the box. Not yet! They are just rough cut! I just noticed all the grinding wheel on the bench (the dust… it WAS the grinding wheel…)

I bent 2 of those pieces into “C” shapes and 2 into L shapes. The C shapes will be at the bottom once it’s hung. I had to trim them a bit. The L shapes will be at the “top”. I couldn’t get both to “just sit there” with it all just mocked/propped up. Hopefully you get the idea. I will add some straps that actually hold the heater core against the support (with rubber bits between the aluminum and the steel.

The cardboard above the heater core will be out of steel in a bit. This is just to make sure of clearance and that the heater core can actually be removed/replaced if/when needed. It’s a thing. Here you can see them tacked in.

Not terrible with the heater core in there. I did a little more trimming to be sure it would go in/out without too much trouble.

I’m going to get some flat stock but you can see with the scrap piece how the straps will basically run.

I intend to have them held on with screws.

The next piece I cut out goes to the right of the heater core to box it so that air will channel through the core. Maybe it’s starting to become more clear. The air will go down through the hole from above and come out toward the camera through the heater core.

I added the top cover plates (well, the cardboard) on top. It’s getting there. Below is the same condition, but a picture from above the workspace.

I think most of the top will be bolt-on “all at once”. It’s going to leak air like a sieve I think. I may have to hard weld most of the seams and use some foam tape wherever something is removable (between the core and the supports and the top cover) or moveable (flap). One wonky bit I didn’t foresee… the lever to flip the bypass flap couldn’t go to the “outside” of the truck due to clearance… so it’s gonna have to be inside the box. derp. Not the end of the world. Just another hole in the box. Just… another… hole… in the box…

I suspect it’s going to be tricky getting the in/out coolant lines area sealed with foamish-something. I can’t fight every fight before it’s time. First I have to get the box built.

I can’t even being to tell you how many times I put this together and took it apart… but then you have to just say “YOLO” and get on with it.

Here I got the far side (actually top in the truck) bent and tacked on as well as the right side (bent and tacked on). You might notice that I did a really bad job of bending the far side top edge… which of COURSE is the edge where the top will bolt/screw on rather than weld on. Once fixed it’ll be more bendy and even less smooth. The consequences are that the cover will need some foam tape to seal.

In case you missed it… right here is where I was a dork.

The diverter flap still works well. Sorry for the reverse angle, but it was better for seeing the flap operate.

So the next dorky bit is that this spot is about 1/4″ taller than the left hand side. I’d like the outside appearance to “look flat”… so I’ll have to shave down this divider piece before I bend and weld it into place.

Also, there’s this big stupid gap that somehow I missed.

These panels of the template are now kind of out of date now that I have hard dimensions of the box.

Maybe now there’s enough to sort of show how the hot and ambient/cold air will flow.

Between the dashed blue and dashed red boxes there is a divider which will seal with the cover (not yet built).

The ambient/cool air comes in from the firewall and goes out the hole-not-covered-by-the-flap, then travels to the cover, then to the right, then down and through the firewall to the fan box.

When the flap is in the other position (seen above) the air flows down behind the heater core, then comes through the heater core toward the cover, then to the right and through the firewall into the cab.

There are really only 2 pieces left to go. Getting the divider “just right” and then building the cover. (or maybe the reverse order?)

I’m gonna need a really good and accurate model for the cover.

Time for a new template.

I want the divider needs to be level and the top needs to just touch it. Right now it’s a little off.

Here’s the angle of the back (top) wall

Here’s the angle of the divider (roughly speaking)

So I shaved down the divider a bit to get it to the same angle.

Now when I lay this new template over it, I can get more accurate dimensions

I think I should do this in 2 pieces maybe? Here’s one…

then dangling bit on the right should be flat but my template crosses a natural bend from when it was a box!

From this angle you can see where the hot air should flow.

My first attempt at the second piece was to try to add bends, but that really didn’t work. *sigh* wasted steel:

So I ended up getting 3 triangles to match the contours. I think it turned out well in the end:

Here’s the cover. I still have a bit of work on it, but I think it looks pretty good!

I stitched a few more welds in and got the divider trimmed and in place. Here’s what the inside looks like.

I can almost feel the end of it. What’s left?

• Drill holes and weld in bungs for bolting the cover on
• Add straps over the heater core with some rubber to avoid galvanic action
• Cut some holes in the cover for the in/out of the heater hoses
• Mounter her up!

Bungs in,

Straps in,

holes cut…

Spent some time grinding/sanding to help it’s appearance…primer time! Those weld in square nuts are awesome for cramped spaces. Super helpful when you have to assemble like 20 times.

Ran out of primer 😦

That’s ok. I know it’s pretty much done. I will very likely make a cover that bolts on the outside to cover up where the pipes come out to reduce sucking air from the engine bay.