Customs 37 Chev car steering box upgrade to a 1954 chev truck box ?

Hey guys i have a 1937 chev master with beam axle and i want to upgrade the steering box as mine is real sloppy and there is a 1954 truck here local with steering box and steering shaft and wheel. It is a 3 on the column.

Would this work or no ?

Ive looked and i see the 40s boxes bolt in

 

My Buddy tried this swap years ago , for some reason it required a welder , pitman arm and ended up ratio was strange

 

Is the pitman arm the same front to back inside frame rail arrangement as 49-54 Chevy car?

 

yes sir. looks same as the 37, but like stated maybe the arm is a diffrent length ?

 

I just looked at a 37 box on eBay. Looks like mounting is different from 49-54 Chevy car

 

A 54 car steering box has the pitman arm on the inside of the frame rail. They will work as a right hand drive steering box though as I thought about using the one I have for right hand drive in my boat tail before common sense prevailed.

A 37 Chevy with an I beam has a 16 to one steering box. A 54 Chevy truck steering box for a 3100 has a 26.24 to one ratio.
One thing with the 54 steering is that uses tie rod ends on the drag link rather than the ball and socket ends that 52 and earlier trucks used. The pitman arms on the 54 box swap with the earlier pitman arms though. The steering will be a bit slow compared to the 37 box but will probably feel like power steering in comparison.

 

Or, Chevs of the 40's sells a rebuild kit for the 37 box for 104 and change

 

16:1 is pretty dang quick ratio for 1937!

 

You want a '41 - '46 Chevy truck box, it should bolt to the frame. I cut the shaft and welded my '37 shaft to it so I could keep the '37 wheel, in my truck, the '41 steering wheel offset was little too much. The newer truck box has roller balls and a slower ratio, almost like power steering compared to the gear on gear box that came in the '37s. And yes, the 16:1 ratio makes for some jittery driving!

 

thanks alot for the diagrams i saved them

Im guessing that they changed the geometry on the 54 so thats not a good idea .

thanks

 

Im in canada and ive looked for days there is literally no 41-46 part outs or parts for sale

 

So i did find a 46 1/2 ton steering box how do i know if its a 46 vs 37 ?

I did find this one for around $200

 

The '46 is a little thicker.

 

I know you will never think about this swap but a Pre 85 Toyota 4x4 box , power or Manual is a good swap , they work excellent . But it’s way way OT , sorry

 

I dont mind fabing up stuff but i kind of wanted a bolt in deal so i could slap it in and drive this thing. we only have like 6 months of summer here then its 6 months of depression lol

 

So i confirmed the part number is for a 26 1/2 ton trucks #266733

but he only has the steering box and shaft and coloum no steering wheel or pitman arm .

Do i need the pitman arm and steering wheel or will the 37 work ?

 

Anyone ever do a 41-46 truck into there 37-39 car?

 

I was just on Ebay looking at '37 parts, there is quite a few NOS steering parts for not a lot of money. Replacing your sector shaft and bushings maybe the quickest way to get the car on the road. The worm gear may have some wear, but most of the ones I have seen wear the sector shaft gears. I rebuilt my original gear box with all NOS parts, it was a big improvement over the worn parts that it had.