Re: [MV] M880 steering ?

From: chance wolf (chance_wolf@shaw.ca)
Date: Thu Jul 29 2004 - 01:36:33 PDT


----- Original Message -----
From: "John Doherty" <mofta@hiwaay.net>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2004 3:02 PM
Subject: Re: [MV] M880 steering ?

> My 1977 M886 has the manual steering box mounted to the outside of the
frame
> rail.

My 1976 truck also had it on the outside rail. The 1977 one at work is the
same. Converting them to power is fun. From what I recall there's a
bracket that mounts into the existing frame holes (the ones exposed when you
take off the manual box), and the power steering unit bolts to that,
orienting the new pump "facing" the ground instead of the frame-rail. (i.e.
90 degree shift.)

The manual boxes I played with were all pooched, and had enough play in them
that you weren't driving the trucks so much as herding them. I pulled one
apart once to see what the heck was wearing out, and from what I recall, it
seemed as though someone tried to compensate for some truly stunning wear by
just loading down the preload adjustment until it didn't feel quite so
loose. Umyeah. It looked as though some important casting or other
cracked due to this 'repair' which in turn created even more of a slop
problem in a vicious cycle like the proverbial snake eating its own tail. I
just gave up and searched the junkyards for a suitable power assy. after
finding no suitable manual boxes and hearing the rebuilder wanted 450 bucks
to recondition the manual one. No thanks. If I want a bicep workout, I'll
just parallel park a deuce at Safeway. :)

One thing I've noticed on a few M880-family trucks I've been around is that
the steering box mounting bolts work loose after awhile. From the driver
perspective the steering will just feel 'odd', but when you get someone to
turn the wheel while you stare at the steering-box, the bolt looseness will
scare the grease off you.



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