Anyone parting a late 1980's era 4Runner or Pickup with power steering? Looking to upgrade my 1982 Pickup with power steering and the gear box has been a challenge to locate. Thanks!
Yota Jims says he has a complete set for $500 but is waiting on a steering box from one of his customers (the customer is going hi-steer). Jim is supposed to call me when he has it. $500 is crazy money when 5 years ago you could find probably find a bunch of complete sets for under $100. The gear box is the unicorn. All the other parts are relatively easy to source. There are aftermarket boxes out there but I'm trying to stick with Toyota.
Since the vast majority of 79-85 solid axle 4x4 trucks were non-PS, the next best thing is a PS gear box/pitman arm from a 86-88 pickup or 86-89 4runner, which bolts right in. Gear boxes up to 94 also bolt in but the steering shaft must be shorten or changed. This is all internet reading so I'm not 100% certain.
A local salvage yard checked the "6000 yards across the country" and there are only 5 gearboxes in the US. Huh?
Calvin,
I just checked car-part.com - I can't believe I haven't tried that site before now! I found a couple options in the front range for reasonable $$. Thanks for the suggestion.
I need to correct myself - the gear box needed is from 1979-1985 solid front axle pickups. The later model gear boxes will work but there is fabrication involved and I am trying to preserve the trucks originality the best I can. Wow...those boxes are rare and spendy! I might need to pony up the cash for Yota Jim's setup.