UPDATE: 08/12/2010: I’ve added a link and section regarding the rack and pinion mod implemented by Sam.
UPDATE 01/19/2010: Here is a link to the post about Lawrence Elliot’s nice little mod of the bell crank to eliminate sloppiness. This is a simple way to improve steering sloppiness while keeping everything else stock.
UPDATE: The picture below is how NOT to update your the steering in your jeep! I found a picture of this crazily creative solution for updating the steering mechanism on an early jeep at JP Magazine, so I’ve added it to a post I made about steering upgrades last April. I’ve also updated this post with images from two different jeeps that installed a saginaw non-power unit within the engine compartment and can be found under section 3B.
Modifiying the steering system of early jeeps might be one of the most common upgrades around. It often follows the upgrade of the engine to a V6 or V8, right after the jeep owner discovers how much work it is to turn the wheel while jeeping. So, here’s my list of steering options:
1) Keep the stock setup (but this is often impractical when upgrading to a v6 or v8). This is a Ross worm/sector manual steering box and a drag link that connected to a frame-mounted bellcrank.
2) Swap in a Hudson steering unit. I exchanged emails with with a reader named Larry who had one of these in a CJ3B and loved it (calling it the sweetest driving jeep he’d ever owned — he planned to put one in a 1949 CJ-2A he just bought). I’ve never tried the swap nor tried driving a jeep with the setup in place. I doubt these would work on a MB/GPW setup. (To the right is an image of a Hudson steering wheel in a jeep from Jp Magazine.)
These can still be found using craigslist and junkyards. Here’s a quote from the CJ-3B site.
“Forget the power steering and get a 1949-1954 Hudson steering set up. You can swap out the whole steering column or just machine the steering box to fit your original steering column. They both used Ross steering boxes, but the Hudson used a tapered roller bearing with a different gear ratio, making it feel just like power steering and gives you the tighter turning radius.” http://cj3b.info/Tech/Upgrades.html
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $2848.
UPDATE: The price has dropped to $4000
