Add power steering?

[patriyn]

Has anyone added power steering to a non power steering truck? How big of a job and is it feasable? I have a 72 c10 with power steering and a 69 c10 that does not and I would like to swap before I sell the 72. The pulley on the drive shaft would need to be changed, ect.

[Sammy]

Should be a fairly easy swap. As long as you pay attn to the how everything is mounted. Ensure both water pumps are the same either short or the long style other wise you may be swapping all the pulleys and water pump from both trucks. You will also need the idler arm off the P/S gear box truck I believe they are different length too. Look closely before you remove the stuff from the 72 doner to ensure the idler link will bolt to the 69 first they maybe a different size from a 72 to a 69 as I'm not sure about that. Maybe someone who has done this recently can chime in.

[71 super]

pretty easy swap. Just set wheels to straight position jack up and remove nut from the pitman arm, remove the three bolts that hold the non power box (you need to unbolt the coupler at the box and slide the shaft back) pop the pitman arm loose from the drag link and remove the old box. The power steering box will use four bolts (5/8 head) to hold in place. Install pitman arm and bolt the box up using the four bolts. Install the power steering pump and brackets to the engine block and install the lower pulley set and belt for the pump on the crankshaft. Install the pressure and return hoses (they have different size fittings on the end that installs into the box so you cant mix them) and leave the truck jacked up. Pour in power steering fluid depending on how much you lost and allow the system to sit for a short while (good time to go in a clean up). After allowing the system to sit for a short period, SLOWLY turn the steering wheel from lock to lock 10 times, this will remove the air from the system and your power steering is swapped. Expect roughly 3 hours to swap back and forth between two trucks. Obviously you can skip a couple of the steps for the manual steering setup. Everything is a direct swap so no new parts are needed unless you want to replace coupler, hoses, seals in power steering box etc. Good luck and hope this helps. Harold