F350 steering box upgrade

Cubey

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I much prefer it, but I tow. I don't know that it would necessarily be worth the cost if you're usually running around empty. A new vacuum booster is a good bit cheaper.

I wonder if it can even be done on the van chassis. My vac booster is impossible the get, since it seems like I bought the last one in the US. It's using one that was only on vans and only for 84, 85, and 86. Maybe if I could swap in a newer brake pedal assembly something for 87-91 would fit. It has to do with the linkage on the booster vs the brake pedal connection.
 

Daniel McCurdy

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I forgot about the safety factor that power steering provides. The roads around me are not good and there's a lot of pot holes. So that kind of rules out the manual gearbox. It seems the brand's mentioned earlier redhead and bluetop make the best boxes but man are they expensive. I could buy 2-3 eBay boxes for the price of 1 of the good brand ones. Is it worth shelling out the small fortune for the good ones.
 

IDIBRONCO

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Unfortunately it seems that it is. Most of the reman boxes aren't very good these days from what I've heard.
 

Daniel McCurdy

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Are the hydroboost from the 99 and newer trucks better than the one from the F-super duty. Like does it create any more pressure is it more reliable.
 

Daniel McCurdy

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It seems the old hydroboost are starting to get kind of rare and expensive. The rebuilds are going for between 250-300 meanwhile I can get a brand new booster for a 2018 truck for 190$.
 

aggiediesel01

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The ‘99 and newer ones are more plentiful for sure but there’s some adaptation to make it fit our firewalls and master cylinders. The bolt in choice is a complete system from a f-superduty otherwise there’s will be some retrofitting required. I believe there is a pretty comprehensive thread up in the stickies at the top that covers most of it.
Also know that the hydroboost unit can be rebuilt on a bench with average tools so long as the accumulator hasn’t failed which is pretty rare. There’s a company out there that specializes in the kits that provides all the seals to accomplish this and it’s isn’t too expensive.
 

Daniel McCurdy

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Yea it seems the newer ones are way easier to find it's just a matter of redoing the bolt pattern and adjusting the rod length. I think I might go that route simply for ease of finding them. The only thing I need to figure out is the hydraulic lines
 

chillman88

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I forgot about the safety factor that power steering provides. The roads around me are not good and there's a lot of pot holes. So that kind of rules out the manual gearbox. It seems the brand's mentioned earlier redhead and bluetop make the best boxes but man are they expensive. I could buy 2-3 eBay boxes for the price of 1 of the good brand ones. Is it worth shelling out the small fortune for the good ones.

In my experience, if you want to be cheap get a box from the local auto parts and change it out a few times until you get a tight one. It's got a lifetime warranty, but you might need it. I went that path on my other truck, gave up after the third time and said good enough.

I put a Lares reman power steering gear in my dually just because mine didn't have any seals left and would empty itself right out and I couldn't afford a redhead.

Yes they're pricey, but they're worth it. Unless you don't value your time at all. The normal remans just aren't up to par anymore.
 

chillman88

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Is it worth trying to swap to a Saginaw pump or should I just get a reman ford pump

It's worth it if you can find the brackets. They're a better pump. I'm still running the stock pump on both of my trucks just because the brackets for the Saginaw pumps are hard to come by.

I wouldn't spend a fortune on the upgrade though.
 

Daniel McCurdy

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What vehicles had the bracket. I know it's the vans with the idi but I heard that the bracket from a 351 van also works anybody know if that's right.
 

Cubey

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I forgot about the safety factor that power steering provides. The roads around me are not good and there's a lot of pot holes. So that kind of rules out the manual gearbox. It seems the brand's mentioned earlier redhead and bluetop make the best boxes but man are they expensive. I could buy 2-3 eBay boxes for the price of 1 of the good brand ones. Is it worth shelling out the small fortune for the good ones.

The rebuild gearbox I got from AutoZone for my RV is fine. It's pretty tight. Same one the pickups use. The old original one was equally as tight but it's external seals blew out. I kept the old gearbox as a spare so I can replace the seals some day. I was in a pinch so the AutoZone one was the better option at the time.
 

Cubey

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What vehicles had the bracket. I know it's the vans with the idi but I heard that the bracket from a 351 van also works anybody know if that's right.

It might not be helpful but here's a pic I took of the Saginaw pump and bracket on my IDI E350.

You must be registered for see images attach
 

chillman88

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What vehicles had the bracket. I know it's the vans with the idi but I heard that the bracket from a 351 van also works anybody know if that's right.

I've heard that too, but never confirmed it. IDI vans are all I'm certain would work.
 

snicklas

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It honestly wouldn't surprise me if all the vans didn't have the Saginaw pump. Our 85 E-150 302 had real easy steering, and I don't remember it whining.... and I put a TON of miles on the one we had. Either that, or we were lucky and had the worlds quietest C2 pump.....
 

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