Project 71 CJ5: Saginaw Steering
	Category:	Steering
	Author:	71cj5
	Date:	May 26th, 2004

The old Ross style steering box on early CJ has a reputation for being loose. It has 6 joints that all have a tendency to get loose over time and become sloppy. The original setup mounts the steering box behind the front axle and connects to the front wheels through four relay rods and two idler arms. Even if you’re not building an extreme Jeep, all of these connections make for plenty of slop in the steering. Add big tires and a lift and this magnifies the problem. Because of this I wanted to convert my CJ-5 to Saginaw power steering, before any lift was done on my CJ. Warning statement: This write up is a guideline and should not be attempted if you do not feel comfortable or have a basic knowledge of automobile steering systems. Serious injury or death could result; the author is in no way responsible for any outcome you may experience.

Removal of stock steering components:
I started this project with the engine and body out of this vehicle; you can also start just by removing the driver's side fender from the vehicle. This will give you lots of room to work on this project. Unbolt the steering column floorboard mounting flange and the dashboard steering column retaining clamp. Remove the steering wheel from the column. Remove the front bumper, drag link, center arm, relay rod, and steering stabilizer. Remove the steering box from its frame and pull the box and steering shaft out of the vehicle.

Gathering of Equipment:
You need to start out with a GM style four bolt steering box, they are readily available in junkyards or you can purchase them new. I found a box from a wrecking yard that was reasonably tight and in good shape that was from a later model CJ 7. You will also need to get a bracket made or you can purchase one from advance adapters. I chose to make one from ½ inch plate steel. I figured this would be strong and it was something that I had available to me for free.

Finished bracket after it was cut out and cleaned up.

You will also need to box in your frame and put sleeves so that the bolts don’t crush the frame. I used ½ inch i.d. black pipe (the kind that is used for plumbing) or you can make your own. Here is a plan for the sleeves and the piece to box the frame. For the sleeves I cut them longer so that they could also be used as spacers to mount the box to the bracket. You will need three ¾ inch spacers and one ½ inch spacer. The places to mount these are labeled on the mounting plate plan. You will also need to cut out some gussets to support the box once it’s mounted to the frame.

Mounting the Bracket to the frame
You will need access to an arc welder or MIG welder for this part. I have a Lincoln SP170-T which has been very useful so far. To mount the bracket to the frame you must first box in the frame. During this process you can also put your sleeves in or do as I did and mount them later. To mount the plate for the box just line it up with the inside of the frame rail and tack it on. After you make sure it is in the place you want it finish welding it on. Here is a picture of the passenger side frame rail after it was done and painted.

Passenger-side frame rail.

After the frame has been boxed I mounted the bracket. This was mounted as far forward as I could get the Saginaw box to go without hitting the bumper. It measured 5 inches from the end of the frame rail, as illustrated in the picture below.

Measuring the box for clearance.

Once I found where I was going to put the bracket I tack welded it to the frame and test fitted the steering box. Once this was done and everything fit I welded it into to place. To place the sleeves/spacers I drilled a hole through the bracket and frame that was big enough to fit the ½ inch i.d. black pipe and welded those into place. This is illustrated by the circles.

Drilling locations for spacers.

For the bottom spacers I just cut the black pipe to ¾ inch and welded them to the bracket. Now you can bolt the box to the frame for this I used Grade 8 bolts which were probably overkill but I just wanted the extra protection.

Another view.

The Rod and Drag Link
For the drag link and tie rod there are a few options, you can use rod ends or you can use tie rods ends. I chose to use tie rod ends because I had done some research and found that the rod ends wear and make it sloppy for street driving. I wanted to be able to drive this on the street comfortably as well as on any trail. Because I was using tie rod ends I had to find some kind of tie rod and drag link setup. This was difficult because 1971 CJ5 don’t have these and the Dana 27 axle is a little narrower than the Dana 30 axles found on newer jeeps when it comes to the tie rod length. I also wanted to try and keep as many common auto parts store items as I could for ease of finding available parts.

Tie Rod:
What I came up with was to get a tie rod tube from a later jeep and cut it down to size and tap it for the tie rod end. To do this I had to cut down the regular thread side and leave the reverse thread side alone. This was easy or so I thought until I tried to find a tap for stock CJ tie rod ends. It is an 11/16-18 tap. I went to every machine shop and suspension shop I could find with no luck. I ended up searching the internet and found a company that had these taps in stock. The tap was $26 dollars after shipping and I had it in my hands the next day after ordering it. The company that supplied it was MSC Industrial Supply Co. They have many other product and the shipping and service are fast. I ended up cutting the tube down 6 inches and on the passenger side using a tie rod end with a hole in it to attach the drag link. This was a stock jeep item that was used in the original steering. The rest of the tie rod ends were all stock jeep items too.

Picture of a one-piece tierod is courtesy of BoyInk

Drag Link:
For the drag link I also used a stock tie rod tube and cut it down to length to fit from the tie rod end to the pitman arm.

Next to come will be the steering column and steering shaft. Stay tuned for updates